Politics is ruining fiction

The world right now is a constant tug of political beliefs and different groups vying for our attention. For many people, fiction is the escape we use when it all becomes too much. But over the last several years, even this sanctuary has been violated by the pressures of every side of the political spectrum.

Just in the last month, I’ve DNFed a Sci-fi novel based in the year 2300 that spent multiple parts of the first few chapters explaining that the current American president is the cause of all of the issues in that book. Another book I started was a fantasy novel that talked about how DEI was ruining the Elven society, using clear phrasing that we see from the right wing.

I dropped both books far more quickly than I would with bad writing or a poorly organized story. In the last few years, this has become the fastest turn off for any book, not only for me but for most readers. It’s reached a point where major authors are losing swaths of their audiences because they insert these things into their novels and burn bridges that may never be repaired.

Inside the author and publishing communities this has turned into a warzone of these same beliefs as well. Some authors, including very successful ones, are being told that agents and publishers aren’t interested in representing or publishing them because they aren’t “diverse enough to be interesting” despite having a solid book they’re querying. On the other side, some authors are being hit by “anti-woke boycotts" despite not actually including any of that kind of stuff in the actual story.

All of these pulls create a hostile environment for books to be written and to flourish. But with politics consuming everything, what can we as authors and readers do about it? How can we protect the escape we’ve enjoyed and not end up like the video game community, or movies and TV?

As an author, I’ve tried to follow a principle I learned at a young age from Michael Jordan. During a post game interview, he was confronted by a reporter about not openly supporting a Democrat Senate candidate. At the time this was seen as a no-brainer for him since the race was in a deeply Democrat state. 

Instead of rising to the challenge from the reporter, he looked into the camera and said a simple line. "Republicans buy shoes, too." He later stated in a conversation with his mother, "Look, Mom, I'm not speaking out of pocket about someone that I don't know. But I will send a contribution to support him,"

For me this was something that sunk in and formed my view of what celebrities and people in the public eye that aren’t politicians should do. I realized that if your job is to entertain people and give them an escape. The last thing they need is for the major problems they’re trying to escape invading their escapes.

This doesn’t mean that you have to be apolitical or never share your opinions. There are several places where it may fit and ways that moral questions can be addressed. Ever since the rise of this trend in fiction, these structures have been forgotten or ignored.

A great example of this would be in your characters if you’re writing a story that takes place today. A farmer from Montana and a bartender from Los Angeles will have very different political opinions that affect their daily lives. These influences can be part of the story, but keep them a little subtle. By doing this it will feel natural in the story. 

Now this rule is very genre dependent. If you’re in a mythical realm, Elves aren’t going to have a comment about gang violence in Chicago or the cost of eggs due to gas prices. Same with an alien race in science fiction, giving an opinion on a recent president or prime minister. These are such a stretch that it will likely throw your readers out even if they agree with the opinions presented.

The next path that can be used is what I like to call the “Star Trek Approach”. During the tumultuous era that was the 1960s, Star Trek: The Original Series became notorious for their skill at addressing the situations of the era in a way that could talk about the issues in a way that the public could embrace without being pushed away. One of the best examples of this is the episode that addressed racism by telling a story about a group of aliens embroiled in a long war because their two races were half black and half white, but which side the colors were on made them different.

This story pointed out the completely illogical behaviors that were tied to racism and is noted as one of the first times many Americans were even forced to actually think about that issue. Over its three seasons this show tackled many other issues in the same way with a lot of success. Even today, the social commentary accomplished by the series is held as a high water mark for all entertainment.

These two examples of how to handle politics in your writing are a great place to start when coming up with your plan and structure for how to proceed. I’m not asking that you completely abstain from politics, social media is a thing and everyone is allowed their own opinions and allowed a forum to share it. I’m happy to share opinions and beliefs in ways that don’t force it onto my audience.

All I’ll ask in a world as tumultuous as we live in, is that you help me keep our favorite escape free of the most frustrating parts of life. Just like how almost no one wants to read a story where someone has to balance a checkbook, they don’t want to have to think about politics either. I’ve promised to keep politics out of my books. Will you do that as well?