Be a Better Writer -- SCIENCE FICTION
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:06 am
People who are unfamiliar with science fiction sometimes have the impression that it’s all about spaceships and aliens. While those certainly fall under the sci-fi umbrella, there are many other types of sci-fi:
1. New or imagined technology and its impact on the world
2. Alternative history (what if Japan had won WW2? What if Lincoln had not been assassinated?)
3. Time travel or space travel
4. Dystopia (or, rarely, utopia)
5. The future (near or far)
6. Spiritual warfare
7. Apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic worlds
8. Social science fiction (usually combined with #1 or #5. How is society different?)
9. Religious sci-fi (the rapture, fiction about the Shroud of Turin, etc.)
10. Magical realism (this is a literary term, not a spiritual one). In magical realism, the story is very realistic except for one element which is totally natural in that setting. For example, a story taking place in everyday 2014 America, but where occasionally a person wakes up totally green.
…and there are many, many more sub-genres of science fiction. The first thing I’d suggest to those of you who might be thinking I don’t like science fiction! I’ve never read science fiction! I’m not even sure if it’s Christian! would be to consider how you could approach one of the above types of writing with a Christian world view.
For example, I once wrote a story for the challenge about a married couple who were given the opportunity to choose every genetic characteristic of their potential unborn child. When they decided that they didn’t want to manipulate their child’s genes, they were denied the privilege of conceiving. I wrote another one where a mother had given her child fetal alcohol syndrome, and had the opportunity to go back in time and choose not to drink. And in a third sci-fi story, I wrote about two friends who chose different paths in the Tribulation—the Christian was persecuted but happy, and the non-Christian was privileged but miserable. (If you want links, just ask).
Keep in mind, too, that Challenge entries need not be overtly Christian, as long as they are wholesome and acceptable to a Christian reading audience.
Keep these in mind when writing science fiction:
1. In many kinds of science fiction, the writer has to create a whole new world. Within that world, she has to determine the culture, the political structure, the state of technology—all of the things that have shaped her characters. But in only 750 words, it’s nearly impossible to do all of that without telling, telling, telling—and then to also have enough words left to tell a story. But if you don’t let the reader know how this world works, they may not understand your story. It could be very clear to you, because this world is in your head—but not at all to your reader. You have to find that balancing point of explaining your sci-fi universe to your readers and telling your story. The best idea is often just to tell a very small story. Don’t attempt to depict an entire intergalactic war, for example—just tell the story of one small character within that war.
2. If you’re writing about a time and/or place that isn’t here and/or now, you’ll probably have to give your characters non-contemporary names. I suggest that you take contemporary names and change them just a bit, rather than making up unpronounceable names. The late Isaac Asimov was great at this: he had characters named Hari, Dors, and Chetter in his Foundation series. None of those are quite English names, but they’re pronounceable and even somewhat familiar. If I encounter a story in which the characters are named Sgaskjfh’det and KhurLtxun, I’m going to stop reading pretty quickly.
3. Even though the setting of your story may be wildly different from our present reality, the characters and the lessons they learn should be relatable. Think of universal themes in literature: finding love, overcoming difficulty, fighting an enemy, growing up…you could even think of an entire NOT science-fiction story on one of those themes. Then figure out what detail you could change to put your story into the sci-fi category.
4. If you’re stuck for a place to begin, you need look no further than the news. Watching the news this morning, I heard several stories that could easy become sci-fi with just a bit of tweaking.
5. If you’re going to write a really science-y sci-fi story using imagined technology, be sure that you know enough about it to sound convincing, and that it is believable and consistent within the context of the story.
6. Science fiction often considers the question “What If…?” For example, I once wrote a story in which all of the people in a small town woke up one morning with their sins tattooed on their bodies. What would happen in such a town?
If you’ve got lots of time, you might want to check out this free online course in writing sci-fi and fantasy. I haven’t gone through the whole course, so I can’t vouch for all of its content, but what I read seemed very good.
HOMEWORK:
Link to a sci-fi story that you’ve written. If you do this, PLEASE don’t just provide a link. Tell us something about your writing process, so that we can learn from you. OR
Ask a question or make a comment about something in this lesson, or about sci-fi in general. Do you like sci-fi? Why or why not? OR
Talk about sci-fi that you’ve read or seen on television or the movies. How can sci-fi be good, effective, or powerful literature?
1. New or imagined technology and its impact on the world
2. Alternative history (what if Japan had won WW2? What if Lincoln had not been assassinated?)
3. Time travel or space travel
4. Dystopia (or, rarely, utopia)
5. The future (near or far)
6. Spiritual warfare
7. Apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic worlds
8. Social science fiction (usually combined with #1 or #5. How is society different?)
9. Religious sci-fi (the rapture, fiction about the Shroud of Turin, etc.)
10. Magical realism (this is a literary term, not a spiritual one). In magical realism, the story is very realistic except for one element which is totally natural in that setting. For example, a story taking place in everyday 2014 America, but where occasionally a person wakes up totally green.
…and there are many, many more sub-genres of science fiction. The first thing I’d suggest to those of you who might be thinking I don’t like science fiction! I’ve never read science fiction! I’m not even sure if it’s Christian! would be to consider how you could approach one of the above types of writing with a Christian world view.
For example, I once wrote a story for the challenge about a married couple who were given the opportunity to choose every genetic characteristic of their potential unborn child. When they decided that they didn’t want to manipulate their child’s genes, they were denied the privilege of conceiving. I wrote another one where a mother had given her child fetal alcohol syndrome, and had the opportunity to go back in time and choose not to drink. And in a third sci-fi story, I wrote about two friends who chose different paths in the Tribulation—the Christian was persecuted but happy, and the non-Christian was privileged but miserable. (If you want links, just ask).
Keep in mind, too, that Challenge entries need not be overtly Christian, as long as they are wholesome and acceptable to a Christian reading audience.
Keep these in mind when writing science fiction:
1. In many kinds of science fiction, the writer has to create a whole new world. Within that world, she has to determine the culture, the political structure, the state of technology—all of the things that have shaped her characters. But in only 750 words, it’s nearly impossible to do all of that without telling, telling, telling—and then to also have enough words left to tell a story. But if you don’t let the reader know how this world works, they may not understand your story. It could be very clear to you, because this world is in your head—but not at all to your reader. You have to find that balancing point of explaining your sci-fi universe to your readers and telling your story. The best idea is often just to tell a very small story. Don’t attempt to depict an entire intergalactic war, for example—just tell the story of one small character within that war.
2. If you’re writing about a time and/or place that isn’t here and/or now, you’ll probably have to give your characters non-contemporary names. I suggest that you take contemporary names and change them just a bit, rather than making up unpronounceable names. The late Isaac Asimov was great at this: he had characters named Hari, Dors, and Chetter in his Foundation series. None of those are quite English names, but they’re pronounceable and even somewhat familiar. If I encounter a story in which the characters are named Sgaskjfh’det and KhurLtxun, I’m going to stop reading pretty quickly.
3. Even though the setting of your story may be wildly different from our present reality, the characters and the lessons they learn should be relatable. Think of universal themes in literature: finding love, overcoming difficulty, fighting an enemy, growing up…you could even think of an entire NOT science-fiction story on one of those themes. Then figure out what detail you could change to put your story into the sci-fi category.
4. If you’re stuck for a place to begin, you need look no further than the news. Watching the news this morning, I heard several stories that could easy become sci-fi with just a bit of tweaking.
5. If you’re going to write a really science-y sci-fi story using imagined technology, be sure that you know enough about it to sound convincing, and that it is believable and consistent within the context of the story.
6. Science fiction often considers the question “What If…?” For example, I once wrote a story in which all of the people in a small town woke up one morning with their sins tattooed on their bodies. What would happen in such a town?
If you’ve got lots of time, you might want to check out this free online course in writing sci-fi and fantasy. I haven’t gone through the whole course, so I can’t vouch for all of its content, but what I read seemed very good.
HOMEWORK:
Link to a sci-fi story that you’ve written. If you do this, PLEASE don’t just provide a link. Tell us something about your writing process, so that we can learn from you. OR
Ask a question or make a comment about something in this lesson, or about sci-fi in general. Do you like sci-fi? Why or why not? OR
Talk about sci-fi that you’ve read or seen on television or the movies. How can sci-fi be good, effective, or powerful literature?