The Great Pretenders

There is a book I am reading...well, more accurately, just finished, and basically, it highlights the true life of a mega-movie star and how they are nothing like the characters they are on screen. Well, Duh! There wouldn't be need for those characters if they existed in our reality. Anyways, as I was reading this book, it struck me (and my writing brain), that actors may be the great pretenders, but writers are the biggest liars around. They have to web this fictional story of make-believe characters and make sure they keep track of all these "lies" they are describing. If all of their 't's aren't crossed and their 'i's aren't dotted and all loose ends are not tied up, someone will find the loop hole in their story and they will never be trusted as an author again, for that person.
Okay, that seems dramatic, but think about it.
As readers, we THRIVE on these lies and unrealistic stories. And as movie goers, we LOVE to see stories played out and fall in love with these characters that simply do not exist.
It is no wonder that our world is filled with deceit and infidelity, and drama and gossip, and he-said-she-said, and no trust, and the list goes on and on and on.
But within these lies of stories that we relish and let our emotions run high on, there are stories of happiness, and love, and loss, and recovery, and family, and friends, and unexpected surprises, and beauty. That is why I love the fictional realities I consume my time with and why I write my "web of lies". To show all sides of humanity and all sides of emotions. To show hope in a world of sorrow. To show love in a society consumed by hate.

Why do you subject yourself to a life that isn't yours?