When I was a younger reader, I certainly wondered why on earth fiction writers would talk about politics. This was exacerbated by the strong opinions of readers around me: fiction is supposed to help people escape from the world, so stop dragging irrelevant politics into it.
But then I started taking my own writing more seriously and realised, wow… actually, politics has A LOT TO DO WITH FICTION.
This post isn’t about whether the author’s morals and beliefs are valid in fictional stories. I want to talk about world-building. Specifically, how worldly mechanics and market forces help shape the setting of a story and drive the drama. Even in romance fiction, where the conflict is about how the MC and LI succeed or fail in answering the call of love, it’s stuff like politics, economics and social issues that offers fertile ground for interesting conflict to grow.
Take Sarah Smith’s Simmer Down as a contemporary example. This novel may not feature US economic policy on the page, and the author isn’t writing a political romance, but we can’t ignore the economic circumstances that spark this story—if Nikki Di Marco lets Callum steal her parking spot, her sales are likely to suffer, resulting in her making less income to support her family. In this way, Simmer Down explores the impact of capitalism on two individuals in a super hot, sexy and entertaining way.
Speculative fiction, by necessity, may include its fair share of politics, which naturally stems from authors having to create an “otherworldly” universe by extrapolating from the real world. Policy influences how people behave, decides how technology may be created and used, and deems what actions are acceptable when we want something we don’t have.
The effect is subtle in Pia Manning’s Star Brides 
series, where xenopolitics incentivises the interspecies marriages that lead to romantic tension. Thus we see how humans and aliens might resolve differing ideologies within an intimate partnership. In my own work, It Starts With A Kiss, the romantic conflict occurs against the off-page backdrop of issues surrounding industry automation and government regulation of a UBI (universal basic income).
But then there are stories where you actually get to see characters doing politics. Stories like Frank Herbert’s Dune, A.R. Vagnetti’s Storm series, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight universe (the Volturi), and James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse.
But let’s get back to present-day realism.
We all share this world. We are all connected. Sometimes we connect intentionally, but most of the time it happens by accident. Global events since 2020 highlighted quite profoundly how strong these connections are, even when we can’t see them.
Politics (governmental or otherwise) is the means by which we negotiate the influences and resources within our world. It’s in the air we breathe, the water we drink, it even governs the ground we walk on. Just try setting foot in a restricted area and you’ll get a first-hand lesson in how your society approaches “property ownership”.
If we’re lucky enough to be aligned with the dominant political and socioeconomic position where we live, we get to take it all for granted. That doesn’t mean we’re apolitical, it just means we don’t have to think about it all the time. We get to roll along all happy-go-lucky, pretending that politics doesn’t matter.
If we’re not that lucky, though, then we remain almost constantly aware and conscious of the fact that everything stems from the forces that decide what we must endure. We may never get the experience of not having to think about it.
That book on top of your TBR pile got there because certain worldly forces permitted it to. Maybe you live in a place where books like that are allowed to be printed and sold. The author must have been afforded the ability to sit and write it, then to have it published and distributed. And you were able to acquire it because someone somewhere paid good money for it to be at the right place at the right time. All of the forces that put that book in your hands were shaped by the negotiations in our shared world.
I daresay fiction writers must be aware of this, at least on some level, in order to write relatable and interesting stories. I don’t think fiction writers should necessarily talk about politics, not if they don’t want to. But there’s certainly no reason why they shouldn’t.
And, appreciating how worldly forces have enabled me to sit here and write this post, I can’t help but wonder—how can anyone talk about anything without ultimately being political? 🤔
This is a revised version of a post originally published on JL’s blog.
About JL Peridot
JL Peridot writes love stories and more from her home beneath the southern skies. When not sweating over an incoherent WIP, she can be found playing videogames, eating meat pies, and arguing with her cats. Subscribe to JL’s mailing list for banter, updates, teasers, and more.
Website: https://jlperidot.com
Blog: https://blog.jperidot.com
About Henry: A Novella
Let me tell you about Henry. I could get fired for this, but what the hell.
Julie was perfectly fine, admiring the rich American Henry Aston from afar. That is, until he asked her out to dinner. But there’s just one problem: CapriLuxe Perth has a strict policy against employees fraternising with the guests.
Sorry, two problems: Henry Aston’s married.
ABOUT HENRY: A NOVELLA presents JL Peridot’s hot contemporary erotica short story, originally published in the notorious CapriLuxe Chronicles anthology, and featured on The Good Bits website and podcast.
It also includes the follow-up story, ABOUT HER, where we discover what happened when the Astons got back from their road trip; what happened after a chance meeting in a cocktail bar on the other side of town; and what happened when Henry finally introduced Julie to his wife.
Welcome, JL! It’s always great to have you here.
Great blog.
I believe it is more than okay to put a characters political views into a fictional story. Whether they are the writers opinions on the matter or not.
However, I don’t think there is a place for political ads, mean memes, articles that may or may not be true on a page. We go to an authors page to see what they are in the middle of writing. What new book they have coming out. Blogs that tell us more about their writing ideas, writing inspiration, and travels. I don’t believe it helps ones sales to alienate half of the country or stress them out when they visit the authors page.
Callie