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Q&A Where to draw the line between fantasy and reality in a story?

If you're doing essentially the same thing as 90% of your genre (flying people achieve great heights immediately, people with superpowers never have issues with getting fuel for those powers, someo...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:33Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20401
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T04:55:58Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20401
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T04:55:58Z (almost 5 years ago)
If you're doing essentially the same thing as 90% of your genre (flying people achieve great heights immediately, people with superpowers never have issues with getting fuel for those powers, someone can be knocked unconscious for hours but be okay) because the "realistic" details are not the purpose of your story, then I think you're fine. If anything, your readers may be _more_ surprised if you present the realistic version.

However, it depends what kind of story you're writing. If your entire point is to explore what it would _really_ be like to fly or develop powers etc., then yes, by all means research the effect thoroughly and present the problems in all their gory detail.

I think that would be a valuable and fascinating story, because while many people know about getting the bends going underwater, or think about air pressure in a plane, nobody really thinks about the effect of that same air pressure if you could fly under your own (magical) power.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-01-10T13:26:22Z (almost 9 years ago)
Original score: 17