The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.  ~Tom Clancy~

      Reality is often a strange place to live.  I’ve heard true stories and seen things that I wouldn’t dare put in my fiction writing because no one would believe it. 

      The way my mind works, I have to bounce things off The Curmudgeon to see if he thinks it is believable.  He makes for a great technical adviser but sometimes his imagination is a tad lacking and I have to ask others their opinions.

     Having a wild imagination isn’t always good for a writer.  Fiction that doesn’t sound real enough will put off a reader faster than a skunk’s butt backing up to him/her.  It has to be believable enough to suspend disbelief.

     Thus, even real situations that sound too fantastic to believe will lose readers.  They must always make sense if only in terms of making sense for the story.