I’ve been creating fiction for a long time. Like, for over two decades now. (I started early.)
While I cared about laws of physics since I wrote romantic comedies and dramas set in the real world, I left everything else to my imagination. Now, there was logic involved.
When Greg drove a Jaguar in my romcom novel A Change Would Do You Good, I made sure the audience knew he was a star in his field and at his company. He was the boss’s favorite and made a lot of money. So no one questioned his living standards.
But no matter how much reality you infuse into your fiction, someone will offer a piece of unwarranted criticism, which is fine.
Not all of the unwarranted criticisms come from a mean place. Your readers have different life experiences. Not to mention, our levels of suspension of disbelief differ. When I watch a movie/series with teenagers, I am fine with young adults acting younger than their age. I mean, who is going to say Michael J. Fox can’t/couldn’t pass for a high schooler in Back to the Future? Come on, I dare ya. 🙂
Still, not all Friends lovers (and haters) are convinced Monica could afford her Manhattan apartment. To that, I say:
- Rent control
- Occasionally great-paying jobs as a chef
- Upper-middle-class parents
- Happy-to-lend-money brother
- Well-earning bestie (Chandler)
Those five points are mentioned in the show. At this point, if you don’t believe she could survive living there, maybe you aren’t into fiction.
One time, a friend reading A Change Would Do You Good (the story featuring our Jaguar-driving friend Greg from above) told me everyone in the story was good-looking, and that didn’t seem believable.
All my recurring characters are either really hot or attractive in their own way. Except for Linda in the beginning, because she has let herself go. However, she also gives herself a makeover and a confidence boost. And don’t worry, there’s no glass removal involved. Just a woman dressing better and losing the extra weight (and by that, I mean her incompatible boyfriend).
What are the odds of so many people being attractive? Without context, it sounds like a writer just pulling stuff out of her butt, I’ll admit.:))
But here’s the context:
This story is set in California. Some characters are from L.A., where there’s a lot of pressure to look good. I’ve been to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. I don’t remember seeing a lot of average-looking people.
I looked fantastic too. I made an effort. It was my first time being abroad, and it was Cali, so I wasn’t just going to roll out of bed and not care.
Here’s even more context:
Janie, the main character, is a fashion designer. She knows how to look good.
Kevin, the male main character and Janie’s love interest is a pro surfer. Sports is his idea of fun. He is hot. And yes, it matters to the plot. And remember, this is a romcom drama. How many romcoms have you read or watched where the leads are just meh?
Kevin’s best friends are surfers and they also take amazing care of themselves. This is also not just a superficial afterthought either. This is a tight group of people who are extremely competitive at everything, and they have made a career in the one thing they love most in the world. They are healthy, successful, confident, and radiant. It’d be unusual if they weren’t considered hot.
(If you are wondering how such a happy group will have trouble in life… Well, Kevin has never been in love. He doesn’t even believe in romantic love. Janie’s grieving the death of the guy she thought she’d be with forever. So when they meet, sparks fly, and world views clash… So, don’t worry. The conflicts are strong with this neighbors to lovers/haters to lovers duo.)
Greg is a psychiatrist. He cares deeply about mental and physical health. Just doing what’s good for your body and soul alone will make a big difference in how good you look.
Ben is literally a model.
But what are the odds of them coming together and all the chaos?
Anytime you put an ensemble together and have them experience hilarious (mis)adventures, someone is bound to ask: But what are the odds?
It’s a great and valid question. Luckily, I’ve got the answer for you:
Highly likely, because life is stranger than fiction.
When I was in college, I did two terms abroad in Halden, Norway as an international student. Here’s a very short snippet of what life was like:
- Once, a German neighbor opened the door with a chainsaw in hand. (He’s a great guy. We were a weird bunch.)
- The neighbors of a Chinese student didn’t like his housekeeping (or behavior), so they put his bike on the roof of their two-story house.
- My Austrian neighbor hated my Hungarian neighbor’s kitchen habits, so he threw all of his kitchen stuff out of the window.
- My Russian and Norwegian neighbors, both with notoriously bad memories, met, forgot meeting, and introduced themselves to each other again after a year. They didn’t notice each other for months, even though they lived in a small two-story house with just 6 other people.
- My German neighbor with the chainsaw once carved a wooden stake for me in 5 minutes because I wanted to go to the Halloween party as Buffy.
- All the guys came together and skied off the roofs. For fun.
That’s real life for you. So any time I’m tempted to dismiss a storyline as unlikely, I think back and laugh.
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Life is, and probably will always be stranger than fiction. Just think about what we have been through in the world in the last 3 years.
By all means, mind your plot holes. Check your facts. But write what you want. Because chances are, stuff way weirder already happened.
