Relatable Imaginations

The possibilities within the universe are vast, whether looking at life or phenomenon.  There are worlds made from diamond, a possible temperature “bruise” that might indicate bumping as parallel universe, and white holes that spit out matter and light rather than sucking it in.  Given the diversity of phenomenon, the diversity of life itself should be equally vast, even if we haven’t discovered it yet.

Life on our own planet is wild.  We’ve found crustaceans that feed on nothing but sulfur around gas vents on the ocean floor.  Until about 350 years ago, no one had heard of germs, and telling folks that tiny organisms they couldn’t see might make them sick would’ve gotten you committed to an insane asylum.  And this level of diversity exists on one world with relatively homogenous conditions.  Imagine what might exist on other worlds – there could be layers of intelligent mold that changes properties based on the lines it spawns, intricate layers of plants that join together at the root level beneath the surface to form a collective mindset, or being that exist simply as matrices of electrical energy floating within the accretion disks of black holes.

But while the  universe provides for a wild variety of life, both which we can imagine and which we yet cannot, our stories can’t do that, or at least not if we want folks to read them.  Although readers are willing to accept the bizarre, especially in certain genres, they still have to be able to relate in some way with what is in the story.  Familiarity forms the basis of story enjoyment to an extent.  If there are characters or lifeforms that are so alien we can’t understand them at all, then there is no way for a story the reader can follow.  Sure, sometimes that can add an element of mystery, but that mystery has to be solved at some level during the story.  We want to know that others have motivations, desires, and act in accordance with ways we can get.  If we can’t, then there’s nothing for the mind to latch onto, at least not outside of a scientific journal.  Sure, those are great reads, but they’re not for story purposes since most stories need conflict people comprehend.

So be imaginative…just not too imaginative.  Sometimes realism coupled with imagination can lead to estrangement rather than enjoyment.