There is no good way to say this: words fall short

There is no good way to say this: words fall short

Fiction, as I've learned from writing it and reading it, tends to be about the inexplicable and the illogical. Sometimes my students complain about what they read in fiction—"I don't believe this would happen in life" or "I don't believe any parent would do that to their children." What can I say to a young person who has strong convictions but a lack of imagination? Not much, really. The world, it seems to me, is governed by strong conviction, …