In answer to that I’ll turn to an idea put forth by Bob Ingersoll in his web column “The Law is a Ass” (which is all about how the law is handled in comic books and other popular media). According to Mr. Ingersoll it is important to get real world aspects of the comics correct so that the Big Lie of super powers can be believable. As an author, you have only one Big Lie that your readers will belief. Once you have a Big Lie, you have to follow its rules, but beyond that you can do anything you want. If the rest of your story is grounded in reality, then the reader shouldn’t have a problem believing in it.

For speculative fiction writers, the Big Lie is important, and generally is the center of the story. In fantasy stories, the magic that is part of the Big Lie must be consistent and have limits set on what it can and can’t do. New technology is often the Big Lie of science fiction stories, and many stories are build around a single advancement. Magic Realism Big Lies have to conform to a mostly real world that has magic added in. No matter what, however, the Big Lie has to make sense within the context of the story, and the rules of the Big Lie cannot be violated.

Here’s a fairly well known (I hope) example. The movie series (and comic book series before and since) Blade (owned by Marvel Comics) is about a man that hunts vampires, and he was in the womb when his mother was bitten by a vampire.As a result, he has many advantages of vampires, but only a few of their vulnerabilities.For example, he does feed on blood like a normal vampire. The Big Lie is that there really are vampires. Vampires as the Big Lie require the writer to define what their actual abilities are, and how they vary from classic vampire stories. In one scene, a vampire is walking under the sun, something most vampires cannot not since sunlight killing vampires is a part of most (but not all) vampire Big Lies. One group of vampires created a powerful sunblock that allows them to temproarily walk under the sun, which is reasonable since it is the UV rays in sunlight that hurts them.The use of sunblock only works because of the Big Lie of what vampires are vulnerable to, it would not work in many other vampire stories with different Big Lies.Later on, Blade attacks a vampire with a UV lamp, which, as now expected, hurts the vampire.

So, probably the most important step in writing a compelling speculative fiction story is coming up with an interested Big Lie to build a story around, and then work out all the details of the Big Lie to make a logical consistent narrative.

If you’d like to see some great Big Lies in action, visit us at Spectacular Speculations and sign up for our free newsletter for a story every month. Also check our subscription options for more great reading delivered directly to your inbox. We’re always looking for a few good Big Lies, so check out the author’s page for publication options.

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