Liar, Liar...
...pants on fire...
Writers must be able to lie to write convincingly about a subject. When I was an investigative journalist chasing a story, I lied all the time. Some situations demand you to lie on the fly. You make it up as you go along. Nothing is taboo when you have to get the story and you are on a deadline. I lied myself into and out of many situations. This doesn’t mean I am a habitual liar. I hate when I am lied to, and would rather face the consequences of my actions than be dishonest. But when your editor is breathing fire down your neck, because the newspaper must go to print, you use your imagination to make it happen.
This little skill of mine has helped me find the truth as well. When my ex-husband embarked on his little tryst with a colleague, it helped me uncover every little detail he was hiding from me. My intuition has never been wrong and I knew it was right this time as well.
I called his mistress and told her he admitted everything to me in a moment of weakness, and she might as well tell me more. I caught her completely off guard so she spilled the beans. She shared every detail with me and provided me with much fodder to confront him with. It was glorious to see him squirm. He couldn’t deny it because I had her as my witness. How ironic that I lied to get to the truth.
My editor wanted a story about a right-wing organization and she wanted it yesterday. I had no time to prepare and went into that landmine filled, lunatic driven situation with nothing. I am not a racist and hate it with a passion, but that day I had to be one of them. When I arrived the hairs on my neck already stood up because the soldiers lined the wall with weapons. Every minute of that evening is etched into my mind. I was terrified as well as stoned and it all felt completely surreal. It was evil and menacing but I lied, because I knew one wrong move, and god knows what would happen. My paranoia could also have been the result of the joint. I threw my arm into the air and jumped up and cheered when everyone else did. That was the worst lie I ever had to immerse myself in to get the story.
When my intuition warns me that something feels off or dangerous in a situation I will make up any story to get away. I think this is also one of the reasons I can write about almost any topic if I have all the information.
If you decide to leave a comment, please don’t lie.
Well written, compelling and frightening. I think too that women have a keener intuition on some matters than men, and vice versa.
There is a great little book about what a lie really is and is not. They define a lie as a statement having two key elements: 1) it knowingly asserts something untrue and 2) it is likely to harm someone(s) or be negligent about the likelihood of harming someone(s). It compares this with bullshit where it one asserts something untrue but without intent or likelihood of causing harm. Eg “I caught a fish THIS BIG”. The book is “On Bullshit”. By these definitions, I would say you did lie to the Mistress because it’s possible she could have harmed herself or another with the fake news. But I would say the second was not a lie, and indeed mere survival mode, because your actions didn’t seem likely to harm anyone. Stay as safe as possible, Rea.
I would never ;)