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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Why Write “Lies” When the Simple Truth Should Suffice?

by Chautona Havig · 6 Comments

I’ve shared before that my favorite server, Angela the Wonder Server, once told a man that a “famous author” spends time writing at Denny’s every night. That would be me—the “famous” author.

Impressed, the man asked what genre I write in, and Angela knowledgeably said, “Christian fiction.”

His response? “So, what…? She writes lies about God?”

And though I can’t help but giggle over this, I’ve actually been taken to task for writing “lies.” Fiction isn’t true, therefore it’s a lie. And some people think it’s wrong to “write lies.”

So that begs the obvious question:

Why Write "Lies" When the Simple Truth Should Suffice?

Note: links are likely affiliate links that provide me with a small commission–doesn’t cost you extra, though.

Why Write “Lies” When the Simple Truth Should Suffice?

For me, it’s all about story. I learn best when I have an illustration or an analogy to follow. In fact, as a kid, I was convinced that Jesus told parables because He knew I needed them.

Still, when I try to explain this to people, they still don’t always “get” it. Well, I received an email recently after the release of Ties That Blind. I got permission to share part of it with you.  This, folks, this is why I write lies. This is why my heart loves fiction.

“Loved [the Sight Unseen Series] series. I also really liked the Agency series, but this one hit close to home because I recognized Ella’s life. It was a huge wake up call-especially when I read [her story]. That’s exactly how I feel. I went to the doctors and am getting help. Thank you for writing this.”

I read that and wept.

I wrote back and said,

People ask me all the time why I write fiction instead of “Christian living” nonfiction. This is why. Because sometimes we see things better in a story. I totally get you with Ella. I see myself in her much too often. It’s such a wakeup call.”

I’m not a naturally emotional person, but story evokes emotion within me. I can handle facts quite well, but seeing that David sinned in stealing a man’s wife by reading, “David committed adultery and murder. The consequences were severe” holds less of a punch than seeing it play out on the page. And even David needed a story about something that resonated with him (sheep) for him to fully see his sin.

When we emotionally connect to something, it keeps our attention longer and makes a lasting impression on our soul.

My dad knew that. I’m convinced it’s one reason he sang all those morbid songs that he did when I was a child.  No, really.  My childhood is full of songs where…

Guy meets girl.  They fall in love. He sees her with another man. He runs away. She pines for him. He finds out it was her brother after she’s dead.

Boy is dying. He got cool shoes for  Christmas.  Give his toys to his friends, but save his shoes for his little brother.

It’s a hard life here. No food. Nowhere to sleep. Dependent on kind people for basic needs. But Heaven is coming. “Don’t you know I’ll be glad when I’m dead.”  No, really.  That’s the last line of the chorus.

Blind child discovers her father is getting married again. Wants to accept new mom, but it’s hard. She’s a sickly kid. Gets dad crying over the loss of his dead wife hours before the wedding.  He carries her to bed.  She dies.

Guy has horse. Uses it to rob people. Horse saves man by racing to London in time.  Horse dies.

Boy has dog. They have fun. Dog gets old. Boy shoots dog.

Man wins wife in a card game. They fall in love. He gets hurt. She rides off for help. They both die.

Like I said. Morbid.

My throat ached as a child whenever Dad sang.  Part of it was the beauty of his playing, the clear, true notes of his voice.  It was.  But part of it was how  painfully beautiful his songs were.  They spoke of love and loss. From them, I learned that to live life, you had to be willing to risk that pain—anything else was just existence.  I didn’t want just to  “exist.”

You know, people don’t die like they used to. That sounds weird to say. Everyone dies. But back when these songs were first sung, children died young.  Men died young. Disease, famine, and hard lives killed people at very young ages. I recall two people dying when I was a child—my ninety-six-year-old Granny when I was twelve (we kind of expected it, you know), and my brother was murdered that same year.

If I hadn’t had the aching songs that tore at my heart every time Dad sang them, I don’t know how I would have really grasped Bear’s death.  It wouldn’t have been real to me.

But Dad taught me that grief is a thing simply by singing about things that should make you grieve.

Jack Cover
I even turned Cowboy Jack into a novel. I did not, however, keep the ending the same. After all, I’m not Nicholas Sparks. I wouldn’t dare.

There was my favorite song—or at least, my favorite that I could get him to sing often. “Cowboy Jack.”  It’s morbid, too.

Man meets girl. They fall in love. They quarrel. He becomes a cowboy who sings about the girl back home. Goes back. She’s dead.

That song taught me more than how to cope with death.  It also taught me about arguments. I recall thinking, “Why did he just ride off like that?  How did that help anything?  If he would have just talked it out with her, things wouldn’t have been so bad, and she might not have died.”

From that song, I also learned that running from your problems can create larger ones. Yes, talking through problems is important, but look what running did!

“Blind Child’s Prayer” taught me acceptance and sensitivity  The child begged not to have to meet her “new made mama” in her mother’s sitting room among all her mother’s things.  I wouldn’t have thought of that.  But the song taught me as much, and it taught me sensitivity when her father begins to cry over his loss again.  She’s immediately taken out of her own self-pity and prays for them both.

Prayer as an answer to heartache—what a novel idea! 😉

Yes, I write lies.  Yes, the truth is superior.  But in my “lies,” I try to show the truths of Scripture so that people like myself can learn those deeper truths by seeing how fictional people live that principle—or don’t.

When I write my “lies,” I hope for one thing to happen. I hope that someone, like the woman who emailed me about Ties That Blind, will see Scripture’s truths illuminated in story. When I write my “lies” in my stories, I pray that they will connect readers with the Master Storyteller.

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Comments

  1. Carol says

    January 7, 2019 at 8:11 am

    I used to weep listening to my mom sing “When I was a lad and old Shep was a pup…” And I’d beg for it again the next night even though I always dreaded the part where old Shep dies. And one that was even harder to listen to was about the child nobody would play with, and his mother would sing, “Now Honey, stay in your own back yard… Honey, don’t cry so hard, just stay on dis side of da high board fence and play in your own back yard.” And then the little boy dies and is taken up to heaven but the mother keeps singing that song. Heart wrenching. And I’d want it the next night. And there was the old mama who sat in her rocking chair that nobody ever visited any more, and the boy not allowed to play baseball, and the child who didn’t have money to ride the train to go see his sick mother, “Oh please, Mr. Conducter don’t put me off the train…” There were so many of those tear jerk songs and we love/dreaded them. Now my dad and mom and that generation are gone and those songs seem buried too. The only place they are still alive (but barely) are in my head, and apparently yours, Chautona.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      January 8, 2019 at 12:46 am

      Yep! And I’m putting them in stories. Because I want them to live on.

      Did your mother sing Concert Garden? “Somebody’s waiting for me… somebody loves me I know… somebody’s wond’rin’ where I can be, and what can be keeping me so. Somebody’s heart is sad–waiting so anxiously. There’s a light shining bright, in a window tonight, and somebody’s waiting for me.

      Reply
  2. Carlena says

    September 10, 2018 at 10:34 am

    I believe that a story will, with at least one person, be a truth about their life. I have written a trilogy of a fiction but inside were some truth that happened to me or my friends. I just put them in as having happened in the old west.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      September 10, 2018 at 2:29 pm

      You know, there’s truth to this. I was astounded to get a message from a reader saying she has a friend who works for a company like “The Agency.” I was SURE that didn’t exist. LOL.

      Reply
  3. realworldbiblestudy says

    September 7, 2018 at 12:07 pm

    Sometimes stories are more true than facts. =D -Joy

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      September 8, 2018 at 1:14 am

      AMEN!

      Reply

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Episode 448: A Chat with Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

 I fell in love with Nancy’s writing with The Shell Collector. Imagine my joy when I discovered she has a SEQUEL! Eeep! Listen in and discover which characters you’ll find in To Light the Way Forward and what’s coming next for one of America’s favorite authors!

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It’s been three years since Nancy and I had a chance to talk, and in that time, she’s been BUSY.  So in addition to falling in love with her character, Tug, and wanting to give him his own story, she’s written a small-town duet (and maybe we talked her into a third?) as well as a romcom duo!  Think we can talk her into a third of that series as well?  Because… SPOILER ALERT… we’re getting a third Shell Collector Series book, too! EEEP!

To Light the Way Forward by Nancy Naigle

A novel of overcoming deep loss, taking risks, and learning that life—and love—often surprises you when you least expect it, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Shell Collector. “Bringing to life characters you can’t help but fall in love with, Nancy Naigle goes straight to the heart with this story of tragedy turned to triumph. A poignant reminder to never give up hope.”—Sheila Roberts, author of The Best Life Book Club Feeling adrift after the loss of her husband, Rosemary sets out to visit an old friend on Whelk’s Island, undeterred by the threat of a hurricane. Before the storm hits, she finds herself at Tug’s Diner where she quickly connects with the owner, Tug. But the storm destroys the diner, compounding Tug’s grief from losing his love the previous year. The longer Rosemary stays, the more she sees Tug’s deep sadness and resolves to help him. Together with Tug and friends Amanda and Paul, they all pitch in to help the close-knit community recover and rebuild. As Amanda and Paul reconnect after losing touch during the storm, their plans to take things slow seem increasingly impractical. While Rosemary and Tug help the young couple navigate their relationship, they also find themselves building a friendship that begins to restore them both. But can that friendship convince them that love is possible for anyone who’s willing to take a risk—even those who never hoped they’d find it again?

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