Don't Do it for the #Aesthetic

My sister and I have noticed a problem in some modern speculative fiction. Mostly surrounding their worldbuilding. It's a problem that needs to be remedied, and wouldn't be that hard to do.

That problem is doing things only for the aesthetic. Aesthetic is the appreciation of something's beauty. It can also be a guiding principal for a piece of work.

A lot of writers love to make aesthetic mood boards or collages for their WIPs. I do it myself. It can help you define exactly what your vision is, and makes it easier to share that vision with others. A good aesthetic collage can help show the tone and ideas your story covers.

An aesthetic collage for Lost Girls

So, aesthetics themselves aren't bad. Having a clear vision is good. It's when those pretty pictures get in the way of making a decent world or story that you start to have problems.

Let's look at the movie Onward. I've talked about it a lot here. I love the movie. But I do feel like their worldbuilding is a little lacking, especially for a Pixar movie that has brought us such masterpieces as Coco and Inside Out.

Onward is an urban fantasy story. The characters are all non-human and there are some cool elements to the world they built. But this shot from the movie is what made me really start questioning their worldbuilding.

What is this mermaid doing? How did she get in this pool in the yard? How is planning on getting back out? Why is this the only time we see a mermaid that isn't in the ocean like all the others? I'm very concerned for her well-being.

The mermaid should have been cut entirely, or show us how they live with all the non-aquatic people. Do they have mobile fish tanks? That house behind her is clearly not designed for a mermaid. They just included it for a laugh, while in the context of the world, it doesn't work at all.

Officer Colt is another character that gives me question. He's a centaur, and they seem to be fairly common in this world, so why doesn't there appear to be any furniture or cars made for them? He drives his cop car by putting the seat all the way back.

I know our world has similar issues, but you would think they would develop more technology to help those who aren't the same anatomically. There are several small things like that throughout the movie, placed for interest or a laugh, that break the suspension of disbelief.

Or let's turn to another movie, Sing. Another one of my favorites. But coming on the heels of Zootopia, the world just didn't feel right.

Let's start with Meena. She's an elephant, and the house they live in clearly too small for their size. They have to squeeze through the doorways, and their utensils are far too small for their hands? hooves? (What do elephants have anyway?)

Eh, but maybe everything's designed in a sort of ambiguous way. It certainly seems so, until you look closer. Mike's car might be too big for him, but the steering mechanisms have been scaled down so he can drive it. Or the fact that there are waterways made for the whales?

The story of Sing might be great, but they don't build a believable world. Why is everything a generic size? How did they decided that that size was workable for everyone, when it's clearly not? Is there some sort of animal discrimination going on here? (Okay, sorry about the last one.)

My point in all this is that when you write, you can't simply rely on throwing things in because they look good or sound cool. Sometimes it works. But other times it breaks the suspension of disbelief, or worse, leaves plot holes.

What if you had an urban fantasy where the crime lords were, let's say, centaurs. But instead of having specially designed clothes or furniture or cars, they just had to make do with what everyone else had. This might not seem like a big problem until you look closer.

If they're such powerful crime lords, why haven't they had these things made for them? It could be a cool show of power if everything was designed for centaurs and made other people use them. But if they didn't have them, it makes you question how powerful they really are.

This can also go for historical fiction. History is a messy topic, but if I've learned one thing from watching obsessive historical clothing YouTube videos, it's that you can't just throw in a piece from another time period without good reason. Or using the wrong type of colors or architecture for the period or location of your story, just because it looks cool.

I understand wanting to use all the cool things. I too want to add magically enhanced coffee shops and big ball gowns to my stories. But if those things won't work with the story, then something needs to change.

I know this has been kind of a long, semi-rambling post, but thanks for sticking it out to the end. You get a cookie from our magical coffee shop.

What are your thoughts on this? What's one cool thing you want to see in more stories? Tell me in the comments!

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