Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [realism]

This tag should be used for questions regarding the realism in your own fictional writing, for example when you are researching something, trying to figure out how to present something in a realistic fashion or when you are asking about legal ramifications of using a real-world element in your story.

This tag should be used for questions regarding the realism in your own al writing, for example when you are ing something, trying to figure out how to present something in a realistic fashion or when you are asking about ramifications of using a real-world element in your story.

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How can I write about historical realities that readers mistakenly believe are unrealistic?

Readers have certain expectations about locations and time periods, things they "know". For example, people "know" that everybody in the Persian Empire was brown-skinned, that houses in Ancient Rome were one or two floors high, and that up until the…
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"Real people don't make good fictional characters". Really true?

I came across such statement here on Writing SE and I don't agree much with it. But what I'd like to know is why would it be "impossible" to make good characters using real people. Searching about this, I found that one of the reasons that it's not…
Yuuza
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Where to draw the line between fantasy and reality in a story?

I realize this question may sound broad or vague, so allow me to explain. I never knew much about combat or dealing with injuries until I started gathering research for a fantasy novel I'm planning to write, which will have a lot of action and…
Summer
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Dead children in pre-modern setting

The reality of pre-Industrial Revolution times was that about half the children born died before age 5. It would be a mistake to think that parents cared less - we have multiple written records showing that they cared very much. At the same time,…
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How do I write "fantasy counterpart cultures" without being accused of cultural appropriation?

In my book series, the various planets of the galaxy are inhabited by different cultures, most of which are based on or inspired by, at least to some extent, by real-world cultures. For example: Kangaroo Islander culture is derived mostly from…
The Weasel Sagas
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Do "unlimited ammo" or "bottomless magazine" tropes ruin storytelling?

I was thinking this for a while. When I watched John Wick back then, I really like how he has limited ammo making the scenes tense and thrilling. It was such a cool detail that I wanted to add in my stories but I feel limited when writing it and…
IseedeadpeopleNOT
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How do you verify information?

This is a problem I usually come across with my stories. I often worry about whether the plotlines I introduce are realistic or not, and it's usually something that can't be solved with a simple Google search. Example: One of the characters in my…
user23083
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How can I get 2 characters to bond while standing alternate watches?

Setting is standard space opera. I am writing a story in which 2 characters are crewing a spaceship. The characters are: (1) the captain, a female in her early 20s, who has grown up on the ship and recently taken it over from her parents. (2) a…
Niceday
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How do I respectfully write black characters in a 1930s Arizona setting?

I'm writing a cartoon script aimed at a children/young-adult audience (similar to the audience of Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, and Over the Garden Wall). It deals with the daughter of a Bonnie-and-Clyde-like couple who has to find her parents…
Avital S.
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Can ‘Stupid’ Characters Make Plot Narratives Memorable?

Characters in movies ‘28 Days Later’, ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ made terrible impulsive choices that cost other characters their lives, but if it weren’t for any of those choices made in the films, they wouldn’t have had any…
Edmund Frost
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Do I need to create fictional places to make things work?

The story I'm writing takes place in the USA. I have a huge problem as my protagonist is crossing states and needs to end up at a place where a lot of things have to come together. Like there need to be parks/woods all around, there needs to be a…
Sharktastic
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In the background of the Future

As I've mentioned multiple times, I'm writing a military sci-fi novel. The focus of the story is war, and that happens far away from Earth. However, I'm starting with my MC's "normal", on Earth. It is this "normal" that I'd like to ask about. I've…
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The advantages and disadvantages of Fantasy-time

Many works of the High Fantasy genre are set in a pseudo-European fantasyland, in a rather amorphous time-period that mixes early-medieval and late-medieval arms and armour (but never gunpowder), late Renaissance society structure, and civilian…
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When writing in a school context without ever having been to school, how do I make sure that my story is accurate within school context?

I read a lot of YA fiction, a lot of which happens to take place in schools. Recently, an idea jumped into my head for a YA-ish story and told me that it was going to take place in a school. The idea came to me, and the only way it was working when…
Mithical
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Rewriting a scifi story to fit with actual science, should I do it as I go?

Rewriting a scifi story to fit with actual science, should I do it as I go, or just write first and make the needed changes while editing? My world exists in my mind, clear and palpable. but I am somewhat... Let's just say that when I read…
shieldedtulip
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