The Lit Vérité Manifesto
Lit Vérité is a discipline, not a religion -- there are two sins: breaking it by accident and clinging to it like dogma.
Lit Vérité is an unmediated, dialogue-forward, negative-space fiction style that immerses the reader as witness to events, revealing character and world entirely through in-scene speech, action, and implication, without authorial interpretation.
Blind-Perception Principle
Describe only what a present, sight-impaired participant could perceive: speech, sound, touch, motion, objects interacting. No omniscient vantage, no visual flourishes the characters themselves can’t apprehend.
Zero Authorial Voice
The writer will not explain motives, feelings, or thoughts outside of what is demonstrated in speech or physical action. The scene is witnessed, not narrated.
Negative Space Is Content
What is left unsaid is part of the storytelling. Omission is intentional; the reader constructs context from absence.
Dialogue as Structure
Conversations are the frame, not seasoning. The characters carry the scene; narration exists only to keep orientation and action coherent.
Velocity of Exchange
Dialogue breathes in real time - interruptions, false starts, callbacks, overlapping threads. No summarising arguments; play them out.
Interiority Through Action
If a character feels something, we discover it in what they say, how they say it, or what they do. Never via explanatory prose.
Minimal Stage Direction
Include only actions necessary for the reader to track who’s speaking, where they are, and what’s changing physically in the scene.
Multi-Modal Authenticity
If multiple languages, signed languages, or dialects are in play, treat them as subtitles unless a character’s lack of comprehension is itself the point of the beat.
Implication Over Illustration
Intimate or high-stakes content is written by its effects and aftermath, not blow-by-blow description.
The Scene Is Now
No summary past-tense reportage inside personal scenes. The moment unfolds as the reader encounters it; they are in the room, not reading a recap.
Script Without Stage
Embrace the rawness of dialogue-forward storytelling. If it reads like a script, it's because life plays like one.