I was literally just telling a friend of mine the other day that I didn't like reading any stories set in "real" worlds, because when I want to read I want to read things that are imaginative and fantastical. That isn't to say I never like things that aren't fantasy, but it's rare that I give those things a chance.

As someone who loves reading in general though, I have to inform you that if reading doesn't have any level of realism - no one is seriously going to love it. The only people that are are going to be the ones that can imagine it in some form as reality. Even in Alice in Wonderland, Alice was driven by very real feelings of curiousity - something that everyone reading could relate to.

Making your characters act somewhat realistically is not "important". It's VITAL. Or else you're not writing a story - you're writing words.

In some cases, people like me write things that are pretty corrupt. It is VERY important to take those things seriously, and write a somewhat realistic portrayal. Frankly, there's a lot of impressionable minds on this site. If you go writing about someone falling in love with their , you need to handle that situation very carefully - or else there's going to be girls out there putting themselves in vulnerable situations. (This is something that has happened before, and not something that anyone wants to keep happening.)

As a writer, you're not just an entertainer. That's important to remember.

If you haven't done any research regarding the psychology of someone who has been , you very seriously do not need to be writing about it. Kapeesh?