The Truth Will Out

Breaking Bad was five seasons of watching Walter White transform from squirrelly high school chemistry teacher and car wash employee to a wealthy drug kingpin.

Along his journey, White was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Knowing that his time was limited, he kept telling Skyler that he was cooking meth to provide his family money they could live on after he was gone. As their marriage fell apart, he kept reiterating that point to her.

However, in the series finale he asked her if she knew why he had done all of it. All the drug production, sales and murder. She didn't want to hear him say he did it for his family again. She was weary of that excuse.

Instead, though, he said "I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really -- I was alive."

So, in the very last episode of the series, Walter White's truth came out, and it made him a totally believable human being. After failing at teaching, parenting and being a husband, his words rang hollow when explaining motivation, and the viewer eventually sensed that as his actions escalated to a point beyond just merely manufacturing an illegal substance.

His epiphanic statement in the finale brought a closure that was needed and understandable. It didn't make him look like a good guy after all; instead it did the opposite. But it made sense and that was a satisfying gift provided by the writers.

Do you have a truth in your writing?

Be careful how you answer that because it's easy to convince ourselves of things that just aren't reality. It takes an objective sense of self-awareness to come to a conclusion of truth, not just a series of emotions.

But, once you find the truth in your writing, it can open up whole worlds that were previously outside your otherwise narrow perception.