When fiction should NOT seem real…
[Note from Steve: The reader may consider this post a sequel to a previous one, “Real Events in Fiction.”]
In your area the percentage might be different, but in news about my tristate area (NJ, NY, Conn), the media generally focuses on the negative and ignores the positive—maybe 90% of the news stories are negative, especially those involving the Big Apple. That gives me lots of ideas for mysteries and thrillers, but it’s an unwarranted bias created by the media. Since 9/11, NYC has been one of the safest cities in the world.
Good writers follow Clancy’s maxim that fiction must seem real, but should they follow that bleak reality of local, national, and international news stories to make depressing plots? In addition to cozies and romantic comedies, even more gripping mysteries and thrillers seem not to satisfy Clancy’s maxim when measured against the perceived reality reported on by the news media. In other words, that comparison would imply they’re unreal.
Sure, novels contain bad events. Mysteries have some bodies or evil conspiracies, and crime fighters—cops, FBI agents, and even ordinary citizens—sleuth around to find out who the bad guys are. Thrillers let readers know who the perps are up-front and follow what the protagonists do to thwart their nefarious activities—again, the latter might be ordinary citizens often struggling against overwhelming odds to rise up and stop what’s going on with extraordinary deeds. In any case, both mysteries and thrillers often end in an upbeat fashion, although some heroines and heroes might make the ultimate sacrifice along the way. According to the news media, that usually doesn’t happen in reality (although, to their credit, they’ll report on the sacrifices first responders often make, if they don’t take them to task).
The latter is an appearance driven by news cycles. The media usually doesn’t follow their stories far enough into the future to end them in an upbeat fashion. Some bad events need decades to be resolved (the recent cold cases solved with DNA obtained from genealogical sites are examples). This lack of follow-up adds to and exacerbates the obvious bias of focusing on the negative—scandal, sex perversion, violence, murder, and so forth. In other words, whether intentional or not (it’s deplorable if intentional, examples of what used to be called “yellow journalism”), the media all too often focuses on the negative in human nature and forgets about the positive.
In this sense, fiction writers can step in and save the day. They can follow cases to their bitter end. There’s no problem following them through decades within a novel. They can create a plot that’s breathless and exciting but carry it through to where things are resolved in an upbeat fashion, at least partially. In other words, if Clancy were still with us, shouldn’t we ask him what his definition of reality is? Is it the transient reality of everyday news cycles? Or is it a long-term reality where things get resolved?
Long before I became an author at Penmore Press, I reviewed Leah Devlin’s mystery/thriller Aegir’s Curse; it proves my point. In this book, Leah’s plot covers centuries, from the time of the Vikings in North America to present day. It satisfies Clancy’s maxim, and, because it’s loaded with historical facts, it seemed all too real! In the same sense, Clancy’s first and best book, Hunt for Red October, covers a long span of time too if we count the events in the Russian defector’s life that occurred long before he took his submarine out to sea.
I don’t want to make this a rant against news media. Lord knows there are enough people who make a living doing that. I want to make a statement, though. While I agree with Clancy’s maxim in principle, the timespan of reality we compare our fictional plots to must be considered. The media doesn’t follow reality far enough into the future, but that’s exactly what we should use to compare our fictional reality to a la Mr. Clancy.
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Comments are always welcome!
The novels in the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” start in NYC but often become national or international. From #1, The Midas Bomb, to #7, Gaia and the Goliaths, a NYC homicide starts a roller coaster ride that covers a lot of ground. And the spinoffs of the series, Rembrandt’s Angel and The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan do the same. All of these books are stand-alones—I don’t write soap-operatic episodes with cliffhangers—and they can be read in any order. Enjoy!
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
