You can't fake harder
Dec. 17th, 2005 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranYou know that joke: "Once you can fake sincerity, you've got it made"? Sometimes I think that's very true of writing. Although you're not quite faking sincerity, you're faking believability. You're saying these things really happened. Think about what these things mean, not about whether or not these things are realistic or plausible or about whether the author is talking through their hat.
"Faking it" can take place in a number of different ways. There might be the tiny piece of worldbuilding that fills in the background for the whole city, an offhand remark in a piece of dialogue that rings of authenticity, an unexpected detail that mirrors the texture of the real world.
Jim Crace gives an intriguing example in this article:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1405386,00.html
(He describes learning on a trip to the Judean desert that no-one says "slept like a log" there. Instead, a person might "sleep like a donkey". )
I think one important thing to remember though, is that if faking authority for a particular setting isn't working, then you can't just fake any "harder". It's one of those things where either you can do it or you can't. If you can't do it, it's a sign that you're lacking a basic understanding somewhere along the line. Trying to patch up your errors as they get pointed out or "lying harder" will along get you into more trouble. The only way out is go and learn more about the situation until you can fake it easily (to the point where in the end you're not faking it all). Of course, that requires some actual research, but, hey, once you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.
"Faking it" can take place in a number of different ways. There might be the tiny piece of worldbuilding that fills in the background for the whole city, an offhand remark in a piece of dialogue that rings of authenticity, an unexpected detail that mirrors the texture of the real world.
Jim Crace gives an intriguing example in this article:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1405386,00.html
(He describes learning on a trip to the Judean desert that no-one says "slept like a log" there. Instead, a person might "sleep like a donkey". )
I think one important thing to remember though, is that if faking authority for a particular setting isn't working, then you can't just fake any "harder". It's one of those things where either you can do it or you can't. If you can't do it, it's a sign that you're lacking a basic understanding somewhere along the line. Trying to patch up your errors as they get pointed out or "lying harder" will along get you into more trouble. The only way out is go and learn more about the situation until you can fake it easily (to the point where in the end you're not faking it all). Of course, that requires some actual research, but, hey, once you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.
