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When you read fiction, you use "Suspension of Disbelief." That's because the writer often suspends logic in order to make an entertaining story.
Probably the most common example of this is secrecy by plot necessity. For just one example, what's the real reason Harry Potter can't practice magic where muggles can see? Forget this babble about ordinary people not being able to face the truth. Forget the conspiracy theories. The real reason is that without this vast conspiracy of silence, the reader can't believe the magic exists in the "real world."
A little of this suspension of logic may be necessary. But for heaven's sakes, don't take it any farther than you need.
One horrible example of this is a book I read called _After Dachau._ It's sort of a detective story set in a perfectly mundane and normal New York in the year 1960 AD or so.
The big plot twist is that in this case "AD" is not Anno Domini. It's After Dachau. Dachau is the mythical battle where the great hero, Hitler, defeated the Allies, convinced them that the Jews were behind it all, and led them on to exterminate all non-white people on Earth.
Now it's been nearly 2000 years. Nothing has changed, not one thing. When an old building wears out, they rebuild it just as it was. The Empire State has been rebuilt four times, each time exactly the same. Car models never change. Airplanes never change. They're still listening to Sinatra and it's still on AM radio.
Why? "Because we like it that way."
More like "Because we have pushed things past the edge of screaming insanity just to hit you with one plot twist."
Don't do that.
Probably the most common example of this is secrecy by plot necessity. For just one example, what's the real reason Harry Potter can't practice magic where muggles can see? Forget this babble about ordinary people not being able to face the truth. Forget the conspiracy theories. The real reason is that without this vast conspiracy of silence, the reader can't believe the magic exists in the "real world."
A little of this suspension of logic may be necessary. But for heaven's sakes, don't take it any farther than you need.
One horrible example of this is a book I read called _After Dachau._ It's sort of a detective story set in a perfectly mundane and normal New York in the year 1960 AD or so.
The big plot twist is that in this case "AD" is not Anno Domini. It's After Dachau. Dachau is the mythical battle where the great hero, Hitler, defeated the Allies, convinced them that the Jews were behind it all, and led them on to exterminate all non-white people on Earth.
Now it's been nearly 2000 years. Nothing has changed, not one thing. When an old building wears out, they rebuild it just as it was. The Empire State has been rebuilt four times, each time exactly the same. Car models never change. Airplanes never change. They're still listening to Sinatra and it's still on AM radio.
Why? "Because we like it that way."
More like "Because we have pushed things past the edge of screaming insanity just to hit you with one plot twist."
Don't do that.
