I’ve been seeing some complaints that realism is necessary for storytelling. But is it? Well, that all depends. If you’re writing something where realism is integral to the plot or setting, like urban fantasy or any sort of police procedural, then it’s definitely needed. But in at least some cases, not only do you not need it, but it could also hurt your work.
The thing is a lot of people seem to think that realism is necessary only when it’s about the subjugation of women or any sort of minorities. People will harp on fantasy needing realism when their story has magic and humanoid creatures as races, and it frequently seems to only be necessary when writing in women or minorities of any type. In those cases, it’s a cop out. If you can be okay with magic existing, you can give women equal rights, not make people of color slaves, and not burn gay people at the stake. Yes, it really is that simple. And no, it doesn’t make sense within the context of the world, because look at all the fantastical elements. It tells a lot about a person who will go to the lengths to include things like magic but stick to treating women and minorities like garbage, and the things it says don’t paint the best picture.
That’s not to say that realism can’t help move things along, however. Realism is part and parcel of many stories, and for good effect. Look at the popularity of both urban fantasy and historical romance. Both of those genres fall apart if you deviate too much, and for good reason. Those stories are in those settings for a specific reason, and it’s a package deal. You can’t really separate the realism in those cases because that’s a large part of the appeal. Take away the realism, and you have something completely different which will appeal to different readers.
But there are also times it’s not necessary. Look at early science fiction, for example. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote more than one book about a man who could teleport to Mars and encounters Martians. Or Mary Shelley, who is the grandmother of science fiction because of the book Frankenstein. H. P. Lovecraft, though the nightmarish creatures were unfortunately portrayed the way they were because of racism, has little realism to much of it. For a more contemporary example, there is Isaac Asimov. Many of the technological marvels he envisioned are completely outdated in the modern world. Even more modern is Tad Williams Tailchasers Song. It’s a fantasy book from the point of view of a cat. Arguably there isn’t much realism to any of those stories, aside from including humans or felines.
On top of that, realism in certain settings tends to disappoint readers. I know there are people that enjoy realistic fight scenes, but I also know the feedback I’ve gotten when I’ve tried that was a hard no. Not because it was poorly written so much as it’s not as engaging to a lot of readers. If a fight scene isn’t engaging, it loses interest. And that’s one of my concerns when I see people complaining about lack of realism. It’s not that it’s a bad thing so much as it’s both highly subjective, as well as only important if it’s important to the setting or story in some way. In specific regards to fighting, a lot of people are looking for drama and tension, and for many readers they get lost with more realism rather than less. Fights that are more realistic tend to bore or horrify readers because they’re so vastly different from what is commonly portrayed in media. It’s too much of a deviation, and you risk losing people unless you’re trying for a specific market.
Personally, as long as the rules of a story make sense within the context of the story itself, I think most people are golden. After all, it’s a story. Making sure the rules work as they are explained is going to help the suspension of disbelief more than basing everything around real life. If that weren’t true, Isaac Asimov’s works still wouldn’t be selling, but a quick trip to your local bookstore is going to show you at least some of his work on the shelves despite the age shown in the technology he envisioned so long ago.
Of course, people are going to disagree. And that’s okay. So much of storytelling is subjective that it’s impossible to please more than some of the people some of the time. And there are plenty of examples of authors whose works rely on hefty doses of realism as well. There is enough room in this world for both people who love it and people who couldn’t care less. I think mutual respect in this regard would go a long way toward smoothing feathers that can sometimes be easily ruffled.