About Not Lying

Post 381:

            It’s all about intent. It’s in the law. Or maybe there’s a quote or something from a dude somewhere that I read once upon on a time.

            Not sure where the concept comes from, but it makes sense. I like to think of it as tell the truth. As a paid performer (liar) and fiction writer (liar), one might have reservations about my truth-telling expertise, but let’s unpack it.

            Truthfully, I’m not so sure myself.

            I do know one thing: know your audience. It’s extremely important. It’s a lot harder to have an effect when you’re lying to yourself about who they are in relation to you. If I’m writing for an intellectual reader, I can’t throw in a ton of jokes and hope they just happen to be a bunch of ham-it-up sorts. It’s unfair, both to the audience and myself.

            Think of someone you had a crush on or still do. You just want to get it out there, let them know how you feel. There’s no need to be all creepy; just make it known and let the chips fall. You can pretend and pretend, but it’s a waste of everybody’s time.

            If they tell you thanks but no thanks, at least it was fair play.

            Now, if you want to challenge the world by being a little bit obnoxious with your truth-telling, i.e. satire, genre-mixing, etc., expect your audience to be small.

            Accept it with a smile. You’ll be cool. But maybe not as popular. And if you were being honest the whole time, you should’ve expected that.

            So the truth shall set you free. It doesn’t mean you’ll get a date or have mad cash, but freedom is a pretty good reward. Does this mean disgusting liars sometimes get ahead? Of course. But there’s always a cost. That sounds ominous. And I have no concrete proof. But let’s go with it.

            Admit what you’re doing. Admit what you want. Sort it out from there. The best policy and what not. Cheers you animals.