October Novel Prep Challenge

It's cultural setting day, one of my favorites. We get to muse about the ordinary lives of our characters and how they're influenced by the dreaded duo of Religion and Politics. Salem witch trials, anyone? A wealthy Capital appeasing its citizens with an annual Battle Royale featuring starving school-aged children? The baffling influence of a creepy mayor in a tiny town called Schitt's Creek?

Sarah Rae already brought up the Big R, so now let's talk Politics.

It's the (metaphoric) eve of US presidential elections, which look different from any I've seen in my lifetime. Any other year, my TV commercials would be dominated by candidates bashing one another, and not just the presidential candidates. This year is surprisingly and pleasantly different. First, the commercials are fewer. More importantly, they're mostly positive messages about the good the candidate intends to do. When Donald Trump contracted COVID, according to the news, Joe Biden completely changed his advertising strategy to be more sensitive.

So while politics influence the story of our worldwide pandemic, as we see governments bailing out struggling businesses and laws enforcing facemasks and social distancing, meanwhile are we also seeing the story of our worldwide pandemic influencing our politics.

In the Witch of Blackbird Pond, Kit from Barbados teaches a small New England community that women who float are not necessarily witches. A winner of the Hunger Games is the turning point in a political revolution. And a riches-to-rags family who owns the town of Schitt's Creek brings a measure of style and pizazz to the otherwise sleepy town.

I should mention that politics is about governance, about deciding how things will be. That could be on a national level, a local level, or even a household level. Did your MC convince mom to push back curfew to 11:00? That's politics. Did your MC make a pact with a best friend? Politics. Does your underage character get their hands on a case of beer? Definitely politics. In different cultures around our world, the punishment for being caught by law enforcement or parents could range from nonexistent to harsh, and which it is tells me something about your character, what motivates them, and their threshold for risk.

How do the politics of the culture in which your characters live shape your story? Does your story impact that political culture?

Cheers,
Michelle