Telling the Truth Even When It’s Ugly

Part of the series Writing a Book from Start to Finish

By J.E. Nickerson | Wise Thinkers Help Desk

Some stories are not meant to comfort.

They are meant to confront.

As writers, it’s tempting to craft narratives that offer escape, hope, or beauty—and there’s real value in those stories. But not every story fits into a neat resolution. Some stories claw their way through difficult truths. Some leave the reader uneasy—and that’s the point.

Films like Gone Baby Gone, Bordertown, and The Whistleblower are not easy to watch. They don’t offer comforting answers. Instead, they raise hard questions about justice, power, and complicity. They force us to face the reality that some systems fail, some people suffer silently, and sometimes no choice is without consequence.

As storytellers, we carry a responsibility to speak to the world as it is, not just as we wish it were.

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The Weight of Writing Hard Truths

There’s a cost to writing what’s real. When you tell the truth—especially the ugly, uncomfortable, systemic kind—you’ll lose some readers. People will look away. Some will say it’s “too much.” But if the people living these stories don’t get to look away, neither should we.

In Gone Baby Gone, we’re asked whether justice means returning a child to her mother—or doing what’s best for the child, regardless of blood. There’s no easy answer. It makes the viewer question their own morality.

In Bordertown, Jennifer Lopez plays a journalist investigating the horrific femicides near the U.S.-Mexico border—murders rooted in corruption, poverty, and exploitation. The story is overwhelming because it’s real. And it dares to ask: Why is no one stopping this?

And The Whistleblower, based on true events, dives into the horrifying world of human trafficking within peacekeeping forces—showing us how even those tasked with protecting can be part of the harm. Rachel Weisz’s character loses everything trying to reveal the truth. And the truth still isn’t enough to fix it all.

These stories don’t comfort us—they challenge us. That’s what makes them matter.

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Why Writers Must Sometimes Disturb

If you’re a writer, you might feel torn. Do you give your audience a soft place to land—or do you speak out about what others are afraid to name? The answer isn’t either/or. It’s when and how.

We, as writers, have the ability to confront and reveal what others refuse to voice. We can expose darkness from behind the keyboard. Not every story is a fairytale. Some are cries for justice.

Stories are powerful because they connect audiences to the world around them—to issues they may never have seen or understood. Sometimes storytelling isn’t about escaping. It’s about surviving—not survival of the fittest, but survival of the forgotten. The left behind. The silenced.

Writing becomes advocacy when our words speak for those who can’t. And when you write about abuse, corruption, addiction, broken justice systems, racism, trafficking, trauma, war, or abandonment—you may wonder: Is this too heavy? Too raw? Too much?

For many, it is. But someone is living it.

And your words may be the only time they feel seen.

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Giving the Audience No Escape

Telling these stories means giving your audience nowhere to hide. No perfect ending. No neat resolution. No villain easy to hate or hero easy to cheer. Just raw, messy reality.

It means holding up a mirror and saying:

“This is the world we live in. What are we going to do about it?”

That’s not escapism.

That’s awakening.

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Your Voice Has Power

If you’ve been feeling the weight of a difficult story—one that demands more than entertainment—this is your permission to write it anyway.

You don’t have to write what people want to hear.

Write what they need to hear.

Tell the stories that hurt.

Tell the stories that matter.

Because truth—even when it’s ugly—is sacred.

Writing these kind of stories requires deep character development. It means knowing the motivations of your characters, their morality affects their decisions and how the grit and hardship of what they are dealing with changes them. For more help writing stories with this level of character depth, read the follow articles so that your characters can support the full weight of the story you are telling. 

• Just Because They Can Doesn’t Mean They Should: Writing Morality That Makes Audiences Think
• Writing the Moral Dilemma: How to Build Tension Between What a Character Can Do and What They Should Do
• When Characters Can’t Come Back: Writing Irreversible Change
• When Good Characters Cross the Line: The Moral Cost of Doing What Feels Necessary

Resources

Ready to write characters that do more than act — but wrestle with why?

Download Questions to Ask Your Characters About Power, Morality, and Choice and start building stories that challenge, inspire, and stick with your readers long after the final page.

Questions to ask your characters about power, morality and choice

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📚 And if you’re new here, I’m J.E. Nickerson — faith based author and inspirational storyteller. You can check out my books here or follow me on YouTube for more inspiration and encouragement on this writing life.