I have recently emerged from a very long writer's block and there's a saucy story bubbling in my head, however it is a risky tale because i am bound to get carried away with it and i fear it may eventually become a bit too unvelievable. My question is: how do you perfectly balance fantacy and reality all in one plot? my plot is centered around a supernatural, slightly religious based occurrence and it's bound to have many twists and turns. as i said, i may get carried away and it may become like one of those out of hand horror movies that are funny instead of scary. what can i do to keep it within the margins of reality? by this i mean that i'd like the reader to read it and say "wow that may very well happen someday" as opposed to "That's impossible". am i being clear enough? if so please help, thank you in advance for any suggestions!
I don't have a definite answer, but I will say the following. Some people believe in the supernatural while others do not. My advice is to keep writing the story you have in mind without worrying too much about reality or what people will think of it. Horror stories don't have to be believable. You could read some short stories of Poe and see how he does it. Some of his stories are not believable, yet they are still horror stories.
Stories of mine are usually always high fantasy so this is a very big issue for me as well. Strangely enough I try to think sort of scientifically about the whole process. You have to set rules. In the whole swords and sorcery scheme of my works I try and make the magic seem as plausible as possible by setting limitations. Why doesn't the wizard summon a thousand dragons and destroy the earth? He doesn't do this because the physical strain of so much power would literally tear him apart. The human form isn't capable of taking on so much power and thus it is impossible to do so. A good example would be the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Magic is used via a thing called the True Source. Theoretically anything is possible with the True Source provided one knows how to do whatever it is he or she is trying to do. However, if someone draws to much on the True Source then they can lose their connection to it forever or "burn out". Channeling more than one can handle could actually incinerate the person. There are various objects that can aid in the channeling of this power but they often come with some negative effects as well. Just try and set plausible limits on things like that. I hope this helped a little.
Darkthought hit it right on the head. Set rules. Then follow them. What I believe regarding magic is that magic is simply science that we do not have an explanation for. If it's supernatural or magical, don't worry about scientifically plausible explanations. Everyone who reads The Lord of the Rings knows that it's not possible to slip on a ring, no matter what it is made of, to become invisible. Yet we believe it because the writer believes it. It's the reality of fantasy. It deals with the impossible, plain and simple, so scientific explanations are not needed.
As the others have said--both as a reader and a writer, I'm willing to set disbelief aside and believe almost anything taking place in a story (it's fiction, after all), as long as the writer is consistent in how they set up their world and the way things work there. Consistency is key. The moment a writer breaks one of the established rules of their world, they'd better have a darn good reason (explained in the text) to do so or all reader belief goes out the window.
aaaah i see what you all are saying. very helpful,, thanks a bunch, now i can begin my tale and believe me you will read it because i will post it and look forward to your helpful suggestions and reviews once again
