"spin the tale" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It is typically used when telling a story, especially one that is made up or exaggerated. For example, "Once upon a time, a brave knight went on a quest to save the princess. To spin the tale even further, he was accompanied by a magical dragon who had sworn to protect him on his journey."
We have heard of Wyatt because, unlike his brothers, he lived to a ripe old age, long enough to spin the tale.
Folman juggles live action with animation, earth-toned reality with candied fantasy, to spin the tale of Robin Wright (played, naturally, by Robin Wright), a Hollywood actor on the wrong side of 40, gazing glumly at her youthful self on the Princess Bride poster.
More poignant still, the famous expedition on which Dodgson became forever Carroll and began to spin the tale that would become Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was an end not a beginning, the ecstatic climax of his relationship with the most famous little girl in English literature.
True Grit beats a path back to the original Charles Portis novel to spin the tale of 14-year-old Mattie Ross (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld), a pig-tailed angel of vengeance, hellbent on finding the man who robbed and killed her father.
What Bagwan Petraeus (so named by me because Congress tends to grovel before uniforms as if they are in the presence of pop-prophets) is tasked with during this canned interview with America is to spin the tale that Iran is who "we" are fighting in Iraq.
My mother died a few weeks back and now there is no one I can call to spin the tales from old Europe.
Capote then goes on to write: "Somehow, spinning the tale, Joel had believed every word").
"Khloé and Lamar" was canceled after two seasons — or, depending on who was spinning the tale, just put on hold as the couple claimed they needed a break.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was a spry short story written by James Thurber back in 1939 and spinning the tale of a henpecked fantasist in humdrum Connecticut.
Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels spun the tale a successful comedy director who wants to make big, serious pictures about the issues that matter.
Kitty, Sevigny explains, is a mere six minutes long, drawn from a Paul Bowles short story and spinning the tale of a small girl who turns into a cat.
