Truth In Fiction

This weekend I was at a conference where I sat on a panel called The Truth in Fiction. It was an interesting conversation that spent more time dwelling on research and historical accuracy than I had anticipated. I’m all for accuracy, historical or otherwise. For instance, I ran competitively when I was a teen and for many years as exercise when I was grown, and continue to enjoy watching track and field. It’s a beautiful sport filled with men and women who spend hours every day perfecting something all of us know how to do.

I was surprised, however, when I started training with my high school track team that even though I’d loved to run all my young life, I didn’t really know how to sprint. I needed to be on my toes, not flat on my feet, and drive with my knees, and remember that the arms are as important as the legs, and stay relaxed because any tension in your body will slow you down. I watched the other runners at the meets and admired how the best of them had no wasted movement, how their whole body was working in concert to propel them only forward.

Sometimes I watch films where a character is supposedly a runner. Usually, they move like someone who has never trained a day in their life. There’s always too much up and down action, and their upper bodies are too rigid, and there’s no grace in their stride. It’s a small thing, really, but for a moment I’m no longer watching a story but simply someone pretending to be a runner. I have to remind myself to suspend my disbelief, remember that these people have a lot to learn to play their part and maybe good running form didn’t make the list. Their running is good enough, really, that I can still enjoy the film.

After all, I don’t watch or read stories to learn how to do something or how something works or how something was. The actors in Chariots of Fire really did know how to run, but that’s not why I liked that movie. I liked it because it was about something that had nothing to do with the Olympics or competition or how to hold your form down the last straightaway of the 400 meters. I seek out stories to remember what I actually care about, what actually matters to me, which is always something that belongs to and lives in all of us, no matter who we are or what we do or when we lived, and when I see it I know it and that’s the truth.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com