True stories can sound unbelievable. Though often based on truth, they must often be ‘massaged’ by a writer for various reasons, including:

• protection the innocent or the family or friends of the innocent… the identity of the person or persons involved who may not appreciate the fame or notoriety;
• providing the story with a background which ‘makes sense’;
• to bestow a richly deserved ‘happy-ever-after’; or
• deliver your ‘character’ the karma they deserve because the slippery eel avoids everything they deserve in real life…;
• making sense of an event which the writer cannot understand in reality;
• because the reality sounds far-fetched; and/or
• to avoid legal proceedings for defamation, slander etc.

Which have you done in the course of your writing or come across in your reading?