Putting the science into Science Fiction
26/02/2005 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

A couple editorials ago, I was discussing the use of allegory in Science Fiction. This time, we're going to look at the application of science in SF. In various forms, over the years, there has been varied discussions about the use of science in SF. Writers who are self-admittedly not scientists or with no inclination that way, have tended to veer towards the soft sciences or focused on characters or plot more than what makes the backdrop work.

A couple editorials ago, I was discussing the use of allegory in Science Fiction. This time, we're going to look at the application of science in SF. In various forms, over the years, there has been varied discussions about the use of science in SF. Writers who are self-admittedly not scientists or with no inclination that way, have tended to veer towards the soft sciences or focused on characters or plot more than what makes the backdrop work. Some of the reasoning behind that is probably justified. Things like space travel, force fields, biological creations and even time travel are known to the SF reader and even the non-SF reader who looks in occasionally and don't need lengthy technobabble explanations. It's accepted that things just do without getting technical about it.

Some of them have even happened in our reality. Most people know what a clone is these days, for instance. There isn't a need to do anything but acknowledge that technological advancement has taken place without centring the story around its discovery anymore. Then again, even scientist SF writers have written this way as well. If a scientific principle can be explained it's a bonus but stories have also always been about how characters react to a particular situation regardless of the genre. This has been at the heart of discussion in SF circles for a long time without necessarily dwelling on whether it can work in SF or not.

The problem with SF, unfortunately, is that its forced a belief that only scientists can write 'hardcore' Science Fiction which is also a mistake. Any smart SF writer doing research on any particular subject is going to have more than a layman's knowledge to fall back on when writing a story. Such research can also bring out possibilities that might not even have been thought of when working on the plot. Would a scientist really consider other possibilities knowing it's improbable or impossible? Would an astute layman progress beyond a certain point and see other applications from a lateral point of view and then rein it in and work out how to make it plausible? At the other end of the scale, do neo-writers make the cardinal sin of not researching at all?

Where science is concerned, it isn't theory that is needed but practical application in terms of story writing. You don't need a full understanding of Einstein's relativity theory to know that events can help simultaneously across any distance but the length of time travelling between them will have some bearing on what can be done about the situation. Even with faster than light or hyperspace travel, the acceleration and deceleration times can still make many months pass before getting to a particular planet. You don't need to know how a computer or artificial intelligence works to show a functional model.

At the far extreme, even alien technology would be explained under similar lines providing you don't forget a few basic rules or explain how you can get around them. These roughly break down into you can't get something for nothing, there's no such thing as perpetual motion and the biggie, cause and effect. The latter has real repercussions for time travel! The real lesson is being careful to avoid deux ex machina and ensure there is sufficient understanding that practical limitations are working. Advanced technology might seem like magic but would still work under most established scientific principles.

Science Fiction is really all about, when used, applied science rather than theory and in a lot of cases this leads into advanced technology. If you're looking over a new scientific theory, then your mind should be working on how it can be applied or even whether it should be applied. Understanding quantum mechanics or string theory is hardly going to need more than a mention if you've got a teleportation device. Anyway, I've got one of those in my secret lab - all mad SF writers have a secret lab! Using my teleporter device, I can get across that busy road in, oh, about 4 hours. A long time admittedly but not for my trips to Australia. What takes time is the disintegration/reassembling of matter or the bouncing of information down a quantum chain if you want to know the secret. Note how the things I mentioned in the previous paragraph have all been applied. Patent not pending cos I don't want all those pamphlets from companies saying they can do great things with my device.

Of course, SF doesn't have to be all about technological advancements but it doesn't have to be ignored providing whatever you plan to use doesn't contradict basic scientific principles. You don't have to quote Newton's gravitation laws to know some things just wouldn't happen some ways. Having the Earth suddenly stop moving in its tracks would undoubtedly cause its destruction unless you figure out a way that it can be done without violating its motion. Not so easy even if some early authors, let alone TV shows think stopping the cosmos moving is a trivial task. What could be got away with years ago isn't any more for the simple reason too many people know better. The one thing you can't really get away in SF is cheat with science cos you loose credibility. The biggest annoyance is that it isn't that difficult to do research anymore and with Science Fiction that part of writing a story.

Saying all of that, is there anything new out there that can be exploited in a story? That's really for you to find out. Too often, so much of future science and technology has been based around only a few things like space travel and communication lately. So little with any real discoveries any more. That still leaves a lot more that could be exploited by a fertile and an inquisitive mind with a perchance for SF. It's the act of the writer's imagination to bring anything in the story to life. If you can bring your understanding on the subject to the story then you can encourage interest and bring science to the masses. It will also put science back into Science Fiction.

Go forth and research.
Be happy. Enjoy the rest of the website.
Thank you and good night
Geoff Willmetts
editor: SFCrowsnest.com

Wishful thinking: You'd think with all the figurines and action figures out that someone would have put 'The Watchmen' figures - as advertised in the original comicbook series - out by now. Then again, maybe it's to spare the public from a naked Dr. Manhattan!!!

(Less Serious) Thought For The Month: Hardly scientific but have you noticed the similarity between front loading washing machines and digital cameras. It would be a bit harder to put the former in your pocket let alone take a photo with it but is it the most practical design for a camera?

PS If you've survived this far in the editorial, let me reiterate something from the website newsletter and the above editorial. As you can see from the main page, we have one of the biggest SF/fantasy/horror monthly reviews columns on the Net. Our success has increased the number of books that comes in and our policy is to read everything before giving a review. You want the bottom line about what you're going to choose to read. We roadtest books so you have some idea of what you're letting yourself in for. That means actually reading the product and telling others what you think. For that, we're always on the outlook for more reviewers.

Apart from the ability to put words into sentences, you also need to know how to précis, either know or do a little research on associated subjects and can express opinions constructively expressing good and bad points about the books you read. You'll even get a little editorial help in how to write good copy. I did say you have to love books and willing to read beyond your favourite authors, didn't I?

If you like reading books in the genre, think and show you can write a decent review and, most importantly, live in the British Isles (sorry, expense, time and distance travelled prohibits elsewhere), contact me below for my 'Reviews Flyer' - put this in the subject ebox and we'll see if you've got what it takes. We can't pay you but a review for the price of a book has to be a good incentive.

We have one of the most popular SF review columns on the Net. Do you think you're up to writing a review?? If you think you can and can prove it, then you're really going to think you've landed your hands in the biscuit tin.

PPS: For those keeping track, I'm still about 20 months (early April 2003) behind. No, I haven't been rushing. Things are always quiet in those two months.

With going through the ebook samples, I have removed some who've gotten published elsewhere. Thank you for your patience but let me know if you've sold elsewhere so I can reduce my pile or if you've changed address, especially e-mail address. I can't give you my comments unless either is up to date. Currently, doing spot-checks to see if you're still there when I reach your sample in the pile is making it easier on my time and catching up on the slush pile.

This isn't much of a repeat, just to show you're not forgotten. Those sending in ebook samples, be prepared for a long wait and read the Guidelines elsewhere on this website. They are there to help you do some of the right things and reduce the number of times I'm repeating myself over silly grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that you shouldn't be making. It makes editing a lot easier if any editor has less work pointing out poor English which should have been sorted out in the first place and more focused on other areas of your work.

There's an old editorial adage, if you can't aim for perfection why should an editor nurse-maid you to that state? If you're a writer, then you should understand the words and grammar of the job you're supposed to be writing or are you considering it as mundane and boring as any other job to get right? Fall in love with making every sentence the best you're ever written, read up and understand the rules of grammar. Be prepared to put a story away for a few weeks and go back to it for a self-edit. A lot of the time, errors will just stare you in the face when you didn't see them the first time round. Once you know where your weaknesses are, they can be sorted and allow you to move a little higher up the ladder towards making your material look its best.

Please don't confuse this with my short story slush pile which is kinda low at the moment. We're always willing to give short story writers a chance to be seen if they can withstand my scrutiny even if we can't pay for their efforts. Don't forget also, we've got a teaching ground of one page stories, so check out the rules elsewhere on the website.