This is so random but something I’ve been really struggling with in my writing is whether I try and write escapist stories or “real” ones. I find with most “real experiences” books that they’re not really a true representation of, at least my, day to day life.
They always seem to have the same type of character who’s “weird” and wonders around like an airy fairy? Every moment of their days seems to be romanticised and like a dream even when they’re meant to be conveying down to earth messages and stories, And don’t get me wrong I do love these stories, I love a world that I can escape to for a rest it’s from ours but I always find that when I’ve finish books like this I feel slightly empty because I know life isn’t really fully like that.
I want stories that really show raw life, I want the main character to spend all day doomscrolling or having friends who they love but still get annoyed at and have flaws that they hate, I want love stories where they’re not “soulmates” and together as soon as they realise they’re in love? I just want real people.
But this is the biggest conundrum for me and my writing, because I always feel drawn to writing idealised stories that gloss over the knacks of life, a dreamy evening and an easy love, however I always feel like it’s not authentic? And that I’m playing a character in my own writing? On one hand I love the escapism of books like that, I don’t always want my brain and the world we live in reflected back at me but at the same time I want characters I can truly relate to? I just am always stuck between which direction to take, I’m always pulled toward the beautiful but I don’t know whether I need to ground the story more?