Being a Better Writer: Politics · 8:42pm Apr 24th, 2017
Oh dear, what have I done? Why did I ever even write this topic down? What was I thinking? And then I picked it?
Actually, it's not that bad. Some of you readers may have had similar reactions to seeing this topic, considering what it could discuss ... and let's be honest, that is a topic I could discuss, and likely will at another time.
Just not today. No, today's topic of politics isn't going to be involved with the real-world, thankfully (because that's a mess). No, instead I want to talk about the politics in your book. No, not those "social politics" of the theme and whatnot. Not that at all. That's the other topic, the one most of us dread because it's so overblown these days.
No, I want to talk about the political sphere of your story. The politics in your story, that the characters are part of. Not the reader.
Now, because I've seen this topic broached before at conventions, writing classes, and the like, I can imagine what the average response is to this topic. Either a confused expression (fairly common) or a deadpan, bored look coupled with the thought "Well, my book doesn't involve politics or anything like that, so I'm just going to zone out" (which is equally common, in my experience). But ... you're wrong. If you're thinking that right now, you're wrong. And here's why.
Almost every story, no matter the subject, will involve politics of some kind. In some way, from some angle. Politics will be there.
Find out why at Unusual Things
Good blog post.
Politics help to flesh out the world.
Different factions and laws help to make the place feel real.
One of the things I liked about Deep Space Nine from the Star Trek universe was
the showing of politics within the Federation. Next gen showed some of that too.
Having different groups with agendas helped to make the Federation less monolithic, and more realistic.
This was a very good post, and will hopefully help some people avoid those head scratchers where a character does something which seems like it should really have larger consiquences but it just doesn't because they weren't thinking about the bigger picture like this. Politics and group dynamics are essential to consider at every scale from a family to international relations, and it's really no surprise you run into phrases like "office politics" as a result in the real world. That said, there were two things I wanted to point out.
First, you missed a vital area that must be researched. You can have all your government theory correct and all your technical details polished, but that's only one half of the equation. The other half is the various factors centering on psychology because societies run on persuasion, manipulation, and propaganda at least as much as any of those technical aspects. I'm reluctant to bring real-world politics into this discussion, but understanding these factors is exactly how Donald Trump got himself elected and the 2016 election makes a great case study if you dig into what people like Scott Adams who successfully predicted Trump's win in 2015 had to say.
Second, it's worth noting that real governments usually have some degree of stupidity and self-contradiction built into their structures as a result of the many factors that gave birth to and shaped them. That makes it essential for any fictional government you write to have something along these lines to make it feel realistic, but there's also a balancing act that has to be made here since fiction has to make sense and reality doesn't.
4508575 Yeah, DS9 did a great job weaving the politics into the series across the board. Between the infighting among the Bajorans and all the shenanigans with Gul Dukat and then the later stuff once the Dominion came into play, they really nailed their politics and it made the show as a whole absolutely fantastic.