We need to have a talk about Realism in storytelling.

Well, we probably don’t. If you’re a fan of anything I’ve written, you’re probably cool with a flexible definition of reality. So this might very well be preaching to the choir, but it’s still worth talking about because if you read any criticism of storytelling in general, across all genres, is the specter of Realism.

I use capital R “Realism” because we’re not talking about actual reality, but about perceptions of reality. The truth is that reality is often unrealistic, in that it doesn’t always conform to our experiences or expectations. Usually when I see the “Not Realistic” complaint, it comes from a shallow place, built on either an arrogant assumption that our experience is the default human experience OR an unexamined cultural presumption.

But before I tackle those two points, I need to point out the most obvious truth here:

REALISM IS NOT THE POINT OF STORIES

It might seem a strange observation to have to make, but most stories are not about creating a realistic experience.… Read the rest “On Realism”