- This topic has 17 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 8 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Okay, guys. I’m not sure whether this ought to have been put in general writing discussions or novel ideas, but who cares and here goes. This not a discussion topic, I guess. I just want a lot of opinions. Everyone has one of those, so this shouldn’t be too hard. 😛
I have written solely historical fiction and fantasy ever since I started writing. But recently I watched Star Wars for the first time, and I stopped blindly hating science fiction. And then… I wanted to try my hand at writing it. Ambitious of me, huh? Now I have this great (if I do say so myself, and apparently I do) plot all worked out, with characters and a villain and everything, and I was wondering what people want when they pick up a novel labeled science fiction besides a great story. Because I have the story down, more or less. But I wanted your opinions on what makes a science fiction novel cool in a way that no other genre is, just like fantasy is cool in a way no other genre is, and so on and so forth. Because each genre has its own unique, trademark things.
WARNING: Any and all ideas offered upon this thread are liable to be discarded in the event that they do not fit the purpose for which they were offered. Said ideas will be considered for use only if said purpose allows for them. ADVERTISEMENT: oh wait… I don’t speak Spanish. Gulp.
I know there has to be someone here who writes science fiction, and I am certain some of you here have read it. I could probably form my own opinions, but I want yours as well. So I guess you could call this a kind of poll. Wow… I’m getting into politics. Neat.Not that I’m an expert on this, but if you’re going to write science fiction, you’re probably going to need to get into the realm of theoretical physics or like topics to provide the science sounding stuff your unscientific world will be based on. This isn’t to say that you need to understand all that complicated stuff that some of the brightest minds today can’t even understand. You’re not going to follow those models anyway. All you need is something that sounds sciencey. We’re talking science fiction here, not science fiction. Remember too that modern technology is getting close to Star Wars in ways that we never imagined it would. To write something as epic as Star Wars, you will have to stay as ahead of modern technology as it was above the technology of its time. Hovercraft are no longer the fancies of dreamers. Think beyond, even if it sounds crazy. Some day it might become a reality. Seriously, even lightsabers are sounding possible now. Maybe you need timesabers. That sounds original.
🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
I write sci-fi, but more realistic kind. Like how Captain America is sci-fi. So basically I don’t know that much, but I do have opinions.
Science fiction has to be plausible in that world. Make the audience believe the extraordinary is ordinary. Sci-fi is cool when you make the audience believe in the unreal. That’s basically for every story, right?
Another thing is to make things closer to home. Star Wars does have a lot of outlandish names, but think about the main characters. Their names are pretty simple and even normal (well, not Chewbacca). Many authors go overdose on outlandish names. That’s bad. Don’t do it. Just don’t. Seriously.
Same goes for technology. Audiences love the weird and the familiar. They’re curious about the unusual, but they can also get shy. So you gotta have a balance. Just don’t drive yourself crazy. Just make it simple.
Still riding on that wave: don’t overdose on the crazy. Make it simple. Oh, wait! I just said that. So that must mean that it’s important.
Just don’t overdose on the simple 🙂 Okaaay what else?
I noticed that KP really likes fantasy and Captain America. Or is it just me? #randommusingsinthemiddleofapost
Don’t drive yourself crazy over sci-fi elements. A sci-fi story is still and primarily a story. Write a good story.
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
Wow, thanks guys. Both of you made really good points. @Daeus— a timesaber? How would that work? That sounds really cool. And thanks for the tip about keeping the technology ahead of our time. I’d actually given a fair amount of thought to that. I mean, the world in my novel (‘Operation Nebula’) is basically centered around one giant space-station. There are no planets hospitable to life, so the space-station is the hub of all human activity. There’s basically a web of energy that spreads out over a great bit of the known universe from this space-station in orderly squares, like a grid, and there are smaller space-stations caught in this web of electricity, if you will. Those are the planets, I guess, and the One space-station is the center of the system. There are transports that go regularly along the lines of energy that form the grid, and that’s how people get from station to station. You can break out of the grid, but you have to have permission, which is extremely difficult to get. And there is one switch for the entire system in the middle of the primary space-station. If it gets flipped— there goes your communication. And that can pose a few problems… 😛
Don’t drive yourself crazy over sci-fi elements. A sci-fi story is still and primarily a story. Write a good story.
Thanks Mark. I needed that reminder.The first book I wrote was a sci-fi. And I don’t even read a sci-fi a lot. 😛 I definitely agree with what Mark said. Make it make sense. Explain yourself concerning the gadgets and such and don’t make it be completely unbelievable. Actually, quite a few of my book gadgets I’ve seen the starts of in real life. Like robotic suits for soldiers and a mechanical apparatus to help paralyzed people. So, maybe just take what we have today in technology and kind of build off of where it could go to with certain things. Sci-fi doesn’t have to be completely wacky and weird, a lot of the time it’s just a matter of scientific what-ifs. 🙂
I noticed that KP really likes fantasy and Captain America. Or is it just me? #randommusingsinthemiddleofapost
Umm… Captain America fan, here. 😛
A timesaber you ask? Well, since I came up with the idea, I should know how it works, right? Well, ahh … Alright, Here’s something I came up with.
“The timesaber was invented some 280 yrs ago by the Chief of micropartical engineering for the star cluster 6H3. Its basic components are a handle and a ‘blade’ which extends out of the handle upon the timesaber being activated. The handle contains a hypoluxanomic generator which charges particles of the rare star dust ‘hythloxide’ to an energy accelerating them beyond the speed of light. At the end of the handle is a circular opening leading directly into the tubular ‘blade’. The interior of the entire saber is a perfect vacuum so that none of the particles has any chance to interact with any matter. The handle and blade are further coated with a substance which so violently repulses the supercharged particles that they never come in contact with its material. At the end of the blade is a sensor. When this sensor comes in contact with its target, it automatically opens up the point of the blade allowing the particles to interact with the target. The particles instantly fill the target but are kept from breaking beyond it by ‘anchor’ particles which surround them. The anchors keep the hythloxide particles in check and they, in return, hold the anchors in from flying away. The hythloxide, being accelerated past the speed of light, has the capability to move back in time relative to its surrounding, but it can only do this if it can interact with other matter. Being supercharged, the hythloxide is not able to interact with itself, and it is unable to interact with any matter in the saber, being repulsed from it. When however the particles are released on their target, they bind to it and cause both of them to travel back in time relative to their surrounding. Since the particles are in a traveling state, they are not able to interact with other particles and therefore cool to a speed lower than light. Consequently they continue to travel back in time relative to their surroundings until they exit time. When they exit time, they no longer have time to precede in relativity to, so they form a black hole and that is the end of them. Since the particles are released from the tip, timesabers are used like rapiers or foils, unlike the primitive light sabers. Timesabers automatically reset after each use, so their wielder is not left unarmed after his first fight. No this wouldn’t really work, but it sounds like it might.
🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
Good… grief. Did you say you wanted to run a ridiculously poly-cultural farm and write in the winter? I think you should drop that right now. Science needs you, Daeus. It would be selfish and unethical to rob the field of science of your genius.
Really.
Maybe if what I said actually had anything scientific about it. Anything remotely legitimate was stollen from a discussion I had with a friend who is the one with the scientific genius. I just added some random fancy, and a few scincey sounding words I made up from some greek and latin roots. I really have no scientific skill at all above the lower end of average. Trust me.
🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
Wow, @Daeus! That timesaber! And I thought I was a science geek . . .
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
What ever impressiveness it may possess is, I assure you, not a result of my science knowledge. No doubt, it is my lack of knowledge in that area which has allowed me to break beyond the bonds of sensibility into the ridiculous, but the gripping.
🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
No doubt.
But the fact remains that I never could have come up with anything like that, and I am that weird kind of person who is interested in fission and fusion and the splitting of the atom.
Yeah, that nuclear stuff is way beyond me. I think the only science I could ever understand was genetics.
🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
AAGGHH! NOT GENETICS! Talk about confusing. But then, I haven’t studied biology in depth yet either. 😛
Okay. Nuclear stuff. You have an atom. No— wait. You… do you know… have you studied…? Hang on. Right. I started wrong. Do you know what a cell is? Of course you do. So we have this cell— the smallest unit of life, right? Or actually no. Sorry. Starting over. We have this thing called Quantum Mechanics. The theory is that every unit of life… I mean every cell, or atom, or quantum, as the case may be… no. Wait wait wait wait wait. Uh… the atom— the quantum— actually you know what? Never mind. Go look it up on Wikipedia.I love fantasy and Captain America. Anyway…
I’m writing a futuristic fiction book right now; I’m not sure if it would be science fiction or not. I suppose that is probably what it would be categorized as at a library. Anyway, one thing I’ve thought of are drones; small flying things that can deliver things right to your door…from a fresh doughnut for breakfast to library books and soap.
I think an important thing (like someone above me said) is to make it all seem real. Which will mean the ‘voice’ of the writing acts like it is a given the reader will know what it is talking about (which they don’t, so you have to explain it without really explaining it…if that makes any sense. It isn’t quite as hard as it sounds; well, not all the time).
Also, if the story takes place on earth, it might be cool to reference modern things. Like in my culture 200 years in the future, they don’t use real money. However, at the malls they can buy coins at machines that are kind of like gum ball machines and throw the coins in fountains for fun and for looks…even though the original meaning has long been done away with.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
Good idea with the drone thing … so good in fact that it is already being pursued. Amazon, FedEx, and some others are working on incorporating drones into their delivery service. I’m not sure if they will actually deliver right to your door, but they might.
🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
