Hello everyone Rumour, speculation and theory. Key words in designing a story. It's also a way of life on the Internet when what people really want are facts. Go figure. Oddly enough, Science Fiction itself needs facts to make it work, especially when dealing with the hard sciences. It also often puts off a lot of writers who feel uneasy dealing with anything really 'scientific' when they write stories. A rather odd statement when we're in the genre of SCIENCE fiction. It's not that they can't verify the facts but worry that they'll fall down in application. Oddly enough, this is a lot easier than understanding the mathematics or formulas associated with any scientific law let alone deviating from it. Actually, those three words are the wrong way around. Let's apply scientific theory. Usually, a scientist observes a phenomenon and then builds up a theory as to how it works. The formula is tested by varying certain circumstances or parts of the formula and predicting the answer. This is then confirmed by doing it for real and comparing the results. If the scientist has got it spot on then the figures should match. If they don't, then it's back to the drawing board and sees what went wrong. This same technique applies when dealing with building a story plot. Where the SF writer gets involved is the speculation as to what can this information do in a story. This doesn't apply to the simple stuff like Archemedes volume displacement or elasticity laws or whathaveyou. It needs something a bit more global and a speculation as to what happens if it's applied to an unsuspecting world. Play around with Stephen Hawking's theories some time and ask yourself, 'How can I apply this to a story?' Science Fiction can go one step further and just deviate or twist a recognised scientific law or truth. As long as the effects are consistent to the deviation, the SF writer is applying the same logic system as a scientist in our own reality. The added bonus is that the writer only has to apply the effects than play with any theoretical formula. If written well, a reader is far more likely to understand the effects of, say, global warming in an exciting story than a dry scientific text. In that respect, demonstrating the facts is an important tool of an SF writer and often explains why so many come from a scientific background. Having a scientific background isn't always a requisite for being an SF writer - it just means a lot more research if you have a different background and need to apply such information. Whichever, imagination needs some control. Just because it's SF, neo-writers think all that is needed is a fantastic element to qualify as Science Fiction. Too often also there is a desire to go beyond the remit of the deviation without understanding what is written. It's the difference between a hack and a writer who has something to say. A world such as our own may not happen in an altered reality and the writer has to accept and work to such constraints. Fortunately, at least where they're concerned, humans tend to respond pretty much the same way wherever they're put so there is usually an instant rapport to the reader unless all your characters are alien. This saves a lot of problems no matter the time period or planet. What does imagination actually do? I mean, how can an imagination work when there are as many constraints as there are in any other genre? Imagination isn't coming up with an easy solution. In SF, it's looking at the possibilities created for this reality and living up to what has been created for them. Imagination is using the tools you've got without resorting to deux ex machina. Imagination is being clever enough a writer to slip information past a reader to see if they were really paying attention to what you've written. Thinking through the possibilities and ensuring the solution makes sense is good plotting. At every plot turn, the SF writer really does have to think what he or she is doing. SF writing is a demanding task. Readers demand good reading material far more than massive epics. You're reading this. Am I right? That deals with theory and speculation, so where does rumour come into it? Good question. There have been and still are a load of crackpot theories floating around. When it comes to acts of personal imagination which is the best choice? To use someone else's ideas or start off with a fresh slate and if your ideas are 'crackpot' then at least their your own ideas. Hands up if you prefer to belong to the second option. You can put them down again now. It'll prevents you moving the cursor down the screen not to mention having members of your family thinking you're auditioning for a gameshow! From an editorial perspective, when I look at any submitted story material, be it short or novel, it is finding what is wrong with the story. I'm more concerned with this than interfere that greatly with what you might want to say. Whether this is storycraft or general scientific theory it has to stand up to scrutiny or be laughed off the shelves. It doesn't matter how good the rest of the material is if it falls down on such problem errors then it brings the rest of the story down. The fewer faults you've got, the easier my job is. And that's no rumour. I speak only the truth. Fortunately, as some of you have discovered. If I can see some solutions for story problems that if sorted out give a better than even chance of being accepted, then I'm on your case. I offer solutions and it's up to the individual writer whether they use them or bounce off to offer different alternatives. All this extra work, not to mention my parents' on-going illnesses, have somewhat stalled completing some of my own material this year so far. Oddly enough, it's when I've being editing complete novels is when I have the most time to do my own writing. It's also probably why this editorial has been concentrating more on what I've been involved with. Now for those who are wondering how far you're in my backlog and how long before I get back to you. Novel samples are around the mid-May mark. I've also been editing some full-length novels and each of these takes two weeks to note corrections. Short stories I fit in around them both. Rest assured, I will be getting back to you and thank you for your patience. Enjoy the update.
Geoff Willmetts
editor: Hologram Tales/SFCrowsnest.com who's recently discovered lack of sleep is no substitute for insomnia! |
