This is for genre writers in particular - Sci-Fi, fantasy, horror, anything that takes place outside of our normal world or regular ol' reality.
Your story can't just be a genre gimmick. It must have a human element. Let's dig into why.
The problem with gimmicks
For clarity here, when I refer to 'gimmick' I'm referring to the thing that separates your story from other stories of a similar genre. It could be your particular world, the type of characters, the style of Sci-Fi, whatever. I'm talking about your thing.
When we think we're going to write a great science fiction novel or a fantasy or a post-apocalyptic dance comedy or a Klingon opera, usually the first thing we'll come up with is our gimmick. It's our world building, our flare, our magic system, the big ogre with six toes, the magical mountain singing in perfect Zorkblorgian. The pizzazz.
But audiences don't typically connect with a gimmick. They might love it, they might wish they lived in your world, but it's not the gimmick they connect with (generally) - it's the characters.
Let's talk about your characters
Characters make people laugh, or cry - not magic systems and dope fantasy city naming conventions.
Every book, no matter how farfetched, should generally have a strong underlying human-relatable story around which is centred the plot and gimmick. Whether it's someone getting over their daddy issues, a fish out of water tale, coming of age, two best buds doing best bud stuff - doesn't matter. It's got to be there. And it's got to be good.
Of course, characters don't actually have to be human. Look at Lava (2014) by Pixar - it's literally about a singing mountain. But you know what it's also about? Love.
Here's how to tell if you've got a human story, or a gimmick
You should be able to answer this question: "If this story was a different genre, what would the plot be about?" The answer should be, more or less, the same as what the plot is now. Fundamentally, anyway. The gimmick shouldn't matter so strongly that the story can't exist in another universe.
Can't answer the question? You might not have strong characters.
Example
Ponder what The Lord of the Rings would be about if it wasn't a fantasy.
Well, it would still be about the friendship between Frodo and Sam. It would still be about Aragorn learning not to run from his past. Those themes of goodness and honour and duty are all still there. We're just taking out all the ringy kingy bad guy stuff.
Sam and Frodo could be a young paralegal and his best bud delivering a subpoena to some cabin in the woods. They'd still set out from their normal world (in this case a big city), struggle through a world they don't understand (big city boys in deep, rural countryside), meet a cast of helpful and less-helpful characters (wring wraiths are meth addicts?), get to the creepy forest, sneak past some bad stuff, and serve the subpoena. And, more importantly, all of their character development, all of their emotional highs and lows, could remain the same.
I can't deliver the subpoena, Mr Frodo, but I can deliver you!
EXERCISE: Think about your favourite stories, whether books or movies. Genre swap them. Try to identify what the human elements are, and what they'd be if they weren't served in the original gimmick. Use this to give you ideas for your own book!
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Think you'd watch a movie about Frodo and Sam delivering a subpoena to a cabin in the woods? Hit that Vote button.
Got questions? Leave a comment and I'll get back to you. And please tag anyone you think could benefit from this advice.
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