So I exaggerate a little – am I wrong to jazz up my stories? By Andrea Askowitz

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This story by our teacher was just published in Aeon.co

Before 8 November 2016, I thought it was okay to stretch the truth in storytelling, especially if you were trying to be funny. Now, I’m not sure.

TrueStory was my Match.com handle. I don’t remember Victoria’s handle; what I remember is her picture. She’s wearing drag-queen quantities of makeup: gold swathes across her eyelids, blush from cheekbone to temple, and fuck-me red lipstick. She’s leaning forward, her white, fitted shirt is unbuttoned way down, and she’s squeezing her boobs together with her arms to exaggerate her cleavage. She looks like a hoochie mama.

When I tell people about the pictures, and I love to tell people, Victoria says the pictures aren’t like that. She says I’m exaggerating. But that’s the way I saw them.

click here to read more in Aeon.co..

 

 

For more on this theme, listen to Episode 27: When Is It Okay to Bullshit?

 

 

Andrea Askowitz is an author, storyteller and performer. She is the creator of Lip Service, a literary event in Miami, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Salon and on NPR, among others. She is co-producer of the podcast, Writing Class Radio, and is the author of My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy (2008). She lives in Miami, Florida.

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allison langer

Allison Langer is a Miami native, University of Miami MBA, writer, and single mom to three children, ages 12, 14 and 16. She is a private writing coach, taught memoir writing in prison and has been published in The Washington Post, Mutha Magazine, Scary Mommy, Ravishly, and Modern Loss. Allison's stories and her voice can be heard on Writing Class Radio, a podcast she co-produces and co-hosts, which has been downloaded more than 750,000 times. Allison wrote a novel about wrongful conviction and is actively looking for an agent. Allison is currently working on a memoir with Clifton Jones, an inmate in a Florida prison.