The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A novelist and teacher, Dufresne (Deep in the Shade of Paradise) shares his blunt views on writing in this instruction book, which draws heavily on the tenets of realist fiction and method acting. Divided into two main sections-"The Process" focuses on habits and emotions; "The Product" emphasizes narrative mechanics-Dufresne's manual often adopts the tone of a fiery professor advising a group of wide-eyed young freshmen. "Fiction writing is arrested development," he declares. "Just know that you should quit right now if you can." Readers may sometimes feel lectured by his many stern instructions-"Thou Shalt Not Be Obscure," "Thou Shalt Show and Not Tell," "Thou Shalt Steal"-but the author hits his stride when he covers the mechanics of story. Particularly valuable is his advice on choosing character names, occupations, and points of view. A principle of acting teachers Konstantin Stanislavsky and Michael Chekhov-that exterior movement leads to interior feeling-forms the basis of one of Defresne's two chapters on characterization. Elsewhere, he skillfully analyzes the work of his favorite writers Anton Chekhov, Frank O'Connor and Eudora Welty. (Dufresne also mines his own work for examples of process and technique.) Each chapter closes with a set of writing exercises. Although this volume is unlikely to displace classic fiction guides like E.M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel, many readers may respond to the author's encouraging, exhorting tone.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Like so many writers' guides, this one talks about creating a character, finding an idea, constructing a plot, and the rest of it. It does all of that quite well, too, but what makes it stand out in this popular genre is its tone and approach. Novelist Dufresne, the author of Deep in the Shade of Paradise (2002), lays out the storytelling process clearly and simply. "Fiction is telling the truth, not telling the facts." His tone is light, amiable, conversational: a professional storyteller talking to someone who wants to be a professional storyteller. Writing, he tells us, is about trusting our feelings, about describing the essence of a scene without getting bogged down in irrelevant details. Peppering his text with inspirational and instructional quotes from a variety of writers (Joseph Heller: "Every writer I know has trouble writing"), Dufresne delivers a book that is both a tremendous inspiration to novice writers struggling with their craft and a useful guide to the technical aspects of turning words into stories. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393325814
• ISBN-13: 978-0393325812
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,785 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm in love with this book, January 9, 2004

By	Robert Graves (Thompson Station, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction (Hardcover)

John Dufresne's "The Lie That Tells A Truth" is one of the best books on writing that I own, rivaling even Steven King's "On Writing." From the start, TLTTAT gets you writing, the most obvious and ironically overlooked aspect of being a writer.

The introduction starts, "I'll assume that if you're reading this introduction, then you must want to write. Why else would you be loitering around the Writing/Publishing section of the bookstore when all the really interesting and dangerous people are over in the Self-Help/Addiction aisle?" The book is laden with a self-aware humor, knowing writers are in a desperate state, completely miserable when they are not writing yet so prone to finding other things to fill their time.

TLTTAT is divided into three main sections that logically break the writing process down. The first section, "The Process," covers the basics of getting it in gear and writing a story. He repeats again and again that a writer writes, and if you're not writing every day then you are "inviting madness." I could relate to this deeply. There's nothing more frustrating than wanting to write but for some reason not doing it. Dufresne's solution is simple - just do it. And he gives you plenty of exercises to get you going. In this first section he also discusses rewriting, clearly driving the point home that rewriting is the essence of writing. In fact, he's able to show, in what might be the only book I know of that does this, the real process of writing a novel or screenplay or short story or poem, or any work of creativity. He tells you to disallow your critical self to sit down at the desk with you while writing the first draft, to write from the heart. Get to know your characters and then allow them to lead you through their story (and he provides exercises to encourage this). Then, discussing the revision process, he specifically outlines several steps you can take to produce stronger writing, such as eliminating adverbs, eliminating most adjectives, avoiding the passive voice. These things may seem obvious, but he presents them in a lucid way, with actual examples of revision, that will improve your overall writing quality.

The second section deals with the specifics of plot development, dialogue, character growth, point of view, beginnings and endings, and settings. Taking what you know from how the writing of a story actually occurs (from the first section) you now learn the mechanics of developing that story.

The last section is primarily about how to glean the most from the work of others.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you are an aspiring writer, buy this book today, along with Steven King's "On Writing" and Linda Seger's "Making a Good Writer Great." In a library full of writing books, "The Lie That Tells a Truth" shines brightly.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great teacher, January 27, 2006

By	Lazyboy (San Francisco, USA) - See all my reviews

I procrastinated writing this review for weeks because it meant so much to me.
The great gift this book offers is its infinite passion for writing. You feel it from the author and from all the great authors whose quotes are included. Being immersed in this love of literature for the time it took me to read and reread this book was a pleasure.
The book also provides great insights into creating characters, starting stories, writing dialogue, "borrowing from other writers", and common mistakes made by authors.
The following two points helped me the most. First, don't be discouraged by flawed first drafts and scenes that don't match the images you had in your head when you decided to write them. All writers experience this. Rewriting is where the magic occurs.
Second, only include writing that advances the story or reveals something important about the charactor. No matter how much you love a scene you wrote, remove it if it doesn't meet this criteria.
I can't recommend this book enough.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to Learn about Fiction, Buy this book First!, January 30, 2005

By	Geoffrey Philp (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction (Hardcover)

For any student of fiction(i.e. writer), John Dufresne's The Lie that Tells a Truth is simply indispensable.
In Dufresne's book, you will find valuable information about pre-writing, writing, and revision along with the thoughts of writers such as Flannery O'Connor, John Gardner, and Caryll Phillips.
Read especially "Sitting Alone In a Quiet Room" and his "Ten Commandments of Writing Fiction."
He has also included a "Writer's Toolbox" at the end of the book.
All of the things you've ever done as a writer--the cameras, the writing on napkins, hanging around the self-help section of the bookstore for snippets of conversation for your next short story or novel--are unmasked by a writer with a great sense of humor and generosity.
If you want to be a writer, read this book first, and then--if you must--read the others.