Pop Culture References in Fiction

The longer title would be; Should I use pop culture references in fiction?

My quick-and-easy-you-just-came-here-for-the-title answer is; No.

Now for the longer answer. Which is; Maybe.

(See what I did there with letters? What’s that? I’m a weirdo? . . . your face is a weirdo.)

I need to quickly mention that this is just my opinion. There aren’t any rules for writing, but if you’re trying to decide whether or not to use pop culture references in your writing, it’s good to try and get a lot of opinions and then make an informed decision.

So, Jess. Should I put pop culture references in my novel?

Depends. First of all, on the time. When is your novel set? If you’re writing a story on an Egyptian princess and she starts dancing around her castle to Ariana Grande via Beats By Dr.Dre, you, my friend, have made a bad decision. Unless this is a comedy. But a lot of things can be overlooked for a comedy.

Is your novel set in the future, where there are evil societys rising up and making teenagers beat each other to death? In this case, I don’t recommend making pop culture references.

Making a pop culture reference pulls the reader into THIS CURRENT WORLD. I once read a (coughripoffofthehungergamescough) dystopian where they mentioned a couple of books from present day. The Hunger Games was one of them.

Oh. I don’t think I’ve ever eye rolled so severely.

Because you, as the writer, are transporting the reader to a FICTIONAL world. And if you remind them of the real world, they instantly get transported straight out of that world you’ve created.

Now. When are pop culture references okay to make? In contemporaries? Maybe. But you need to carefully consider the reference you are making, why you are making it, and whether or not it will date the book. John Green, Meg Cabot, Cat Patrick, I’ve read some their books that are (mostly) contemporary, and set in present day, so of course there were a few pop culture references. They seemed well-placed, in my opinion, but have you ever read a book when a reference goes over your head?

This is what dating the book does. And unless this is the desired effect, you probably don’t want to do this. I once read a book where the girl was gushing over how her crush looked ‘almost exactly like Prince William’.

Think about that for a minute.

That book must have been released a while back. Because now, I don’t think about how attractive Prince William is when I hear his name. I think about the wonderful FAMILY he has, and his receding hairline. Probably not something that the author considered when she wrote that line.

So, should you make pop culture references? It’s up to you. I’ve just pointed out some things you should definitely consider when going about making pop culture references.

As a side note, there is also the problem of whether or not you’re obliged to make pop culture references in a contemporary. Honestly, I know there were probably pop culture references in Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, but I don’t remember them. My current contemporary, Blue Skittles (the code name for my current work in progress, for those who missed the last post) is currently void of any pop culture references, and I doubt I’m going to put them in at all.

So there you have it. Pop Culture references can either enchance or ruin your story, so it’s an important thing to consider.

Now. Let’s play the HOW MANY TIMES DID JESS WRITE THE WORDS POP CULTURE IN THIS POST GAME!

The answer? Fourteen.

Let’s round it off and make it fifteen. POP CULTURE!

It doesn’t even feel like a real word to me anymore. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post. Leave it a like and a comment. I will see you guys the next time I post, and . . . yes. I hope you all have a great day and please someone tell me how to end blog posts.

(It’s starting to sound like a running gag now, but I really can’t end blog posts.)