Reality Vs. Realistic Writing

This morning, a question popped up in one of my writer's groups: How many weeks early can a preemie baby be? The author said the character was from an ancient civilization and traveling, and she wanted it to be realistic that she would travel so late in the pregnancy.

Immediately, dozens of helpful authors started chiming in. Some said modern medicine allows for babies to be as early as 24 weeks. Others said, because they wouldn't have "modern" intervention, 35 would be the absolute earliest. Arguments were made over whether it was a guaranteed pregnancy or a risky miracle. Others said it depended on whether a wet nurse was there within so many hours; others said the mother's health beforehand was the biggest concern...

Through it all, I kept thinking, would this ancient society even count weeks? They were pre-Roman, would they even count months? Wasn't pregnancy based on lunar cycles and or even guesswork until recent years? How would she know how far along she is? We (yes, even me, who chimed in with my life experiences and two out of three preemie babies) focused too much on the reality.

So often as writers we get caught in this "it has to be real" trap. Because it does. A reader will call "Bull-hockey!" the second something feels off. But it also doesn't. The goal of an author is to take the fantastical and make it realistic not real.

No one can tell me that Rebecca Yarros has ridden a dragon. I know it's impossible. But when Violet climbs aboard Tairn, it's as real to me as riding in a car.

"But the author should know!" cries the new writer, and this is true. There's a level of the author knowing more than any of our readers-I'm willing to bet that Yarros has done research on wind speed and distance traveled at some point in her Empyrean Series. (And if not her then someone in her publishing world.) But there's also a time to write the fantasy and then make it conform to reality.

Focusing in on the specifics, like how many weeks early that baby can be to survive, feels so essential to a new writer, but the truth is you can get away with a heck of a lot if your character believes.

You don't need to write the reality: "She was 36 weeks pregnant." Instead, focus on realistic writing based on your character's perception:

If the character giving birth is panicking saying things like, "It's too soon!" Your reader will automatically believe, "Oh no, she's premature!"

If your character is worrying about the newborn's wispy breath, your reader will worry about the lungs being premature.

If the baby is barely larger than the size of your hand, it doesn't matter how many weeks it is. This baby is underweight and tiny.

We are worried.

I have this argument with a lot of my author friends-the facts don't matter as much as what your character believes is real. Write first what you want, then do the research. Sure, learn that this ancient society counted things like lunar moon cycles, or changing seasons, or measured the roundness of her belly. But stop yourself if it's distracting you from actually writing what the story needs to be. Focus more on what your character's belief of reality is, rather than what you, the author, perceive as real.

As authors, it's our job to make it realistic, not to make it reality.