How Much Realism To Include

[Cagivagurl]

I have written several stories that are technically weighted. I was concerned about posting them as I thought the technical stuff may bore people to death...
i love motorcycles, I own several, and I played around with road racing for a little while.
Consequently bikes turn up in a lot of my stories...
I posted a story, which started with one of my favourite rides. I have ridden that section of road, literally hundreds of times. I filled the story with descriptions and snippets.
Surprisingly, it was reasonably popular.
I am also a musician, and several of my stories revolve around the music industry. Some of it is probably boring to those who are uninterested. Again though, I have recieved a few favourable comments.
So, what works?
I believe that as long as the writing is sound, readers will stick with it.

Just my opinion...
Cagivagurl

 

[djrip]

I've been writing, off an on, a planetary romance set on (in?) Jupiter, with flying ships and so on. I handwaved the gravity issue with a combination of centrifugal forces and buoyant gases.

And then a bit ago I learned that Saturn actually has a gravity that's pretty much identical to Earth's. Now I'm wondering whether to move the story to Saturn just for the sake of "realism".

Hey, me too! Well, flying suits, not ships.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

As much as you want, if you have a reason for doing it. I'm prone to liking lots of odd details, so I try to put them in to make the location/scenario more vivid, while not crossing the line into 'info-dump'.

Some of my stories contain a lot of detail to help persuade readers that these are Real Scientists (or other professionals) who work hard - and then go and play hard. I often remove a fair bit of their work chat and detail in edits, to keep the story accessible to the reader without losing atmosphere.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Enough to keep the reader in the story. Verisimilitude. That's enough. No more than that is necessary, UNLESS realism is a specific purpose of your story. It almost never is in my stories, which I regard as erotic fantasies.

This is my thoughts on the subject as well. Enough so that the setting feels real and the characters feel authentic, but the rest is very "Once Upon a Time."

 

[yowser]

As a reader (and writer) I love details, but the question in the original post has to do with 'how much' and that is frequently overdone. The details need to be the 'right' details. I don't need a long exposition to know someone is a grandmaster chess player, or that they know their way around a construction site, or have composed music. One single 'right note' is often enough (and one face-plant, tone-deaf, wrong detail is also enough, to make me turn away.)

Dissertations are usually unnecessary, especially if they inhibit the flow of the story. And I may start to think blowhards are more air than substance. But you can create a nice mosaic (and capture a flavor) if you drop bits with accuracy here and there.

 

[ronde]

I put in enough detail about a location that a reader familiar with that location will nod and say "that sounds right". I write about real people doing real things, even in sci-fi, so I put in enough detail to fit the plot and the characters. For example, a mechanic who loves to fish on the weekends and meets the girl of his dreams when he's fishing doesn't need a lot of detail about what he does as a mechanic. He does need to show enough knowledge about fishing to make the reader believe he's really there and fishing.

If the characters aren't "real" as evidenced by what they do in a given situation or location, the story will come off as just a figment of the writer's imagination that couldn't possibly happen. A good example of this is the quiet, shy girl who suddenly turns into a sex-starved maven with skills at sex that amaze her partner. She needs some background if she's going to come off as "real".

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Unless, in a later scene, someone gets tied down using a halyard bend, of course. Foreshadowing!

Definitely a Chekov's gun side to that.

 

[AchtungNight]

It depends on the story. The main issue is that you have to match realism with the reader’s needs for drama or comedy. This is harder than you think.

 

[SimonDoom]

Consider just the science fiction genre. There are science fiction stories that strive for realism, and there are those that settle for just the barest outline of realism.

Andy Weir's The Martian is a good example of a book that strives to be realistic in many ways, and relies heavily on real science, because the science is an essential part of the drama. There are certain things that aren't real, like the strength of the Martian storm, but the details are so minor they don't offset all the great ways that Weir DOES incorporate science to enhance the story.

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, on the other hand, although it introduces and relies heavily upon the concept of "psychohistory," never really does much to establish it as a viable scientific concept (because it isn't) and is pretty thin in describing other aspects of the universe Asimov creates. It doesn't matter that much. Psychohistory is developed just enough to hang a story on it.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Consider just the science fiction genre. There are science fiction stories that strive for realism, and there are those that settle for just the barest outline of realism.

Andy Weir's The Martian is a good example of a book that strives to be realistic in many ways, and relies heavily on real science, because the science is an essential part of the drama. There are certain things that aren't real, like the strength of the Martian storm, but the details are so minor they don't offset all the great ways that Weir DOES incorporate science to enhance the story.

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, on the other hand, although it introduces and relies heavily upon the concept of "psychohistory," never really does much to establish it as a viable scientific concept (because it isn't) and is pretty thin in describing other aspects of the universe Asimov creates. It doesn't matter that much. Psychohistory is developed just enough to hang a story on it.

Nerd anecdote here:

The writers on Star Trek the Next Generation were aware that it is impossible to know both the location and direction of atomic particles a la Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle. But the transporters, which rely on taking people apart atom by atom and reassembling them at the destination, need to know both bits of information. Obviously they weren't about to write the technology out of the series so they just threw in an occasional reference to 'Heisenburg Compensators' in the technobabble.

They were frequently asked at conventions "How do the Heisenburg Compensators work?"

To which they'd simply answer "Very well thank you."

With science fiction, as you give more and more detail you either reach the point where a) you've basically invented the new technology you're describing (if you're Arthur C Clarke) or else b) it because obvious that you don't know what you're talking about (if you're anyone else).

 

[SimonDoom]

Nerd anecdote here:

The writers on Star Trek the Next Generation were aware that it is impossible to know both the location and direction of atomic particles a la Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle. But the transporters, which rely on taking people apart atom by atom and reassembling them at the destination, need to know both bits of information. Obviously they weren't about to write the technology out of the series so they just threw in an occasional reference to 'Heisenburg Compensators' in the technobabble.

They were frequently asked at conventions "How do the Heisenburg Compensators work?"

To which they'd simply answer "Very well thank you?"

With science fiction, as you give more and more detail you either reach the point where a) you've basically invented the new technology you're describing (if you're Arthur C Clarke) or else b) it because obvious that you don't know what you're talking about.

Perfect example!

Dilithium crystals are another. Mumbo jumbo. Nobody cares, and nobody needs an explanation. The less said, the better.

Spice in Dune is kind of the same thing. Readers just accept that it does what Herbert says it does, which is a hell of a lot. None of it makes any sense at all.

George Lucas made a big mistake trying to come up with an explanation for the Force, because then one needs an explanation for the explanation. Better to leave it mysterious.

 

[MissRoberta]

I'm a bit demanding with realism in my stories. Like, I won't include the little details of research in the story, but I have to know them to feel more confident of what I'm doing. For example, instead of just writing "It was a cold day," I associated my character being a freshman at Stanford, and she was going to move to the dorms soon. So, I felt the need to research when do freshmen move into the dorms? Is it cold that month?

I don't think that's an exaggeration because at least my readers are pretty exigent with accuracy, I feel like. Recently, I wrote a story that took place in Texas, and I researched like crazy. But in one specific scene, my character went to a diner and asked for a soda, and that was all many people focused on. Some said, "Hey, there isn't soda in Texas," and others said, "Yes, there is." Suddenly, my comment section is about soft drinks in Texas. So, I work very hard on research and details to satisfy them!

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Nerd anecdote here:

The writers on Star Trek the Next Generation were aware that it is impossible to know both the location and direction of atomic particles a la Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle. But the transporters, which rely on taking people apart atom by atom and reassembling them at the destination, need to know both bits of information. Obviously they weren't about to write the technology out of the series so they just threw in an occasional reference to 'Heisenburg Compensators' in the technobabble.

They were frequently asked at conventions "How do the Heisenburg Compensators work?"

To which they'd simply answer "Very well thank you."

With science fiction, as you give more and more detail you either reach the point where a) you've basically invented the new technology you're describing (if you're Arthur C Clarke) or else b) it because obvious that you don't know what you're talking about (if you're anyone else).

 

[Sinstories]

Working on one now that involves a profession I and many readers will have knowledge of. I'm trying to provide the balance where someone who has lived that life will not be turned off by lack of reality and someone with no background in it getting turned off by being dragged into a world they don't care about.

Finding that balance is key IMO.

 

[alohadave]

George Lucas made a big mistake trying to come up with an explanation for the Force, because then one needs an explanation for the explanation. Better to leave it mysterious.

My personal headcanon is that Midichlorians are attracted to the Force, they don't cause it.

So measuring them is a way to see how Force sensitive someone is.

Simple change and would require one or two lines changed in VO to fix.

 

[SimonDoom]

My personal headcanon is that Midichlorians are attracted to the Force, they don't cause it.

So measuring them is a way to see how Force sensitive someone is.

Simple change and would require one or two lines changed in VO to fix.

Much better. But it's better still just to leave it mysterious.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Much better. But it's better still just to leave it mysterious.

Isn't there a fan edit where they remove all the Midichlorian references?

 

[karina_jayde]

My attachment to realism definitely depends on the story.

I'm writing a story now that's a standalone femdom story set in a world that's basically feudal Japan. But the setting is less important than the relationship itself, so I'm not really going to get bogged down with accurately portraying weapons, architecture, food as they would be in medieval Japan. I did do a bit of research so stuff wouldn't be entirely out of place, but getting bogged down in the details is more trouble than it's worth for a standalone story.

I think if I were to invest more time and effort in the worldbuilding of a Japan-inspired setting I'd definitely take more time and care, though.

If being more accurate actually helps to enhance the erotic connection or the relationship, then it's a great tool to use. I've drafted a potential submission for one of the sports-themed contests later this year, and I'm drawing a bit on my own (albeit limited) experience with weight-training and powerlifting. A few more believable details about those activities in the context of characters bonding in the gym, though, can help to enhance it.

In my story Silver Screens, Silver Bells, the characters' romance blossoms on the set of a cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie. I have no idea how movies are actually shot, and didn't really care. What mattered was the movie being the context that brought them together. If I was going to do a whole series about love on a movie set, though, I might invest more time in the research to allow realistic filmmaking practices to help develop the characters and give plausible ways for them to connect.

 

[Rob_Royale]

So measuring them is a way to see how Force sensitive someone is.

But my way of thinking was that either side could build an army of force users simply by blood testing every infant on whatever worlds they controlled.

I saw that as an obvious plot hole.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm a bit demanding with realism in my stories. Like, I won't include the little details of research in the story, but I have to know them to feel more confident of what I'm doing. For example, instead of just writing "It was a cold day," I associated my character being a freshman at Stanford, and she was going to move to the dorms soon. So, I felt the need to research when do freshmen move into the dorms? Is it cold that month?

I don't think that's an exaggeration because at least my readers are pretty exigent with accuracy, I feel like. Recently, I wrote a story that took place in Texas, and I researched like crazy. But in one specific scene, my character went to a diner and asked for a soda, and that was all many people focused on. Some said, "Hey, there isn't soda in Texas," and others said, "Yes, there is." Suddenly, my comment section is about soft drinks in Texas. So, I work very hard on research and details to satisfy them!

Readers can be picky about details at times, and they can also be both picky and wrong. I had a reader fault me for describing the ocean water off the coast of Northern California as cold, and he insisted that the water off California was warm. This person obviously has never gone into the water off of Northern California.

So, sometimes you can get some details right, and it won't matter with certain readers.

 

[alohadave]

But my way of thinking was that either side could build an army of force users simply by blood testing every infant on whatever worlds they controlled.

I saw that as an obvious plot hole.

George Lucas was a better director than he was a writer. A New Hope is only as good as it is because his then-wife cut out at least a third of the footage and salvaged a story from what was left.

 

[MissRoberta]

Readers can be picky about details at times, and they can also be both picky and wrong. I had a reader fault me for describing the ocean water off the coast of Northern California as cold, and he insisted that the water off California was warm. This person obviously has never gone into the water off of Northern California.

So, sometimes you can get some details right, and it won't matter with certain readers.

Same with me, there is soda in Texas! Did people really think that in a state as big as Texas, there wouldn't be a single place selling soda?

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Same with me, there is soda in Texas! Did people really think that in a state as big as Texas, there wouldn't be a single place selling soda?

Um, sorry. No 'soda' in Texas. We have Coke, Dr. Pepper, and coke(Lower case 'c' which encompasses everything else.)

 

[MissRoberta]

Um, sorry. No 'soda' in Texas. We have Coke, Dr. Pepper, and coke(Lower case 'c' which encompasses everything else.)

Guys, I'm very confused. A girl from South Texas said, "Don't worry, Roberta, we have soda," and I was so happy, but now I'm sad.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Guys, I'm very confused. A girl from South Texas said, "Don't worry, Roberta, we have soda," and I was so happy, but now I'm sad.

We have all varieties of non alcoholic carbonated beverages with obscene sugar content in all kinds of flavors and variations. In other parts of the country I have heard them referred to as soda or pop. In Texas, the generic is coke.

When ordering a specific flavor, it is acceptable to use the brand name, but as a generic, they are referred to as coke, not soda.

But whatever you call it, we're a friendly bunch. We don't generally bite unless requested.