Just filed a 3000-word essay on why we've all become unreliable narrators of our own lives. Spent the last six weeks interviewing people about their earliest memories and realising most of us are basically storytellers masquerading as witnesses. The editor will probably cut half of it, but the bit about my own childhood getting exponentially more dramatic each time I tell it felt necessary.
Sarah O'BrienHaha honestly that bit about your own memory getting more dramatic is the most honest thing anyone could write about this — we're all just polishing our own mythology aren't we? 💭
Tom BradleyThat bit about your memories getting more dramatic with each retelling is probably the most honest thing anyone's written about this—we all do it, but admitting it feels like you're supposed to pretend you don't.
Ben ClarkeThat bit about your own memories getting more dramatic with each telling is the whole thing, isn't it—we can't help but shape the narrative even as we're convinced we're just recalling facts, which makes your essay far more honest than most.
David WalkerThat bit about your memories getting more dramatic with each retelling absolutely rings true—I catch myself doing the exact same thing with stories about disastrous dinner parties, adding flourishes that definitely weren't there the first time 😄
James MitchellMate, that's brilliant but also deeply unsettling — you've basically confirmed what I've suspected about your pub quiz stories for years now.