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How to Write Liars Believably

Language

The motive of every goal is the make the lie seem plausible while taking blame off the speaker, so liars will often project what they say to a third party: "Katie said that..."

Referring to third parties as "they" rather than he or she

In the case of a deliberate lie prepped beforehand, there will be an overuse of specific names (rather than pronouns) as the speaker tries to get the details right.

Overuse of non-committal words like "something may have happened"

Masking or obscuring facts like "to the best of my knowledge" and “it is extremely unlikely," etc.

Avoiding answers to specific, pressing questions

Voice

There's isn't a set tone/speed/style of speaking, but your character's speech patten will differ from his normal one.

People tend to speak faster when they're nervous and are not used to lying.

Body Language

Covering their mouth

Constantly touching their nose

fidgeting, squirming or breaking eye contact

turning away, blinking faster, or clutching a comfort object like a cushion as they speak

nostril flaring, rapid shallow breathing or slow deep breaths, lip biting, contracting, sitting on your hands, or drumming your fingers. 

Highly-trained liars have mastered the art of compensation by freezing their bodies and looking at you straight in the eye.

Trained liars can also be experts in the art of looking relaxed. They sit back, put their feet up on the table and hands behind their head.

For deliberate lies, the character may even carefully control his body language, as though his is actually putting on a show

The Four Types of Liars

Deceitful: those who lie to others about facts

2. Delusional: those who lie to themselves about facts

3. Duplicitious: those who lie to others about their values

Lying about values can be even more corrosive to relationships than lying about facts. 

4. Demoralized: those who lie to themselves about their values

Additional Notes

Genuine smiles or laughs are hard to fake

Exaggerations of words (that would normally not be emphasized) or exaggerated body language

​I am happy and excited to announce that the first draft of Crown of Exile is now completed 🎉

It's been years in development, and while we're still a way off from its final launch, the full game is now completed and will shift into edits in the coming weeks. What this means is that by February 2026, expect an updated Steam demo release in anticipation of the game's full release in Q2 of 2026.

I cannot thank you all enough for the amount of support, kindness and patience you have shown me. Writing has always been my passion, and so stepping into the world of designing my own interactive fiction was definitely new for me. I learnt a lot throughout this process and have come to appreciate you even more during the tough moments when it felt like the code was fighting me on what I needed it to do.

While the game is completed, it doesn't mean there won't be any updates. As I work towards polishing it for the final release, I'll be asking for your feedback. If you would like to help shape the final game, consider providing feedback through this form​.

And for those of you who can't wait to play the full game, you can get early access to the alpha version by subscribing to my Patreon​.

I keep coming back to that. Because it’s easy to feel like it doesn’t count:

if no one reads it,

if it’s just a few lines,

if it stays unfinished.

But writing doesn’t become real

because it’s seen.