One issue that authors sometimes face, especially when writing contemporary fiction, is how much to incorporate real-life current events—if at all. I think this might be a particular conundrum in romance, where, by definition, our primary focus is on the characters’ relationships. I think there are both pros and cons to including the real world.
On the one hand, inclusion of actual current events can help ground a story. In most cases, I want my fiction to have a dimensional sense of time and place. I think this makes the story feel more real. For instance, some of the scenes in one of my recent books are set in California in September 2020, and I mention the terrible air quality due to wildfires. It’s not a major plot point by any means, but I think it helps us feel the protagonist’s sense of isolation as he’s forced to stay indoors. And anyone who has experienced wildfires, whether in the western US or elsewhere, can tap into their own experiences as they empathize with that character.
Another advantage is that current events can help drive the plot. In that book, my guy moved to California in January 2020—just in time to deal with the pandemic and, later, the fires. The book isn’t about those things, but the fact that he’s stuck inside his house with no nearby friends or family helps explain why he doesn’t freak out when the other protagonist shows up on his back patio. Even though the new guy is naked and has green hair and, um, some other surprising features.
I think sometimes a story will feel flat or lacking if particular current events aren’t mentioned. If a gay romance is set in the late 1980s, for instance, it would seem weird and perhaps cavalier to not acknowledge the AIDS crisis in some way, given the profound effects it had on the gay community. Similarly, if a story takes place in 2020 or early 2021, how could it not mention the pandemic at least tangentially? It’s so much a part of everyone’s daily lives.
But including current events also has potential pitfalls. For one thing, if the event is happening right now the author doesn’t know how things will turn out. That makes it hard to carry the story forward in time, especially knowing that by the time people read the book, things may have turned out very differently than the author predicted. Current events could also make a story feel dated, since what seems super relevant today can become old news fast.
And finally, sometimes it’s just… too soon. People who are already living through something difficult may not want to face that same challenge in their books. Many people choose reading—and fictional romance specifically—because it allows us to escape life for a while. So maybe the last thing they want is to have real life slap them in the face in the middle of a story.
What are your thoughts? Do you like inclusion of current events, hate it, or have mixed feelings? What do you see as pros and cons?
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Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
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How do you include a pandemic in a boy meets boy set up when they can’t actually meet face to face? I started out putting it into the second book in my series, but then…the setting is a B and B. How do I write that romance book when the protagonists’ lives are potentially crumbling around them and they stand to loose their business and their home, especially if one has only *just* found that home after living on the street for almost a decade? I decided it was too soon for readers, and too soon for the character.
Yeah, that’s really tough! I men, you could write about those things happening, but then that’s a whole different book.