--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fiction is as easy as telling a…" description: "\"“Fiction is as easy as telling a convincing lie. The more believable the better the story.”\" — T.R. Wallace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/t-r-wallace-54999_fiction_fiction-is-as-easy-as-telling-a-convinci_2063091.jpg" --- # Fiction is as easy as telling a convincing lie. The more… ![“Fiction is as easy as telling a convincing lie. The more believable the better the story.” quote by T.R. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/t-r-wallace-54999_fiction_fiction-is-as-easy-as-telling-a-convinci_2063091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/t-r-wallace-54999_fiction_fiction-is-as-easy-as-telling-a-convinci_2063091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/t-r-wallace-54999_fiction_fiction-is-as-easy-as-telling-a-convinci_2063091.jpg) > ““Fiction is as easy as telling a convincing lie. The more believable the better the story.”” [T.R. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Crafting believable fiction is akin to telling a convincing lie; the more plausible, the better the narrative. **In simple terms:** Believable lies make good stories. Key Takeaway Strive for plausibility. Themes fiction truth storytelling believability Mood analytical curious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing workshops - marketing copy - political propaganda Key Concepts literary theory psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What makes a lie feel truthful? - When does persuasion become deception? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believable Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believable-better-3945940/) [Convincing Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convincing-lie-1973157/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-easy-979402/) [Lie Believable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lie-believable-3945939/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Fiction is an easy way to talk about issues: I think it feels less preachy. You can have the students discuss characters in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/fiction-is-an-easy-way-to-talk-about-issues-i-think-it-feels-less/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [If one cannot invent a really convincing lie, it is often better to stick to the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-thirkell/if-one-cannot-invent-a-really-convincing-lie-it-is-often-better-to/) [Angela Thirkell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-thirkell/) > [If you are not gonna tell the truth,at least tell me a convincing lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/if-you-are-not-gonna-tell-the-truth-at-least-tell-me-a-convincing-lie/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/for-the-fiction-writer-himself-the-whole-story-is-the-meaning-because/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Grayson: Fiction is just a lie anyway. Brianna: But it's not - it's a different kind of truth - it would be your truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/grayson-fiction-is-just-a-lie-anyway-brianna-but-it-s-not-it-s-a/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [My only obligation as a fiction writer is to the story, to make it good, so good the busy reader doesn't feel that flipping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-pietrzyk/my-only-obligation-as-a-fiction-writer-is-to-the-story-to-make-it/) [Leslie Pietrzyk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-pietrzyk/) > [Fiction and non-fiction are only different techniques of story telling. For reasons I do not fully understand, fiction dances out of me. Non-fiction is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/fiction-and-non-fiction-are-only-different-techniques-of-story/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Life is a means of extracting fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/life-is-a-means-of-extracting-fiction/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) [Coheed and Cambria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coheed-and-cambria/) > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) ## More by T.R. Wallace > [“Sometimes the best way to find what you really desire in life is to stop looking for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-wallace/sometimes-the-best-way-to-find-what-you-really-desire-in-life-is-to/) [T.R. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-wallace/) > [“Romance is like maintaining a car. If you do a good job of it, you will always have a dependable quiet ride.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-wallace/romance-is-like-maintaining-a-car-if-you-do-a-good-job-of-it-you-will/) [T.R. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-wallace/) > [“The truth can only stay hidden for so long”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-wallace/the-truth-can-only-stay-hidden-for-so-long/) [T.R. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-wallace/) > [“Imagination is God's gift to the dreamers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-wallace/imagination-is-god-s-gift-to-the-dreamers/) [T.R. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-wallace/) > [“Is killing a known terrorist wrong? I ask this, did the terrorist allow any of his victims quarter? No, then allow him no quarter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-wallace/is-killing-a-known-terrorist-wrong-i-ask-this-did-the-terrorist-allow/) [T.R. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-wallace/) [Explore all 6 T.R. Wallace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-wallace/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) [Coheed and Cambria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coheed-and-cambria/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Fiction is as easy as telling a convincing lie. The more believable the better the story.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T.R. 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