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.

_______________________________________________

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. 

__________________________________________________

 

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

Please Keep Your Politics Out of my Fiction! Oh, Wait...

I'm tugging on my Reader Cap today for a bit of a rant about one of my major pet peeves as a reader.

Yup. Sorry. Sometimes you just gotta vent. 

I realize everyone's mileage may vary and there may be some who don't view this as an issue, but I've talked with and seen the comments from enough readers to know it's becoming a pretty major factor in the Readers' Pet Peeves column. 

I can recall a time, not even a dozen years ago, when politics and political issues weren't such major topics among writers and authors. I clearly remember the days when the last thing anyone cared about was what an author's political stand was, and which side of the political equation they supported or leaned toward. No one cared. It was a trivial matter. It just didn't make a difference.

How times have changed.

Today, everyone seems to have a very strong opinion on politics and world views, and authors, being communicators, can be especially vocal. Problem is, some of them don't confine their personal statements to social media and personal expression, and insist on stamping their views all over the books they write, a product they sell to readers as entertainment. Some even go so far as to push their politics in the newsletters they send out to those interested in their work. Yeah, that's an instant click on the unsubscribe button for me.

So here's my take...which you can take or leave at your discretion.

In my experience most readers don't want to hear an author's views expressed via what should be a well-crafted story but which has been unabashedly converted into a politically-fueled soapbox. This reader included. No. Thank. You.

From polls and commentary I've seen, I believe the majority of readers feel the same. They read fiction to escape the teeth-gritting turmoil of everyday life and have no desire to be constantly reminded of the hot mess our society is becoming. I read for escapism. I read to enjoy being whisked away to an imaginative fictional world that is usually set in a distant time. Turn a story set in the future into a mouthpiece for the dystopian present and it's an instant DNF for me. And that's whether I agree with those views or not. 

Here's the low down. If I want political opinions I can watch the news, or any morning talk show, or read politically-centered non-fiction books, or just sign on to any social media platform. I'm not looking to read about current issues in a story that's supposedly set in a different time and place. As I said, my whole point in picking up a book is to escape the here and now, at least for a little while.  

So please...let fiction be fiction.  

But all that said, as I wrapped up this blog, I realized there's a caveat. Completely avoiding the allusion to real life political or social topics in fiction, especially science fiction, is just plain unavoidable. And sometimes a reader might interpret the elements of some stories as political commentary, even though that wasn't at all the intent of the writer.

That's the "Oh, Wait..." part of today's blog title which I'm going to explore in my next post. I'll try to come back and add the link once it's posted. 

Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts or comments below, whether you agree or disagree.