Politics and Fiction - Doing a Double Take

In yesterday's blog titled "Please Keep Your Politics Out of my Fiction! Oh, Wait..." I explained my complete disdain as a reader for fiction stories that incorporate current political biases. In giving this further thought, I should add a disclaimer that I'm referring to books that are blatant statements about current politics or politically-fueled stands, and not solid sci-fi with a fresh approach to the future. 

For example, The Expanse television series (based on the book series by the James S.A. Corey writing team) portrayed a creatively-imagined 2200s with present day social issues extrapolated into a troubled future -- minus the soapbox. Or the original Star Wars trilogy which portrayed the age-old battle of Good vs. Evil (or Light vs. Dark) in a higher tech setting also steered clear of current political social statements. (Not so much the more recent sequels, unfortunately.) 

But my diatribe in the last post was coming from a reader. As an author, the more thought I put into it, the more I realized there's a kicker to my "no politics in fiction" bent.

In order to write a compelling story, there have to be basic elements of good, evil and often, those ambiguous gray areas that fall in between. When I write characters, they have to act and think in ways that are true to themselves and their situation. They are forced to make choices which some readers (and even I, as the author) may or may not agree with, but if I've done my job well as an author, readers will be able to relate to the character's choices even if they wouldn't make the same decisions themselves. 

So I have to concede that avoiding politics to any degree is impossible when writing fiction, even though it's not intentionally crafted to be "current political commentary in sheeps' clothing" and even when the last thing I create a story to do is to pound home any sort of social statement about our times. (What's the fun in that?)

In examining my work, these are just a few situations that arise in current and future novels that affect characters and are essential to plot but are not intended to mimic today's social struggles, politics or controversial science or make any statements about said issues, pro or con. It's only about the character's choices and a reflection of the societies they live in, which is to say, not ours.

(In alphabetical order)

• Actions taken "for the greater good"
• AI enabled technology and repercussions on the human race
• Alien abduction
• Androids used as servants
• Apocalyptic war or threats of
• Assassination for political reasons
• Basic human rights, the presence or absence of
• Biological androids
• Connecting the human brain to technology
• Environmental catastrophe
• Environmental extremism
• Erasing/altering historical facts
• Fear of hypodermic needles
• Human slavery
• Oppressing human rights
• "Racism" but only as it applies to human subspecies (Speciesism?)
• Right to choose
• Secret societies
• Shadow governments
• Technologically altering behavior

Not every reader who reads one of my books is going to have the benefit of reading this multi-part blog, so I decided maybe what I need to do is craft a disclaimer for each of my future novels to summarize some of what I've stated in these two Politics and Fiction related blogs.

Here's an early draft of that possible statement extrapolated from some of my statements above. It will probably go through a good many revisions.

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Author's Disclaimer

This is purely a work of fiction that takes place in an imagined future. 

In order to write a compelling story, basic elements of good, evil and often, those ambiguous gray areas that fall in between must be present. The characters always act and think in ways that are true to themselves and their situation. They are forced or compelled to make choices which some readers (and even I, the author) may not agree with, but those decisions are right for the character in their fictional world.

In light of this, plot elements may at times parallel social issues that are hot topics in the present, but this work was never intended to make statements or take a stand about current political issues. I believe the purpose of a good story is to allow a reader to escape into another realm. 

For this reason, I hope that readers can cast off the here and now and Escape to the Stars. Enjoy this adventure fueled by "what if..." and never "what should be."  

Thank you for reading my work. 

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As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome. Thank you for reading my blog.