Reverse the Polarity on the Imaginoscope

by      Amber P.

 

A pesky thing about science fiction is, well, the science fiction part. The whole point of the genre is to speculate on what might be different in the world based on scientific discoveries and technological advancements, so the science part is kinda a necessity. And you should probably expect SF readers to have a passable to above average science education, which is a mixed blessing.

Say you get a cool science idea you want to play with, like gene splicing or colonizing a gas giant. On the one hand, us science geeks will be the most keen out of anybody to jump up and down at your creative vision of the future. On the other hand, we’ll be the first to spit at your lousy made-up totally-wouldn’t-happen science. Considering a great deal of SF is completely implausible, it puts us into a fun paradox where we want to somehow inspire people with our nonsense, but maintain the suspension of disbelief. I’m betting the tolerance for ridiculous science is going to vary with every individual reader, and maybe even with field. For instance I’d be more likely to forgive weird physics, which I know little about, but I’d be rolling my eyes at even small snafoos regarding medical science. Someone with an engineering background would probably be the other way around.

“Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”

by Amber P.

• “From my close observation of writers… they fall into two groups: 1) those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and 2) those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review.”
• “Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.”
• “I made up my mind long ago to follow one cardinal rule in all my writing — to be clear.“
• “Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today — but the core of science fiction, its essence, the concept around which it revolves, has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.”
• “I don’t believe in personal immortality; the only way I expect to have some version of such a thing is through my books.”

What do these quotes have in common? They are all from Isaac Asimov. I had to stop myself, because frankly he said a lot of great things, though a lot of them are not particularly relevant to a writing blog. 😉 He was prolific, insightful, and creative, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of his body of work. Reading his books gives me the sense that he simply knew everything about everything, and I’m torn between starstruck adoration, and feeling like a complete incompetent in comparison.

When someone else has written something so much better than what you feel you could ever achieve, it almost doesn’t seem right that your own work should be called the same thing and placed on the same shelf. Fantasy writers have Tolkein and Robert Jordan to look up to, as I’m sure every genre has their own–people who set precedents for their entire genre, whose work influenced not only generations of writers after them, but our very culture. Asimov’s ideas of robotics, for instance, redefined the genre and set the stage for all the robot stories after him. And who are we to compare with geniuses like that?

No, Really, If You Squint and Tilt Your Head…

by   Amber P.

I’ve noticed recently that you’re not really working with a blank slate. People pick up your story with a lifetime’s collection of experiences and memories, and when you label your work, no matter how broad or narrow the genre, it gets placed in a category. It’s natural for us to think, “This line here reminds me of a line in my favourite tv show,” and then picture the story with some of the tone and atmosphere of that show. Or we might notice, “This name is just like one the bad guys in this other book,” and subconsciously trust that character less. Anything we recognise as similar or familiar can both increase our enjoyment, and direct our expectations.

My WIP is a science fiction probably closest to space opera. It came together from pieces of ideas inspired by Asimov, Babylon 5, and many other of my favourites. I didn’t notice until others began critiquing it that, on first impression, it’s pretty Star Wars-esque.

The first chapter introduces a character fighting for a rebellion. Some characters have kinda magical powers, and there are shoot-outs and scary Imperial soldiers, and there’s even an Alliance. It doesn’t matter that it’s called the Independent Alliance and is a collaboration of systems outside Imperial territories; it’s part of a rebellion against an Empire, and the first thing anyone is going to think is Star Wars. (As an aside, in my effort to find a better synonym, I tried out Confederacy before deciding that was even worse).

Real Life is the Best Inspiration

by Amber P.

 

There’s a lot of fascinating stuff to real life, and I find I often underestimate it. Not just technology, how we’re practically living in Star Trek without the spaceships, but also crazy things from history, social sciences, evironment, and biology.

The animals that already exist vary widely and crazily. Some are so wacky and wonderful, they’re beyond what I would have come up with myself for a fantasy novel. Giant kelp forests and deep water bioluminescent life, for example, I kind of take for granted as existing, but if you think about it, how cool and crazy are they? Diatoms that glow in the water or glowworms or fireflies are pretty neat–creatures giving off light can be so beautiful.

History is another great source of ideas. I don’t actually know much history, but any time I learn some, it can not only be very interesting in and of itself, it’s ripe with fruit for the picking for plots and characters. The things people have done, endured, and created can be really amazing, not only in the positive sense, but also the negative sense. And don’t forget about the huge differences in culture between different countries and ancient civilisations. A neat (little) history example would be this plane we saw yesterday at an aviation museum. It was one of the early seaplanes, but instead of pontoons, the fuselage was a boat. It was a boat with wings, and a giant propellar kind of in the centre of it all, and looked straight out of steampunk.

Setting I’ve talked about before. Any google search of beautiful places yields endless lists of mind-blowing photos and eyecandy. However, even simple stuff might be an interesting novel element in disguise–the trick is to try and not take anything for granted. For example, a country (which could be a fantasy kingdom, perhaps), comprised of two large islands, with a massive, massive ferry that crosses the rather-large-but-not-too-large channel between them. You don’t think twice about it when you know it’s New Zealand, but if you wrote that into a fictional world, it would get flavoured by yout story atmosphere and probably come out pretty cool and memorable.

So in summary, try to not take things for granted. Look around and pay attention to the news. Your own hobbies and life experiences are particular to you, so something that seems very ordinary to you (or maybe you’re sick of it, like the instrument your parents forced you to play when you were a little kid), could add depth and dimensions to your characters that feel fresh and different to the readers. There are a thousand tourists visiting the wineries in Malrborough, so to me it seems like having a winery owner or connoisseur character wouldn’t be very clever or unique, but if I stop and think, the average person probably hasn’t been to this valley of wall-to-wall vineyards and it’s actually a beautiful and interesting place to describe (and therefore allow others to experience through the story world). There are probably things like that right in your hometown, even if you think you live in a boring area. The things normal to you may have been rarely or never experienced by your reader. Commonplace things can be fascinating when put in unusual combinations (think character traits and passions), or flavoured by the story atmosphere.

Here’s an exercise: try and think of two things near where you live that are everyday for you, but would be unusual/a point of interest to someone from another country. It could be an activity, a place, fashion, anything! Remember that, and maybe in your novel, if you’re inventing a culture, you can incorporate it.

Silk Purses From Sows’ Ears

by      Amber P.

 

You’ve probably shared the experience of going back to look at something you wrote a while ago, and thinking, “God, this is awful.” Sometimes, you knew it was awful as you were writing it, one of those “It’s the first draft, I just need to get the idea out of my head, I’ll change this all later.” Sometimes, you were kinda lukewarm about it, sort of a “I’m not sure how to do it differently, but I’m not pleased with it.” Sometimes, you actually thought it was good, and you end up wondering, “What was I thinking?”

I mentioned before that some of my chapters are quick, fun line edits, while others require complete rewrites and re-imagining. One such do-over chapter is a very early one, the first scene in the second main character’s POV, and for the longest time it was one of my least favourites. I was uncomfortable with it, because even though it accomplished some reasonable goals, it seemed very lacking and inelegant. I suppose that statement applies to most of the first draft, but let’s not mind that for now.

One of the most satisfying writing moments for me so far was taking this weak, bruised and bleeding mess of a non-scene and turning it into one of my favourites, one that I can read and enjoy again and again (is that weird that I re-read my own novel obsessively?). I’ll show you some of what I changed.

My Characters Have Somewhat Embarrassing Inspirations

by      Amber P.

 

I’ll open this post the same way as last week: my stories don’t have very glorified origins.

My WIP is this ambitious, galaxy-sized plot with all sorts of characters I love, some fun settings, and plenty of twists and turns. It’s pretty much a disaster but I still love it (most days). I love everything about it that isn’t a plot hole, but the elements that really keep me coming back to it are the two main characters and their relationship. When I feel like the whole plot is stupid and I should forget about it and never look back, something reminds me of those two guys and the little soft spot in my heart makes me go back and keep writing for them. You would never suspect that both of them have inspirations almost too embarrassing to talk about.

My Idea Farm

by      Amber P.

 

My story ideas do not have very glorified origins.

I generally have to cobble things together with hammer and nail. I don’t know how other people do it, but the whole idea of “creativity” is something that’s always felt like an ability other people have. I remember having it when I was a child, how I could just come up with things on command and ideas would even pop into my head unbidden. I had all these grand make-believe worlds and stories I could play in and populate with an endless supply of fictional characters. That disappeared a long time ago and has been replaced with the terribly analytical, realistic, critical-thinking scientist in me. The only way I can get stories together now is to construct them from the ground up, and half the time one little “but why?” can bring the whole plot crashing back down.

My lifelong method, if you can call it that, of forming story ideas is basically imagining a scene that I would love to see. If I think of enough scenes, I might be able to find some tenuous link between them, and poof, story. Since starting to write more seriously, that’s grown to also include concepts for characters or societies, which makes the haphazard throw-things-into-a-pot-and-stir style of plotting a little bit easier since I have a few more of the essential pieces of a novel to work with. I’ve started taking some initiative with these little whims of novel pieces, and now have a document titled “Idea Farm,” inside a folder titled “Idea Farm.” It’s where I keep a list of story ingredients that I can consult if I want to cram some new things together or need a bit of extra spice for something that already exists.

Here are some examples from the idea farm. They go from something as well thought out as…

What Does It Mean to Be True to the Story?

http://www.lz95.net/msn/faculty/bschwartz/writingobjectives6thgrade.htm

by S.A. Spencer

At our last writing meeting, the group leader brought us a prompt: “What does it mean to be true to the story?” I usually ignore this part of the evening and work on my WIP instead. As an adult learner, I don’t have patience for writing not related to my novel, (or blog) so I edited chapter 6 of Electric Minds.

Another attendee wrote an impressive essay on the prompt and shared. I enjoyed his answer but found the question unsettling.

True. What are we, liars? It didn’t make sense, as when a writer says a character isn’t cooperating, and wants to take the story in a different direction. Are writers’ people with multiple personality disorders, too?

To apply the word true to my story, I consulted the dictionary. “Consistent with fact or reality; not false or erroneous. See Synonyms at real.” Okay. How does my online dictionary define real?

1. “True and actual; not imaginary, alleged, or ideal:”

Well then, define story. “A usually fictional prose or verse narrative intended to interest or amuse the hearer or reader; a tale.”

I’ve heard that fact-based fiction (memoirs) is the rage, at least here in Santa Cruz County. Since the story takes place on another planet, it is not a memoir. (Unless I’m a character in my story since they reincarnate. 😉 )

2. “Real; genuine. See Synonyms at authentic: Having a claimed and verifiable origin or authorship.”

Here we go, make certain I am the author, 🙂 easy, unless, my other personality awakens while I’m asleep and writes the chapter, which might be kind of cool. 😀

More definitions of true are: “Reliable; accurate: a true prophecy.”

Hem, in science fiction, most everyone knows and accepts that warp drive would never work, and I’m no Jules Vern. (Maybe you will argue that point. Warp drive, not not equating me to Jules Vern.)

So am I being true to the story if I make sure I’m the author? I checked the definition for the word author. “One who practices writing as a profession.” This definition rings true for me, because I set a goal last year to publish within five years. Reasonable — not easy — but reasonable?

My best reply to the question, “What does it mean to be true to the story?” Make sure you write one.

What is your answer?

An Alien Sex Scene

by S.A. Spencer

Since I’ve never written a human sex scene, writing an alien one first might be good practice. Who besides me knows how they should react? Reading John Scalzi’s hilarious short story,  How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story inspired me.

My scene isn’t as wild and crazy as Scalzi’s. Because I’ve developed Vaaytirs, a humanoid race in my novel Electric Minds, I had established a few ground rules. For instance monogamy. Kaacey and Looleigh are a couple, expecting twins. After they’re born (not as immature as marsupials) they’ll go into Looleigh’s belly pouch and nurse until too big. With twins, that shouldn’t take long, even though she’s seven feet tall.

Animals on the planet Heka, named after the Egyptian god of magic, are descended from dinosaur -like creatures. Vaaytirs are more primal than the race (Transmuteds) that came from Earth and took over their planet. They see color tones attached to emotional words. Their character voices use extra and different adjectives and adverbs than I usually write, and many of their statements and questions end in “yes?”

The scene’s purpose is not to titillate the reader, but to move the story forward. Looleigh has recently discovered that Kaacey’s great-grandmother is the product of gene manipulation and he is part Transmuted. She hasn’t been able to face him since then, and this interlude is their reconciliation moment. When he enters their bedroom, her first actions are to make the reader think she’s angry.

Would I love to post it here? Yes. Am I too cowardly? Yes. Sorry.

What is your experience with writing human/alien/fae/robot sex/love scenes?

Image from: Scienceblogs.com

 

 

Space, The Final Frontier (and some of Amber’s writing)

By      Amber P.

 

There are a lot of reasons I love science fiction. I don’t think I’ve read a work of science fiction that didn’t have some cool ideas. It’s also pretty common to see interesting commentary on humanity and society. There’s the fun of imagining (or fearing) what the future could be like, what innovations we might make technologically or culturally.

I also just really like space. Particularly, trying to wrap my mind around the unimaginable vastness and just how big things are. Just pause for a minute and think about the space between galactic superclusters. Did you realise that the sun comprises 99.85% of the solar system’s mass? And I’m sure you’ve seen this picture before:

In case it’s too small to see, the sun is, uh, one pixel on that scale.

To quote the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…

“Space,” it says, “is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.”