Craft of Writing: Being honest in your prose.

 Dear Reader,

First, I owe you an apology for this post being two days late. Life has been exceedingly hectic here and I've been struggling to keep up with everything. I find myself thinking that I am turning into a curmudgeon regarding the holidays because of all the stress and general stuff that needs to be done. That rant aside, let's take a look at honesty in your prose.

Honesty in poetry is relatively simple. Especially with blank verse. You can just spit out idea after idea and call it done. In prose, we're tempted to edit as we work. We are tempted to change the phrasing so that it isn't quite as raw and that can weaken your work. Now, I am not saying that you should not edit your work. Proper grammar and such are important. Making sure that your work flows in a reasonable way that makes it easy for your reader to get through is vital. But when in the editing process, take care on what you cut out of your work.

Emotional and psychological vulnerability is a rare thing in fiction and virtually non-existent outside of the genre of autobiography when it comes to non-fiction. Thus, when you write a scene that moves yourself to emotional response, no matter how much it may squick you, don't delete it. Rephrase it for clarity and polish it up for presentation. But do not remove the essence of the scene. You want your readers to feel that connection with your characters. This is part of the essential process of suspension of disbelief.

All great books manage to suspend disbelief. Usually, it is by way of gut wrenching emotional train wrecks and soaring beauty that makes the reader feel like they're part of the story. Keeping the emotional content in there keeps your readers hooked. The psychological component can give your readers empathy for your characters as they develop, suffer, and grow through the story arc. These two buttons for your readers' brains are excellent tools for you to deploy. Just keep the tension in the story even as you work through it all this way your tale doesn't drift apart before you're ready to end it.