I realized the other day something that I’ve always felt, but maybe never put into words in my own head before. I need a story to be grounded in reality (in some way) for me to enjoy it. Before you exit out of this blog post, hear me out, and also keep in mind this is coming from a guy who’s first novel is about a dead kid who gives people nightmares. I don’t mean I need stories to be realistic fiction for me to enjoy them. My favorite genres are science fiction and dark fantasy, both of which blend the real with the make believe. In those stories life is usually boring (i.e, normal), and then something unexpected happens. But, I can also enjoy stories that take place in a world completely unlike our own, as long as the characters seem human (meaning, their struggles are the same as ours. Their feelings are like ours, and I can relate to their situations).
I was reading a graphic novel not too long ago called On A Sunbeam and I just couldn’t get into it. It’s supposed to be pretty solid, and it’s in my favorite genre (sci-fi), but I just couldn’t swallow it. It’s a coming of age tale (who doesn’t love this now and again?), but it just didn’t feel real to me. Maybe there was too much of a blend of fantasy in it, maybe the reals of the world seemed to random. It was hard to put a finger on the exact reason I didn’t connect to the story, other than this: it didn’t seem grounded in a reality I believed in. And maybe that’s the greater point. I don’t need a story to be grounded to our reality, but to a fixed reality. The rules of your world need to make sense, and they need to be constant. They don’t have to be spoken, but they need to remain unchanged throughout the story.
I think that’s just good practice for any story, regardless of genre.