BLOG SESSION
July 2017
Today's Blog Session is going to go over the topic of How to write Science Fiction - creating imaginary worlds!
Science Fiction Writers create imaginary worlds. These might literally be new worlds, for example, an invented planet, or a new species of animals. Or it could entail our world in the future, or a future world with some innovations (for example, that humans have evolved to breathe underwater).
The way things work in your imaginary worlds will be based on actual science. So it's important for you to be familiar with the scientific principles and inventions that are related to your creation. For example, if you're writing about humans living on a planet with zero gravity, then you need to know the effects of zero gravity on the human body and the kind of technology that would be needed to compensate. If you write a novel that takes an existing scientific discovery one step further, then you have to understand the actual discovery. Research is an important part of Novel Writing, and you should definitely keep that in mind.
As a Writer, you also have to figure out the exact rules of your imaginary worlds. And you have to follow your rules.
If humans have evolved to breathe underwater in Chapter 1, your heroine can't drown in a swimming pool in Chapter 3. If your robots write poetry but not fiction, then you can't throw a novelist robot into Chapter 8. Or if you make these exceptions, you'd better have a convincing explanation for your reader.
The issue here is maintaining your reader's trust and what is called suspension of disbelief. That means the reader is willing to pretend along with you -- if you say that humans can breathe underwater, then the reader will take your word for it. To maintain this suspension of disbelief, you have to let readers know what kind of reality they're in and then follow the rules of this reality consistently. If you start out with an ordinary detective novel and then throw in someone breathing underwater in the 6th chapter, then your readers are going to have a reaction like this . . .
The way things work in your imaginary worlds will be based on actual science. So it's important for you to be familiar with the scientific principles and inventions that are related to your creation. For example, if you're writing about humans living on a planet with zero gravity, then you need to know the effects of zero gravity on the human body and the kind of technology that would be needed to compensate. If you write a novel that takes an existing scientific discovery one step further, then you have to understand the actual discovery. Research is an important part of Novel Writing, and you should definitely keep that in mind.
As a Writer, you also have to figure out the exact rules of your imaginary worlds. And you have to follow your rules.
If humans have evolved to breathe underwater in Chapter 1, your heroine can't drown in a swimming pool in Chapter 3. If your robots write poetry but not fiction, then you can't throw a novelist robot into Chapter 8. Or if you make these exceptions, you'd better have a convincing explanation for your reader.
The issue here is maintaining your reader's trust and what is called suspension of disbelief. That means the reader is willing to pretend along with you -- if you say that humans can breathe underwater, then the reader will take your word for it. To maintain this suspension of disbelief, you have to let readers know what kind of reality they're in and then follow the rules of this reality consistently. If you start out with an ordinary detective novel and then throw in someone breathing underwater in the 6th chapter, then your readers are going to have a reaction like this . . .
"What in the world?!"
The imaginative spell is broken. You've pulled out the rug from under the reader and startled the reader out of their imagination journey. The same thing happens if you change the rules halfway through . . .
"What in the world?!"
Just remember, once you've lost the reader's trust, you may not be able to get it back again. Pity on you if you do not keep your focus on your reader when writing.
PREPARATION WORK . . .
Map out & Research
Part of your preparation work for your Novel is to map out its worlds for yourself in great detail. You should decide:
- The history of its worlds (if your novel is about a new version of our own world, then figure out how this new version came to be).
- The geography (if different from the current world).
- What possibilities does it offer that aren't offered in our current world? What are the limitations, things your characters can't do?
- How does everything work in this new reality?
- How all of these factors affect the way your characters think, feel, and react to things. For example, if you have invented a world where people live to be 1000 years old, then characters will take a longer view of the future. And maybe a 10-year space flight will seem like no big deal to them.
You don't have to tell your readers all the rules or present them with an extended fact sheet in the first chapter. But you do need to let readers know enough to feel oriented and understand what's going on. And you definitely have to know the rules yourself so that you can follow them. This also allows you to work out logical problems and contradictions before you start writing. Maybe your book is going to be about a mutant race of half-humans, half-birds, but you also want your characters to breathe underwater. Neither humans nor birds breathe underwater, so how will you explain this? Decide the details ahead of time.
In Our Next Blog Session...
Top Tips on Writing Science Fiction
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Until we meet again in the next Blog Session,
Peace, Love & Light,
René
© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved
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