I am reminded constantly from my chemical engineering background that Oil and Water do not mix easily. That is, unless emulsifiers are added to the two naturally repelling liquids to create an emulsion. A delicious mayonnaise comes to mind.
The critical question, in writing our book, Scotland 2070- Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, was not about the physical mixing of oil and water however! It was whether fictional stories and non-fiction writing would mix easily or not? A number of publishers suggested that we would really struggle. We risked it anyway. What literary emulsifier would encourage a smooth blend?
Based on the feedback we have received from reviewers and early readers we have found an acceptable formula. We have not crossed the line of some Netflix films that claim to be largely based on true events but clearly have stretched the truth beyond its acceptable limit. Neither have we played a trick on our readers by claiming, as Netflix’s Fargo Series does with the tongue-in-cheek lie, that ‘it’s based on a true story and the identities of the characters have been hidden to protect their interests’.
Of course, nothing about the future is definite as we have just been reminded from the topsy turvy world caused by Covid. Current news often turns out to be an inaccurate early draft of history anyway. Stories can sometimes be more believable than facts. Certainly, some of Tom Clancy’s so called fictional novels are so close to the geo-political and national security truth that they scare the authorities!
So what’s the ‘literary emulsifier’ that has allowed us to mix serious non-fiction logic with stories?
First, a bit of story telling can be a light relief for a heavy subject. A close relative, who avoids most non-fiction books, was apprehensive about having to read this book to show loyalty to the authors. She was pleasantly surprised. The book is simply more interesting to read or perhaps interesting to more people, because different people absorb information and ideas in different ways.
Some of the key points become more accessible – ‘use stories to smuggle facts into the narrative,’ as Nesrine Malik said at the 2019 Edinburgh book festival. And it gives us a way to recognise and present quite diverse political, and social, and regional, opinions; without having to justify them or take sides in the argument.
Finally, if you were a fly on the wall during the writing, you might argue that the real reason for including fictional stories is because we couldn’t agree amongst ourselves on certain subjects. We had to avoid the risk of distracting from our main collective message that Scotland has a great potential future irrespective of the short term politics!
So, in conclusion, we don’t regret the rarer mix of non-fiction writing and believable stories. We trust you will find that mix has improved the quality of the debate on Scotland’s long term future.
As for Oil and Water (Offshore Wind and Tidal). That will need to remain an acceptable mix in the Energy Policy for a while yet. Maybe not the most delicious of mayonnaises for the environmentalists.