“How the real world shapes fiction and vice versa” by Heidi Angell

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Almost every author in every interview where the question was asked “where do you find inspiration” invariably says something along these lines, “From real life/ the world around me/ my dreams (which we all know are the brain’s way of processing out things that happened during the day)/ the news/ entertainment sparks an idea..”

We all know that even the most fantastical science fiction world building comes from our world, or the author’s effort to make it as completely different from our world as possible. The idea that the real world shapes fiction is pretty much a given. But what about when fiction shapes the real world? What if that lense that authors take to adapt new stories is also there to shape how we look at the real world. A big example is Disney is using their platform to normalize villains by retelling several of the stories from the perspective of the villains. This helps the rest of the world break out of the hero vs villain mentality and shift to an “Every villain is the hero in their own story” mentality. But it also helps society break out of the duality of good vs evil. The important question is whether this shift is a reflection of the idea in psychology that there are no evil people, only people who’s thought processes have been damaged? And if it is, will it help to normalize the idea that those people can change those processes if they want to and go from being a victim to being a survivor. From being a reactive person who hurts others to being a contemplative person who builds positive relationships. Scott H. Young makes a great point that is understood in a lot of behavioral therapy/ life coach/ Success Gurus teachings and a key piece to this idea. “Someone once told me that, “the greatest truths are in fiction.” The point was meant to be profound, contrasting the factual nature of nonfiction books, to the deeper truths underlying fiction. It’s hard to understand why this statement feels true. Certainly any deep philosophical argument made in a work of fiction has also been argued explicitly in a non-fiction work. How then, expressing the same truth, could one be “greater” than the other? I suspect the reason is that story is our native language, and in hearing a philosophical argument with evidence and rhetoric, we are merely listening to a translation from the way we understand the world.” And it is in this key element that authors can and do shape the world around us with our stories. Often subconsciously, but we do it all the same. A perfect example, when I was writing The Hunters, the first book in The Hunters Saga, I was telling a story about a kid who’s town was infested with vampires and who ends up being saved by Fury and Havoc. Fury and Havoc were characters that have been playing in my mind for seemingly forever. I was Fury in my childhood fantasies after watching films like The Lost Boys or John Carpenter’s vampires. For as long as I could remember, Fury and Havoc were like buddy cops, there wasn’t a hierarchy, they were a team. But than a reviewer said something that shocked me. “Turns gender roles on their head and I love it!” I didn’t know what the reviewer meant, so I took it to my brother. He was like, “Uh, yeah, most of the time the woman is the one who’s lost without the man. But in this Havoc is lost without Fury. She’s definitely in charge.” I had based Fury and Havoc’s interactions and behavior on my husband and me. I never considered my husband to be subservient to me, but he and I both get a little bit lost without the other’s input on important things. We are so used to making decisions together that we often can predict what the other will say. But when we’re in a situation where we know that what the one will say goes completely against what we think we want/ need then we’re a little bit stuck on what to do. That was where I was writing Havoc from in the beginning. But Fury is a rush in bull headed leader and Havoc does follow her unless he disagrees. You get to see that and how well she doesn’t handle it in The Hunted. That experience has made me much more conscious of the world views I am injecting into stories. Because I want to live in a world where I am seen to be as valuable as my husband, but not in a world that naively thinks that I’ve flipped gender roles on their head and my husband is subservient to me. I continue this theme in The Survivalist Bible. The first in this serialized apocalyptic story just released this month in The Power of Words anthology. Survivalist Bible: Genesis introduces us to a world where a “civilized” man. One that tends to be the “beta male” that those who object to the sissification of males harp against. Gabe is, in my mind a bit of a cad, a typical metrosexual 20 something year old, playing the field, enjoying his single stardom as a romance author. Then the world falls apart and this man that should never be able to survive on a camping trip, let alone the apocalypse, is able to survive because of a female writer who focuses on dystopian and doomsday writing and is really big on practicing what she does in her books. But this isn’t just a story about a dominant woman saving the man. This is about a mother doing anything to get back to her children, and how a male who is often snubbed in extreme conservative views helps her keep from losing her humanity in her quest. It is a story of how survival of the fittest might not be the best thing if our world gets thrown into the dark ages and how the thing that helped us to grow and advance as rapidly as we have (community and community guidelines/ rules/ laws) would be the thing to save us in an apocalypse. Not brute strength. Will everyone get that from The Survivalist Bible? Probably not. I am already getting kick back from some people who don’t really like Gabe and can’t believe he will survive. It’s a hard concept considering almost all of the apocalyptic stories in the last 30 years all display the anarchists winning, the communities collapsing in on themselves and tearing themselves apart. But hopefully this will be the turning point of apocalyptic stories where we realize that kill first should not be the path we should take. That survival of the fittest leaves most of the world dead. Want to follow more of The Survivalist Bible Series? Survivalist Bible: Exodus releases to my Patreon followers on November 1st, and will be available to the public through Amazon on November 30th. Survivalist Bible: Levi will be available to my Patreon followers on December 1st and the public December 31st. Each month a new serial will release and anyone in my patreon group for $2 or more will get a thank you in the next installment. So be sure to join the fun. How have you seen fiction shape the real world? Let us know in the comments below. And be sure to come back tomorrow for another great post in the 31 Days of Halloween.

From The Author

Heidi Angell is the author of The Hunters Saga, The Clear Angel Chronicles, The Hell School Series and Survivalist Bible series releasing Fall 2018. She also created Royal Prince Vince, Creative Exercises to Inspire, and A Penslinger’s Ponderings. When she is not reading and writing, she can be found doing her duties as a board member at OWS Ink LLC publishing house, or spending quality time with her family.