The idea of “emotional truth” often pops up during discussions of accuracy in the context of creative nonfiction. Maybe you can't get every detail right, goes the argument, but you can capture a larger meaning that's essentially truthful.

Editors work together with writers to splice together lines in what are known as Frankenbites to help create storylines with more comedic or dramatic impact.

It's a passable substitute, but it will never measure up to the original.

The waters made old men young, and everything was hotsy-totsy until Ouachita broke the moral law by killing a man who seemed likely to succeed him as chief. Then the mountains yield molten lava, destroying Ouachita and his tribe.