Reality And Fantasy: Finding the Right Blend

By Lissy Jones

My mother always tells me the same thing whenever I write - “Write what you know”. I can't stress this enough.

Allow me to explain this with a simple example. Which is easier to write if you are a suburban Christian teenager – a story set in New York City about a young urban professional or a story about a suburban Christian teenager?

Now, you may have a sibling that is a young urban professional in NYC, and that will make it easier to write the former, but generally, the latter is always going to be easiest for you to write.

Think about it. You know the people in your neighborhood, you know what it's like to be a teen, and it’s your life. I write my best fiction when it's almost non-fiction. Having part of your personal story in your writing is like having climbing gear while climbing a mountain, versus free-hand climbing. It's easier, and much less dangerous.

But, my friends, writing direct biographies of our lives could be boring.  I know that I love writing partly because of the other world it transports me to – a world that I create. It's only human to want to create things, as we are created in the image of the Creator. And when I'm writing what seems to be a narrative of my own boring (in my opinion) life, I tend to get bored.

 I have yet to write anything based directly on my life that is longer than a short story. And now, we are presented with a dilemma. So how do we fix that? Well, there are three ways. First, recognize the balance in writing. Second, learn to make reality fantasy. Third, research any topics you aren't familiar with. 

Finding a Balance

Writing, like life, is a balance. It's a delightful concoction with the perfect ratios of reality to fantasy. Every writer must be able to dream a little.

I'm almost 100% sure C.S. Lewis didn't possess a magical wardrobe that transported him to another world inhabited by talking animals. Yet, he spins a tale so real, the books have lasted years!

So, what's the magic ratio? In all honesty, friend, it varies. The Chronicles of Narnia requires more fantasy than, say, The Grapes of Wrath.

 A good writer is able to recognize exactly how much fantasy/reality he or she needs to add to the story. It's like cooking – add a dash of reality to taste. If you reach the point where you read over your work and it sounds very “fake”, maybe reconsider some elements of your story, and make them closer to home.

If you're a girl who loves reading and writing, an illiterate boy who has just immigrated to America might be too hard to try to relate to. I like to play it safe and always have my main character be a girl, like me. Always have something in common with your character.

 A good way to do this is to make a chart comparing you and your character's homes, families, personalities, and situations. This can help you see what you can change to get more in common.

If, on the other hand, your story sounds like an autobiography, expand your mind a bit and add in some spice – perhaps you've always secretly wished you played piano from birth. Add that in!

Also, consider changing one big piece of your character's background. If you come from a two-parent household, making your character live with a single parent in a divorced or widowed family can add a fresh take on things.

Turning Reality into Fantasy

Additionally, learn to turn reality into fantasy. Take Tolkien for example. How would a professor of Anglo-Saxon studies know what it was like to journey across a fictional land to destroy a ring with evil powers? There is no earthly way. Yet, Tolkien had been across a fictional land to destroy a ring with evil powers, in a way.

Tolkien had been in WWI, on the front lines. He'd experienced into Mordor-on-Earth! From there, it was easy to swap guns for swords, tanks for Olliphants, and ordinary people caught in the midst of destruction and pain for ordinary hobbits. Combine that with his knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon times, and you have a masterpiece. Tolkien's “fantasy” was actually reality!

So, make an inventory of all of the experiences you have had. Perhaps your sister was sick and you had to journey to the store to get medicine. Suddenly, you have the story of a sixteen-year-old boy on the frontier who must take a dangerous journey to town in a snowstorm to save a loved one.

The littlest things can be a plot line in the making. Take time to sit down and make a list of experiences – big and small. Add your mission trip to Burma alongside you helping to take care of newborn kittens.

With each experience, try to jot down some of the feelings going through you at the time – this can be useful later on. Nothing is more valuable in writing than knowledge of human emotions, and you're a human, right? Use the emotions from your past experiences to make your fictional scenarios more “real”. 

The Importance of Research

Finally, I cannot stress the value of research more. You may think, “Research? For a fiction story? Last time I checked, this wasn't an essay . . .” No, it's not an essay, it's a story. But regardless, there's going to be little details about places/things/industries/etc. that you won't know. 

I once wrote a story about a girl who grew up on a ranch who went to an English boarding school. I knew absolutely nothing about either ranches OR boarding schools! So, I read books on ranching (novels and non-fiction both), and watched a movie.

Then, after my character moved to England, I did research on boarding schools, reading fiction and non-fiction, and watched a TV show. When my friend later read it, she was amazed how much I knew about ranches and boarding schools, without ever having been to either one.  

Don't be afraid to admit you don't know much about your topic and don't let the lack of knowledge cage your writing. Knowledge is easily gained, a wise man once said, wisdom is not.

 Find a good novel about your topic (this will give you an excuse to do some reading). Have a movie night – if you're writing about a boy caught in the drama of piracy in the 18^th century, why not watch Pirates of the Caribbean?

There's a billion and one movies on whatever topic you're writing on. Try to put yourself in the shoes of the character – if you have a character competing in a rodeo – go online and look up rodeos like you're going to compete in one!

Google Earth is one of my favorites for getting setting just right – look up the general area where you're writing and get a feel for the landscape, the spacing of buildings, the weather. Especially with the Internet, the world is at your fingertips. Just be humble enough to realize when you need to look it up.

Writing what you know doesn't have to be dry “The Story-Of-My-Life” English Comp narrative essay. Your personal knowledge is a powerful tool in your writer's toolbox. Use it, my friends, and watch as you achieve that “real” element to your stories.

Don't let reality hinder your imagination; let the two work together to achieve a happy medium. Take a look at some of the great literature out there, and just see how the writers put their own personal human experience in their book – Hemingway and Tolkien do a great job of this especially. 

Remember, in all that we write, we should bring glory to God through our quality. Adding your own mark on your own writing will not only up the quality, but it will make the story more “yours”. Own your writing – pursue your dreams.