Realism vs believability in fiction
- Possible but not probable. Bath Abbey ceiling.
A while ago I got a comment on my now defunct personal blog that made me panic. For some time now I’ve been internally debating the place of realism in my novels. I worry about how realistic they are and I worry about how realistic they should be. I worry about a lot of other stuff as well but realism has been my prime concern.
I brought the question up in response to an article on The Blood-Red Pencil. Here’s what I wrote:
I’ve written a couple of novels and I’m concerned about realism. On the one hand I think that, because they are works of fiction, I shouldn’t worry too much about making them entirely true to life. On the other hand, I don’t want readers to be put off if they think what I’ve written is completely crazy. Is it a matter of genre?
And here are some interesting excerpts from the replies:
Sometimes absurd plot points are just the ticket to get you thinking about something (think John Irving). If you build the world well and motivate your characters properly, anything is believable. And that’s your concern–believability–not reality. You are an artist with a higher point to make. Leave realism to the journalists! (Kathryn Craft)
As fiction writers, we are asking our readers to suspend disbelief. However, realism and reality aren’t necessarily the same. So Kathryn and Lee are right on when they promote, instead, the term “believability.” Whatever you’re saying doesn’t need to be probable, but it must be possible. Otherwise, you may lose your readers. (Linda Lane)What I find encouraging is the penultimate sentence from Linda – that what authors write doesn’t have to be probable, only possible. What I’ve written is at least possible if not probable.
What worries me is Kathryn’s second sentence. Have I built my world well enough? Are my characters properly motivated?
I fear it is time for another read through for both my novels – and hopefully a fresh pair of eyes!
Bryan Hollis 16 Mar 10
Interesting article, Bryan