Why?

Song of the Day Lorenz - Danse Avec Moi.

Yeah so, why?

One thing I have noticed that is very odd is how you'll give someone something you've written to read and they read it and the first thing they say after they've finished reading—or rather, the first question they ask—is, "Did this really happen?"

There are variations. Sometimes it'll be, "Whoa, did that really happen?" or "Did this actually happen to you?" and so on, but they're all really the same thing at heart. I believe this has happened to everybody who has ever given someone something they've written to read. Don't lie. It's true.

Usually, the answer's no. I don't think it's ever been yes, unless it's a sarcastic yes which is the same thing as the answer no. It's weird, really. Why are people compelled to think that whatever you wrote actually happened, usually to you? Most people who write casually don't write nonfiction, because that requires time and research and professionalness. It's like asking Tolkien, "Whoa, did all this really happen to you?," like yeah, it did all happen to Tolkien, and he just decided to give all the places and characters different names—he was really Frodo, and who knows who all those other people and places were?

I'm not sure, but I think it's this wish inside everybody—yes, everybody, everybody who's ever really really enjoyed a good fantasy, at least—that if they really like the world, why can't it be real? It should be real. Even if what you're writing is just something that could easily have happened and the only reason it didn't happen is just because it didn't, people still kind of want it to be, even if they don't care. But usually, it's because people just want this fantasy stuff to be real. It's like, admit it, you know you were disappointed when your closet didn't opened up to Narnia, 'cause I was—there's that feeling that you want Harry Potter to be true and magic and everything, even though you know it's not, because deep inside you both know it's true and just a good piece of fiction. You at least want to be like Alice in Wonderland in a dream.

It's like, what, do they think you have no imagination? That you have to draw everything out from your life? Anything that sounds plausible must have happened, even if it's implausible, and it's kind of weird.

It's the same thing with drawing. You draw a person and someone sees it and they say, "Who is that?" or "Who did you draw?" but usually it's the first one. And when they say who is that, you can just tell they don't mean, "Who is this person that you've made up?," they mean "Who is this person in real life that you must know?" And you're just sitting there thinking what, am I not allowed to come up with some random face out of my head? The answer, of course, is no, you're not. Everything's got to be real and fiction must secretly be nonfiction. The question can't ever be, "Whoa, where'd you get that cool idea?" and the comment can't ever be "Nice drawing," and god forbid you get constructive criticism— "You're missing a comma there that should be a semicolon that character's acting a little flat the head's a bit out of proportion the face doesn't look very realistic."

The worst part is the look on their face or that feeling where you know they're going to say it, but you never just say, "No, it didn't really happen," before they can ask, just because.

There is such a thing as fiction. Accept it for the stuff that could have happened but probably didn't.

But it's still okay to want to go to Narnia.