Politics and Writing

[42]

So what do writers and editors think about political science fiction?

I recently watched an episode of Battlestar Galactica that dealt with abortion. It was well done, but also didn't take a particular stance on the subject. It also reminded me of a lot of Star Trek episodes where they metaphorically tackled political hot topics. Some of my favorite sf&f writers are alos very political (George Orwell, Ursula K. LeGuin,...).

Yet, I remember so many stories at TLE that had a strong polical slant that were just plain tacky.

So what works?

[Peter Ahlstrom]

If your political writing has a clear bias ignoring the facts on the other side of the argument except in the form of straw man characters (a la Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax), then you'll please people who agree with you and tick off people who don't.

I really liked Brandon's politics in Mistborn 2--there are some really interesting political philosophies in there (something I did not expect to find when I started reading it), but it's not the point of the book. When the whole point is politics, it gets annoying.

[Spriggan]

Was this a "very special episode" of Battlestar?

Too me its all about escapism, if you're barraged with certain political issues all the time do you really want them in the thing you're using to trying to escape from reality?

[Eric James Stone]

The story I sold to Analog showed some of my political biases.  In fact, before accepting the story, Stan Schmidt asked me to make the "enviros" less sterotypical, so I put in a scene where the hero interacts with a reasonably sane environmentalist.  (In fact, I have the hero make a mistake by letting his anger toward environmentalists lead him to ignore advice from the reasonable one.)

Obviously, it is possible to sell stories that show political bias.  Depending on your political leanings, there are some markets that might be friendlier and some... um... enemylier.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Oh, certainly, if the issue is whether or not you can sell your politically biased story, as long as the rest of the writing is up to snuff, the markets exist!

[Sigyn]

The problem with most stories that have a lot of political issues is that they either tend to feel dated or pedantic. If you have a political issue you want to write about, you have to be willing to look at it from several different viewpoints and try to imagine how people really would see it either in the far future or fantasy setting or whatever it is you write.

[MsFish]

I think this goes back to why you're writing what you're writing.  Are you writing to tell a good story?  Or are you writing to get across a message?

All fiction is going to end up as a reflection of what the writer believes.  As such, many stories will end up reflecting the writer's politics.  I don't perscribe to the idea that one should *try* to put a message in one's fiction.  The message is going to be there, just because of who you are.

On the other hand, lots of great literature was written to prove a political point, so what do I know?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Political fiction that isn't designed to push an agenda is fine.

But the most annoying thing in the world is when West Wing thinks that "The Bible says that we can have slaves too" is an effective counter to arguments against institutionalizing homosexuality. Such an argument, when made seriously, shows an extreme amount of ignorance, both argumentatively and theologically.
Of course, any Christian who thinks that Leviticus is the only place you cna find in the Bible that expressly states homosexuality is a sin is a retard as well, but that's besides the point.

[42]

See, there are books like 1984, Brave New World, and Uncle Tom's Cabin that do push a political agenda and are classics because of it.

So what the magic formula? Being the victor.

[Skar]

Actually, I think that the magic formula is probably catering to the political views of a large portion of your audience.  Uncle Tom's Cabin didn't do very well in the south if I remember correctly.

And those others you mentioned...who was the victor?  While those works were interesting (I may be wrong here, not having done a great deal of research) they didn't come up with new political ideas that were later proven "right" through a victory of some sort but rather riffed on a very common political view of the time.  Fear of big government.

[The Jade Knight]

Whatever you do, do it well.  =þ

I think the key to politizing is keeping it subtle.  Don't force feed the moral, let the reader figure it out themselves.  That's my take, at least.