(For this issue of WT, I almost wrote: “See: Dragons: The Lexicon, Do: NOT THAT” but I’ll assume that if you’re here reading these, you already know better.)

Today, let’s talk about using politics in writing. And how you shouldn’t. Ever. (Unless you’re writing a nonfiction book on politics.) Let’s look at some examples on why.

Go to any discount bin at a bookstore, and what genre usually has the most books for dirt cheap? Pull out some old comics and reread them. Which makes you laugh the most? Political cartoons from any year before now or Calvin & Hobbes?

Take comic books. Look at the big two: Superman and Batman. If you were to move them to any other culture, how would they stand? Quite well in fact (and they usually do). How about Green Arrow? Green Arrow is a raging liberal. It’s a part of his character. But you can’t transplant him as well as you could with Batman/Superman. Why? Because Superman and Batman are characters that go beyond boundaries; characters that touch a universal part of all humanity. Green Arrow, however, is so tied to America that he can never truly cross the borders. His rants about how angry he is at someone driving an SUV won’t make a lot of sense in China or Zimbabwe.

Here, therefore, is the problem with putting politics into fictional writing: it limits it. Nothing dates a work faster (not disco, big hair, or Seinfeld) than politics. Already, I can hear you formulating objections, so let’s get to those.

First of all, there is such a thing as ‘universal politics’: politics which, no matter where you are or what government you’re under, will apply. Everyone understands struggling for freedom, being the underdog in a fight and injustice. Those topics are evergreen and will always be a part of being human. A story about a government bailout of businesses isn’t.

Second: Politics can also be included if the system is unique to your story. If they are laid out and explained so that any reader can comprehend them with minimum background knowledge, that is acceptable.

Third, politics that reference a large span of history can also be used. The negligible details of a system are never remembered, only the important features (such as the system itself). Remember that time filters all. What is important enough to be remembered is timeless, and thus including it avoids dating your work. Never forget, however, that the closer you are to the present, the more pointlessness there is to filter out of your source.

Why avoid politics in your writing? Because writing is an art, and the best art transcends boundaries: distance, culture, or time. Using petty politics limits your work to a specific culture, country, and time. It doesn’t matter whether you are liberal, conservative, communist, anarchist, whatever; if you let your political views seep too much into your writings, you shackle them to the past and condemn them to be forgotten.

I know it may seem otherwise, that nothing in the world is more important than this vote and you must comment on it; but governments fade, while art is forever.

Tagged as: ,

Comment

  1. Ari on 18 March 2009, 08:04 said:

    Heh. CP should definitely read this. Thankfully there are no politics in my writing, none at all. Hurrah!

    Very nice article, if a bit short. You seem to have a passion for writing….and I’m stating the obvious, but w/e.

  2. OverlordDan on 18 March 2009, 12:11 said:

    Great Article, as I have come to expect. This has always been a pet peeve of mine, and I’m glad that your addressing it. Nothing ruins a show or book for me more than a jab at politics.

    Anyway, well done, and I look forward to the next one!

  3. LucyWannabe on 18 March 2009, 15:44 said:

    Bravo, sir, bravo! Like Overlord Dan said, nothing will mess up my enjoyment of a story/song/whatever faster than a full-on political statement. And, as you pointed out, it dates your work—while I can certainly mention the French Revolution, as (hopefully) most people will know about it, not everyone is going to understand the intricacies of the Florida School Board and the problems it had back in 1999.

    I’m pretty sure I know which subject people would recall faster should I mention it in a story.

  4. Kevin on 19 March 2009, 15:18 said:

    Hm… partial agree. You seem to be taking issue with a genre when what you should really be taking issue with is a deficiency. Politics are okay; flat politics with no drama are not. Just about anything well dramatized will hold attention.

    Politics should probably not be the meat of a fantasy story, but they can form a backdrop w/out being too heinous. Minimalism is the key, I think.

    And regarding political statements, they work if they’re veiled well enough. The Wizard of Oz, for instance, was actually a statement regarding the presidential election of 1896. Not many recall that today; they just remember the fantasy story involved. But when you get into Terry Goodkind territory, you’re just an angry derelict shouting ‘I’M RIGHT!’ Blegh.

    Lastly, what work is not dated?

  5. Kevin on 19 March 2009, 15:19 said:

    Full disclosure – I’m not sure if Baum ever admitted his story was based on the election. But it strikes me as very close.

  6. Godslayer on 19 March 2009, 16:13 said:

    I have to disagree.

    If art is to mean anything at all it must touch upon things which do effect humans every day. Whether we like it or not, politics do effect us and have an influence over the way we live our lives. Politics effects law, society, and the economy—and those in turn change the opportunities we have in a nation.

    Whether we like it or not there are people whose political stance identifies a lot about themselves. And if we are to write about characters based on human tendencies, it is very likely that some characters will have political stances that will effect who they are and what they do in a story.

    An artist should not discriminate whatever ideas he permits others to know he has. A book is, after all, an effigy of his inner mind and soul. If politics is what seeps in and makes the story better, then it must stay in there. If there is a connection to a current controversy, he should not self-censor just to make sure all readers are happy. A story is only good so long as there are people who are offended by it. If everyone likes the story and finds nothing offensive or disagreeable, then it is probably mediocre at best.

    Here is a list of banned books to illustrate my point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_books

  7. Artimaeus on 22 March 2009, 17:23 said:

    After reading this, I wish you had expanded a little more on what you mean by political writing. Yes, referencing current events will date anything you write. But 1984 is a powerful book, despite the fact that the title is 20 years past and the totalitarian states that once threatened to take over the world no longer exist.

    At the most basic level, politics is about how power is distributed and employed. There is plenty of room within this to craft an engaging, compelling story. Certain things you probably want to avoid when writing politics (case in point: Ayn Rand) but I would have liked to see them mentioned, rather than a blanket statement about how it is incompatible with art.

  8. Costanza on 29 May 2011, 00:18 said:

    Nobody will probably read this at this point, but…

    I strongly disagree. When politics is done without heavy-handedness or the author pretty much saying: “Democracy is God’s gift to the world” or something like that, it works.

    However, in fantasy novels where fighting and OMG EPIC STRUGGLEZ is the focus, please don’t try to implement politics.

    Politics can work if the story is political. But if it’s like Eragon, and is obviously just about a good vs. evil generic fantasy crapshow, then leave politics out of it.

  9. Nate Winchester on 12 June 2011, 10:10 said:

    I strongly disagree. When politics is done without heavy-handedness or the author pretty much saying: “Democracy is God’s gift to the world” or something like that, it works.

    I believe I covered that in the essay:

    First of all, there is such a thing as ‘universal politics’: politics which, no matter where you are or what government you’re under, will apply. Everyone understands struggling for freedom, being the underdog in a fight and injustice. Those topics are evergreen and will always be a part of being human. A story about a government bailout of businesses isn’t.

  10. Last Cerebrate on 21 April 2016, 21:05 said:

    I would have to agree with Artimaeus and Godslayer. When done well a political conflict can add to a story rather then take away from it. You seem to be confusing current events for politics in this essay. While the former do date a book, the latter don’t because, in the end, politics affects how the masses of people are treated. Ayn Rand may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but her ideals of individualism have something to say about how we treat people and how they should treat us. A lone hero struggling against an evil empire generally needs something more than personal grudge, otherwise he isn’t much of a hero. The treatment of people, and what ideals the hero wants implemented to help people, can make for great drama, often political. Looking at the history of the world one often sees themes that are political, such as the rise and fall of Marxist communism. We may disagree on the story to be told, but I would hope that we could see the confluence of politics and drama in the rise of the Soviet Union. Politics often involves big ideals, as does good drama, and so I think, while it may not be simple the scale of ideas involved in politics could definately make for good drama.