Things I Learned From Mark Twain (maybe)

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please” 

-- Probably Mark Twain

Now, if I am not mistaken, that last quote is, in fact, from Mark Twain. Mark Twain was one of the most prolific authors and wits of his time, and is known for many quotes. Far more, in fact, than he actually said. Along with Shakespeare and the Bible, he ranks among the most misquoted voices in the literary world. And yet there is still wisdom in his words (if they are in fact his), and we, as writers, can take advantage of this.

Let me offer a simple story. It's about a guy. The story is him going through his routine - go to a movie, take a regular morning jog, watch television and gripe about the news. Everything seems fine. When he's outside on a hot summer day, this character is very social, trying to make conversation with the woman using her earbuds in the seat next to him on the bus. or waving to strangers on the street. Occasionally, someone waves back, and it's perfectly normal conversation. These are normal interactions. Nothing special here. Maybe we have a sad moment, when he goes to visit his mother's grave. Other mourners do not bother him, instead wrapping themselves tighter in their own sweaters or putting on their jackets. A solemn moment, but no surprises here. In fairness, it's actually kind of boring.  

Oh, did I tell you it was a ghost story? No? Well, it is, and I set up a series of "facts" to work with, then distorted the story just enough so you wouldn't know it was a ghost story - at this point. Basically, I gave you The Sixth Sense treatment (spoilers ahead). I created a ghost, made him seem real, then surrounded him with facts that I never told you: 

• Ghosts don't know they're dead. 
• Ghosts can talk to anyone, but only people who can see ghosts can hear and respond to them.. 
• When ghosts get riled up, things get cold. 

These are the facts. We look back at our story about the guy and realize he is within the rules, but now he very well might be a ghost. If this were a longer piece, I could go on and make you feel for this perfectly human character before the big reveal of whether or not he was a ghost. However, I would have to know my rules, follow them to the letter, and properly tweak everything I wrote to make you think something else before the big reveal. 

Leading you down a certain road of thought before offering new information that really enhanced the meaning was something else I learned from Mark Twain, but that's for another time. But I will offer another possible Twain quote: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." This will be the lead-in to my next piece about unreliable narrators.

And by the way - Bruce Willis was a ghost.