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The Trials And Tribbleations Of Writing Science Fiction And Fantasy Sarah Dobbs of SciFantastic brings the Pests at the 'Nest a quick interview with SF author extraordinaire, David Gerrold. Any Science Fiction fan worth their salt or their stick-on Vulcan ears has heard of David Gerrold. He was the man with the plan behind The Trouble With Tribbles, which he describes as his first major success.
Not only that, but he has clocked up an impressive list of TV credits that are longer than Voyager’s journey home. They are Babylon 5, Logan’s Run, Superboy, The Twilight Zone and Tales From The Darkside to name but a few. Raised in San Fernando Valley, the Hugo and Nebula award winning author now lives in sunny California with his adopted son Sean. On his website, David tells the world about how he once harbored suspicions that Sean was of extra terrestrial origins. Not now. Apparently, ‘now he is sure.’ Here, David shares his thoughts on his phenomenal career and deals out some refreshing advice to aspiring writers, who can but dream about following in such huge footsteps. SD: What is your top tip for creating believable sci-fi? DG: You have to believe in it yourself if you want anyone else to believe it. That means you have to do your research. There are too many writers putting words to paper who do not take the time to look up their facts. If you're going to write science fiction, you should know enough science so that you don't have to make up silly techno-jargon. The reader wants to be enlightened, not bamboozled. Or, to put it another way, the audience will suspend disbelief … they won't suspend common sense. SD: What do you consider to be your first major success and how do you feel about this achievement? DG: For me, my first major success was The Trouble With Tribbles episode of Star Trek. I'm very proud that it turned out to be such a memorable and popular episode. I wanted to do something special for the show, and the success of the episode surpassed my wildest dreams. I'm very proud of the fact that the fans have made the tribbles such a special part of the Star Trek universe. SD: Do you prefer to read 'hard' science fiction, pure fantasy or a mixture of both? DG: I like stories that enlighten and enliven. I like to be surprised. I like my imagination tickled. I like those moments of aha! and wow! and ohmygoodness! that can only happen when an author has taken the time to build a coherent world and then move into it and look around and show how it works. I've read wonderful fantasies and wonderful science fiction, and I enjoy both. SD: Does a career in journalism or short story writing make it easier to publish novels in the future - or can unknown writers get published just as easily? DG: The only way to sell a novel is to write a novel that is worth publishing. A career in journalism will teach you how to report facts in a clear and concise manner. This trains you in a very readable style and many good writers have come from the ranks of journalists. Short stories train you in the techniques of fiction and are a great way to strengthen yourself before tackling the larger canvas of a whole novel. I recommend both areas as a great training ground, but ultimately writing a novel is its own kind of challenge. A novel is a commitment of 3 to 6 months. Nobody ever finished a novel by accident. It takes determination. SD: Did you find it very hard to get published initially? DG: No. SD: Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers on the verge of giving up? DG: Anyone who is thinking about quitting should quit. If you can be discouraged, then you're not meant to be a writer. If you're too stupid to quit, too stubborn to quit, too hard-headed to quit, too determined to quit, too curmudgeonly to quit, too crazy to quit, too fanatic to quit – then maybe you have what it takes to get from page one to page last. But if you're thinking of quitting, then obviously you don't have that kind of determination and you should quit now and stop wasting your time and move on to something else. It isn't just that you have to love writing - you have to want to write the same way you want to take your next breath. If that's not your relationship with writing, then you might want to reconsider why you are sitting at the keyboard and typing. And once you do give up, you accomplish two valuable things - first, you have a lot more time for stuff you care more about, and second, there's one less person using up trees. David Gerrold’s book Building Aliens – How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy is out now priced £12.99, by Titan Books (ISBN1-84023357-5). David’s homepage is at www.gerrold.com
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OTHER CONTENT - June 2002
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Tribbles
has now assumed its rightful place in Trekkie history as one of
– if not the - most beloved and memorable Star Trek episodes of
all time. And it doesn’t stop there either. David was also responsible
for bringing the Battle For The Planet Of The Apes to bookshops
around the globe. 
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