ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Fiction that isn’t based in reality definitely has its place.

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Every once in a while…you just need to take an hour or two away from the real world and… [Girl on a yellow brick road and TinMan appears]

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visit Oz, or the Shire, or…wherever this is. But realistic fiction holds up a mirror to life.

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Actual life, without all the flying monkeys [Man looking in a mirror and flying monkeys go past]

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and hobbits and…whatnot. By reading stories about people and places

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that are a bit more relatable… …we can learn things about our society, [Man on a ranch with cows and horses]

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our culture, and ourselves. If you’re into that sort of thing.

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Unlike stories in the fantasy genre, where strange creatures and characters can show up…

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…realistic fiction concerns itself only [Boy and girl having coffee]

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with stuff that could conceivably happen. Some characters might act a bit bonkers, but

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“out of the ordinary” does not equal “outside the realm of possibility.” [Man runs away screaming from the coffee shop]

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Writers of realistic fiction tend to focus on modern themes.

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Their characters deal with present-day issues… …and the way the story unfolds says a lot

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about the author's opinions about those issues. Like…maybe you’re reading a story in which [Girl stood on red carpet at a world premiere]

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several characters are Hollywood celebrities. If, in the course of the story, those characters

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regularly use their fame to manipulate and corrupt their unsuspecting fans…

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…it could be that our author has a negative view of celebrity. [Audience watching Fast and the Furious X]

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Either that, or he’s just got a strange, personal vendetta against Jennifer Aniston.

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People who write really good realistic fiction, however, aren’t heavy-handed with their messages.

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They don’t stereotype or generalize.

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Because if the characters become caricatures…i.e. exaggerated versions of real people… [Man drawing a caricature]

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…then we’re no longer operating in a world of reality.

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And then we’ve just got…um…fiction. [Centaur wearing a scarf walks into coffee shop]

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Nope…to create realistic characters, a writer needs to give them individuality and depth.

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We need to be shown the motivations for their behavior… [Man laying on a sofa]

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…and those motivations had better jibe with everything else we know about them.

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If a story features a little ol’ granny who has always opposed acts of physical violence… [Grandma protesting against violence]

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…but she suddenly starts getting into fist fights on the street…

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…something is probably very wrong. Of course, if little ol’ grannies acting

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like little ol’ grannies isn’t doing it for you…

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…you can always choose something to read from the fantasy genre instead. [Girl reading a little ol' grannies fantasy book]

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In fantasy novels, little ol’ grannies can do anything they please…

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