Elliot Kessler

Many stories are filled with incredible spectacles, original concepts, and trendy tropes found all over the internet. But the truth is this isn’t what stories are about. Don’t get me wrong. Some amazing stories are known for their spectacle and grand ideas, such as “Dune,” “Lord of the Rings,” and “Ready Player One.” But these stories aren’t great because of the vivid pictures they put in your mind or because they have massive, original ideas. They’re great because they’re truly about something real. They’re about people.

I am a big fan of anything sci-fi. I own a lightsaber, I have the deluxe edition of “Dune,” and I cannot stop recommending “Ender’s Game” to people. My bookshelf is stuffed with sci-fi novels and short story collections. I’ve read a lot, including a lot of classic sci-fi.

As much as I enjoy it, classic sci-fi runs into a huge problem that some modern authors (especially those writing Young Adult novels) still fall into. The problem is that their stories are about ideas, not people.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sci-fi is known as the genre of ideas. It’s exploring new thoughts about what our future might look like. Ted Chiang, who has written several sci-fi short stories and novelettes, has brought sci-fi back to its roots in a way. Each of his stories is centered around an idea. What if a man has increased intelligence, which is multiplying further with every passing moment? What if the Tower of Babel reached Heaven? What if a non-linear language caused someone to start existing non-linearly?

These ideas are at the core of each of his stories along with one other thing: the characters. People ground these fantastic, otherworldly stories in reality. Without the people, the stories would feel unrealistic. They would feel flat.

For proof, compare Ted Chiang’s writing to that of Isacc Asimov. I don’t believe Asimov is a bad storyteller. I believe he has other strengths. However, when he ends a book about racism between humans and robots with a human and robot skipping down a hallway arm in arm (and yes, the human is a grown man in his thirties), I start to wonder why Asimov is hailed as such a fantastic science fiction author. (Then I remember “Foundation,” which answers my question.)

As enjoyable as Asimov’s ideas are, they aren’t always believable because the characters aren’t believable. They have no personality and no interesting characteristics or quirks. They’re cardboard cutouts. They’re the shadows of real people. They’re mere plot devices that keep the story moving with no other purpose.

Writing a story and making it about the plot or ideas you came up with will make it boring. Audiences want to feel things. They want a character they can root for. Few people will care about your story if you only have a concept. It’s like having a car with no driver. It looks great and can move, but there isn’t anyone there to move it.

Some stories are categorized as plot-driven stories and others that are categorized as character-driven stories. The problem is that there is no such thing as a plot-driven story. Some stories have more of a focus on the plot than character, but the plot cannot drive the story. If you have a story without characters, then you don’t have a story. The more realistic your characters are, the better your story.

So, when someone says to “Write what’s real,” don’t take it so literally. You can still write stories about aliens and dragons. But your characters must be real. If your characters aren’t relatable, then your audience won’t care about what happens to them, and they won’t care about the story.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.