Dealing with real world issues in fantasy

[Chilari]

Fantasy gives us the opprtunity to explore hundreds of different real world issues, from capital punishment to sexuality, from gender identity to single parenting, and loads more, with subtlety and, if we want, without controversy. But at the same time preachy fantasy is very offputting (to me at least), particular when relating to religion and especially when it's preaching thinly disguised Christian ideals.

So how do you deal with contentious issues? Do you ignore them and just let the story tell itself? Do you deliberately include characters or scenarios that would be contentious or controversial in the real world, but then treat them like they're the status quo in your fantasy world? Do you give your fantasy world its own issues of controversy which are irrelevant or obsolete in the real world? Or do you make issues you feel strongly about major parts of your stories?

 

[Kelise]

I generally only use them if they're part of the plot or if I can do it in a way that doesn't seem preachy. I lose interest in a novel or I'm offended if the novel I'm reading does it in any way that can seem like they're forcing it down my throat - almost like Ben Elton and Environmental issues, but he gets away with it because he's just so awesome. Same with Artemis Fowl, when I was younger.

I like to include them if it gives depth or a different angle to the story. I try not to use current issues, because I usually think people are a bit sick of them and read for escapism, but again, if they can be included in a subtle/meaningful way, then why not.

I could only ever include issues what I feel strongly about though. Though then, there's always the risk of (repeating myself) coming across too strongly with them.

...I feel like I just rephrased myself a million times then. Basically, YES, but I'm very careful with it. ^^

 

[Chilari]

Yes, I try to avoid being preachy. One sort of trick I use is to have a scario that is controversial in real life, but then make it controversial to my characters for completely different reasons. For example, my fantasy world doesn't have any homophobia, but a gay couple in my story are controversial because their relationship crosses class boundaries - in their relationship they are equals, but in the society they live in, they're not, and this is a major taboo - one which also affects another character, whose parents were of vastly different social standings (and also unmarried).

What sort of issues do you tend to deal with, then? In my current work in progress, I've got issues of class snobbery, political authority and who has the right to weild it, punishment fitting the crime and general issues of justice and morality, single parenting, and sexuality.

 

[Kelise]

That's really interesting - making it a point that being gay isn't an issue and kinda tucking that point away with another point Good job!

I usually have rank issues - people born into a certain life who have abilities to be so much more, but they're held back by who their parents are, or where they were born.
Or one of my more recent novels had two 'tribes', we'll call them, where one were known as tenshi (angels) and the other looked like demons. It didn't go so far, (as I'm not used to writing high fantasy like that,) but I wanted to try and make the tenshi practically cursed to do good (so they couldn't stand by and watch shoplifting; they physically have to act on it) and then in addition I focused on how for them, it was a bad thing.
The demons in turn were cursed to be troublemakers. Then, I made the tenshi kinda abrasive, egotistical, almost nasty people, while the demons were good at heart, almost caring, with a high sense of morals. It was interesting to play on the bad-actually-being-good and good-actually-being-bad side of things.

I wish I could involve single parenting and sexuality in it more though. In another novel I had a gay couple, and I tried to make it - how to say - so normal you might not even notice it, but not in a hiding it in there type of way. These two issues are important to me as so many of my friends live that life every day. I may not, but that doesn't mean I don't support it loudly.

 

[Philip Overby]

I wrote a story in which these barbarians were overrun culturally by a more "civilized" nation that started holding the barbarians liable for their ways. They bring many things, but the most powerful of which are lawyers. The main character is sued by seven different women he had "love-children" with and has to leave his country in order to shore up money to pay child support.

So this powerful warrior is reduced to working odd jobs to pay all his back child support. I guess that's a real world issue.

Sometimes I like to take mundane things like paying bills or taking a train to work and putting it in a fantasy world. Exciting right?

 

[Chilari]

Mixing things up - sounds like fun, Phil. An interesting way of dealing with two issues - cultural invasion and child support - in one go.

 

[Ophiucha]

I think fantasy worlds are an interesting way to explore politics and morality in a setting untouched by our own histories and biases. But, and this is very important, I don't think any writer should create their personal utopia or dystopia. This extends even to the most basic of fantasy novels, because nothing annoys me more. I think that's what turned me off of Eragon so much. The writing was bad, but I think most fantasy novels are written rather poorly. The characters were bland, but eh, whatever. But those elves? Those vegetarian atheist elves who are never wrong? I just closed the book. I think you should explore things you are interested in, have an attachment to even, but still follow the rules of creating a fantasy society: there are ups and downs.

 

[Donny Bruso]

Personally, when it comes to including things that could be controversial in my writing, I just kind of throw them in and let the readers decide how they want to feel about it. Three hundred pages of preaching at them about how homosexuality isn't a threat to them isn't going to do several things:

It isn't going to lure in readers
It isn't going to sell any books,
And it isn't going to change anyone's mind.

My philosophy is that this is a fictional world. This is how fictional people react to whatever issue I've tossed into that chapter. My characters will react in a way that is appropriate for them, regardless of my personal feelings on the matter. They may preach at each other, but since there is always one deeply violent and short-tempered character around, chances are, the preacher will tend to get whapped upside the head.

 

[Amanita]

Well, I think it's hardly possible to write a story without including any real-world issues. I don't tend to focus on them on purpose however, at least I don't think so. I try to just describe the situations in various countries of mine and the reactions of the characters without adding any authorial judgement from it.

There are some issues where I probably don't really manage this because I hate them so much, one of them is the idea that some peope are better than others due to the position of the people their born to. Characters who endorse this view often tend to come across as unlikeable and also incompetent I'm afraid. Maybe I really should do something about that.

Another one, of course, is the idea that women aren't really human but I just avoid that. My countries definitly aren't all gender-equal but most of the time I tend to give the characters some arguments that make it believable that they think, there ideas of what men and women should do are the best for everyone involved.

I used to have a country that was my own personal utopia at the beginning of my world-building process but by know it has an ever present mind-reading secret police, torture prisons and most importantly sympathetic characters who aren't happy with the ruling ideology.

 

[Ravana]

As usual, it's a case of "show, don't tell." You portray whatever issues you want to address, in whatever fashion you want to address them; you do not tell readers what they ought to think about them, instead allowing them to draw their own conclusions from the actions and reactions of the characters. If you can get your readers to react with "I've never thought of it that way before," you've pretty much accomplished as much as you're going to. (Getting them to think at all is a good–and sufficiently difficult–first step.) Beating them over the head with it won't advance their opinion beyond that.

 

[Chilari]

Oh absolutely - I never intend to be headbashy with anything I write. But once I realised that I can't avoid including my own opinions on certain matters, even if under the surface, I figured I might as well be aware of them and be deliberate in both including them and being as subtle as I can with them. Ideally, I want my readers to not even be aware that I've deliberately included certain issues, but next time they do think of those issues, to think twice, perhaps without even realising why.

 

[Mdnight Falling]

My stories tell themselves.. I'm just there to make sure the world sees the words I've read everything I've ever written.. I used to get awards when I was a kid.. most people remember the stuff they've written even if it's real old.. But I never do with the good ones.. I never remember writing them, but I do all the time. short stories mostly LOL. I try not to put religion of political views into my novels.. but they are always there if you look REAL close. It's never intentional though... I'm not open about my ideals and stuff like Ayn Rand is LOL It's always hidden. I don't know how they get there, but I suppose every book has them if you look close enough after all books aren't just fro enjoyment, no matter what you read there's a message somewhere telling something whether you want to hear it or not