Being Realistic

Being realistic isn't taking what you hope for and then shrinking it down until it feels safe. It's about making the story truer and closer to reality. Being realistic means using your best understanding of how things work and then trying hard to find what's wrong with that understanding so you can improve it. A wildly ambitious plan can be more realistic than a "modest" one if it's backed by a better explanation and has survived more criticism.

Being unrealistic means thinking or saying, “Here is the story I’m going to believe and stick to because I like it, I’m afraid, or I just don’t know.” What’s implied is that you’re doing this not because it’s the best explanation, but because you’re avoiding looking for ways your story might be wrong.