Questions tagged [science-fiction]
Stories about space, technology, the future, and other things that could be real but aren't.
223
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Writing detail from an animal's perspective
My sci-fi story is told from an alien wild animal's perspective. The story is immersive, so the reader directly follows the thoughts and reflexes of the alien. I enjoy writing this way, because the ...
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1answer
43 views
How to write a character who has the ability to manipulate diamagnetism? [closed]
I am trying to adapt a character who has Diamagnetic Manipulation abilities (https://powerlisting.fandom.com/wiki/Diamagnetism_Manipulation) into my own universe. Although I know superpowers do not ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
Sudden diary entry within a 3rd person limited story
I'm writing a 3rd person limited multi-pov Sci-Fi. The thoughts of whatever POV is being followed at any point are sometimes shown in italicized writing. Suddenly, 42K words in, starting off chapter ...
3
votes
3answers
174 views
How to describe races/ethnicities in setting where corresponding geographic locations do not exist?
In English, the common name for some racial or ethnic groups is a fairly neutral English word (e.g. white, black...). Others, however, are named only by reference to a geographic point of origin (e.g. ...
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6answers
3k views
How and where should you explain how the physical laws of your sci-fi universe significantly differ from the real world?
How and where should you explain how the laws of your sci-fi universe significantly differ from the real world? Let's say that the laws are so different from the what be construed from the theories of ...
3
votes
1answer
89 views
How to write a cover letter when submitting fiction to a magazine?
How should I write the cover letter, when submitting some fiction to a magazine? What is the format? What are the things that I must and should include in it?
I am not an established writer. I have ...
0
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4answers
117 views
Writing Science Fantasy: Problems with oversaturation of weird?
I have been thinking of writing a Science Fantasy novel, basically a world with both magic and not currently invented science. I have concerns that it might just have too much fantasy, too much ...
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1answer
65 views
Is it okay to change plots/genres multiple times?
My question is rather simple, and means exactly what it looks like. I'm writing a book in which there have been a genre change, from a not-very-good suspense novel to more of an action, however, the ...
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3answers
80 views
What kind of alternative or futuristic energy source would you come up with? [closed]
I'm writing a sci-fi novel and am having a hard time coming up with a new energy source that DOESN'T revolve around the widely popular "nuclear" option everyone favors so much. I've tried ...
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5answers
2k views
What level of understanding should you have of Quantum Physics to write a hard science fiction novel?
What level of understanding should you have of Quantum Physics to write a hard science fiction novel? And how should you learn Quantum Physics in order to be able to write a hard science fiction novel?...
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2answers
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What Is the Best Approach to Making A Main Character That is Not "Special" Without Making it Feel Like A Pity Party?
Just some background: I'm writing a story centered around a boy who is not special. As in, there is nothing too defining about him physically. The thing is, he isn't in a realistic setting. He is ...
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8answers
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How Do I Compress Multiple Novels' Worth of Plot, Characters, and Worldbuilding into One?
I have been working on worldbuilding, plotting out, and writing characters for a science-fantasy series for over 4 years now, and I feel the time has come to take another stab at writing the actual ...
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2answers
433 views
Writing a Sci-Fi novel [duplicate]
I’m trying to write a Sci-Fi novel in one year and I’m wondering how many words I should write per week. I’m shooting for a total of ~90,000 words by the end of the year.
In terms of when I can write ...
3
votes
5answers
192 views
When is there too much of a plot misdirection?
I'm sure that somebody is going to point me to this question, but my case is different.
So I and my best friend are currently writing a science fiction novel that has many plot twists and "...
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1answer
96 views
How to write a novel which is taking place entirely in a foreign country, with foreign culture and foreign characters? [closed]
How to write a novel which is taking place entirely in a foreign country, with a foreign culture and foreign characters?
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5answers
2k views
How to progress a fantasy novel that is also slice of life?
I am currently writing a novel where I mix the genre fantasy, sci-fi, and slice of life. My plan is to make the main character to save the sci-fi city using fantasy. And beyond that, I also use slice ...
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votes
3answers
1k views
How best to describe multiple alien species in a short amount of time?
I am in the beginning stages of writing what might be a space opera. The story starts in a society that consists of three planets that all fall under one governmental domain. The problem I'm running ...
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vote
3answers
189 views
Is my novel Fantasy or Sci-Fi?
I have a Wattpad account and I've been entering contests... I've been using the fantasy genre to describe my novel, but I just saw descriptions of fantasy and sci-fi and now I'm wondering if my novel ...
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4answers
2k views
Managing alien languages in Sci-Fi creatively
I’m writing a story where alien races are in constant communication with humans, but I don’t want it to be awkward or have to use language tags like “...he said in x language.” Maybe I could have a ...
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4answers
2k views
How to make "new apprentice" type info-dump less boring
I'm writing a story wherein a teenager X gets suddenly and involuntarily enlisted in an sci-fi army. I need to explain certain technology to the reader, and the army needs to explain certain ...
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votes
3answers
244 views
When writing science fiction or horror, how to prevent the villain from becoming less scary as they are fleshed out?
I'm trying to write a horror short story about a shape-shifter, but I have trouble keeping it from sounding like a science fiction story.
The story starts out with a creepy tone, with a person close ...
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3answers
178 views
Modifying common fantasy species like elves, dwarves, etc.?
So I'm writing a science fiction story, with more fantasy that actual science. When I say "sci-fi" I really mean space opera. There are intergalactic companies, entire planets dedicated to ...
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2answers
148 views
Concerns about my novella trilogy's main antagonist
In my novella trilogy that I am writing, Of Aliens and Men, the leader of the main antagonist faction, an alien organization called the Empyre (pronounced: Em-peer) Empire, Empress Erika II holds nigh-...
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vote
1answer
146 views
How do I teach my protagonist high level programming? [closed]
I am working on a science fiction story about robots and the protagonists needs to hack the main computer to stop the robots. Edit: The protagonist knows a little bit of programming but not enough to ...
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votes
3answers
557 views
How can a portal be hidden for 5 years but found by children? [closed]
I am writing a story in which two children, ages 12-14 years old, discover a portal to another dimension. The portal is roughly the size of an average door and has existed for five years prior to ...
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0answers
26 views
Finding a book series, I read the first book awhile ago and would like to finish the series [closed]
I read a book a while ago and I'm try to remember its name.
The book was about a an outcast who used to be a the general of a rebellion against a colony of planets. These planets had faster than ...
2
votes
4answers
164 views
Would you advise against having a fictional continent as the setting for a Science Fiction story?
Let me elaborate. In things such as Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings (so, high fantasy), fictional continents are quite often the setting. I don't recall ever seeing this in Science Fiction. My ...
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vote
3answers
167 views
Would it be bad taste or honoring to name a Starship after historical places, ex: Pompeii?
In my book, Earth is gone and are all the counties and a majority of the population and cultures. A small population is left and they make a home on another planet. Now, just under 200 years later, ...
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votes
3answers
164 views
How do I deliver a historical plot reveal?
Right before the climax of my scifi fantasy novel, there's a big reveal about who the bad guys really are and how they influenced the magic system -- throughout history. This reveal will be the much ...
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vote
2answers
63 views
wreckage or wreckages
I'm trying to describe a ring of broken, destroyed spacecraft. I want to use wreckage ring or ring of wreckage or ring of wreckages.
Wreckages is an interesting word that I'm confused about.
I've ...
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votes
3answers
267 views
How to maximize reader comprehension if worldbuilding is complicated?
Parts of my worldbuilding are critical to the plot. If readers don't understand the world, they won't understand the stakes for the protagonist and the failure conditions.
Edit. Please don't assume ...
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8answers
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How does one avoid inevitable influences being obvious when writing something like superheroes?
So I have been debating writing a story idea I have had swimming in my head for a long time. I love superhero comics, and I love the more character driven aspects of the stories.
I have been ...
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1answer
118 views
Hierarchies and Role Titles - How do come up with them
I'm looking to see what everyone has used in the past to come up with hierarchies and position titles for your novels.
For example, instead of using "President", "Prime Minister", "Pope", "Bishop", ...
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10answers
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How to avoid or mitigate heavy science lingo and "technobabble" in a science fiction story?
Background
I am currently working on a small science fiction story (as referenced in a previous question of mine). The main protagonist of the story is an autistic biologist who gets stranded on an ...
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13answers
5k views
In modern Sci-Fi/Fantasy, does real world racism need to be addressed?
I have read through a lot of questions regarding questions of a similar nature, but all of the questions I looked at involved fantasy worlds that were removed from the "real world." In my novel, I ...
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1answer
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Wrtting Sci/Fi Novel with some Sumerian influences, how to bridge a lengthy time gap in my storyline?
I'm writting a novel (in Spanish, I'm from Chile) based on Sumerian culture separated in two periods (Present & Future).
Present: archaeologists find some new sumerian stone tablets that hide ...
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14answers
7k views
How can I get 2 characters to bond while standing alternate watches?
Setting is standard space opera.
I am writing a story in which 2 characters are crewing a spaceship. The characters are:
(1) the captain, a female in her early 20s, who has grown up on the ship and ...
4
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2answers
185 views
Fiction copyright, mythologies and interpretations of ancient texts?
So, I understand that ancient mythologies and their characters such as Zeus etc are part of the public domain. However, what happens to individual interpretations of ancient texts?
For example, a ...
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2answers
223 views
What are the top most important key elements for a computer game story?
I am a programmer and in the middle of developing a TBS (turn based strategy) computer video game. Those kind of games have a flow of what is commonly known to gamer as 4X, that is, explore, expand, ...
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votes
4answers
594 views
Is anything like the propulsion systems (warp/impulse drives) copyrighted from being use in other sci-fi novels?
I'm currently writing a sci-fi/fantasy novel that mostly takes place on a star/space-ship but I'm stuck on if i'm available to use names of the propulsion drives, such as Warp or even Impulse drives.
...
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votes
1answer
285 views
How would mushroom call mycellium home? [closed]
I'm wondering for some time.. How would mushrooms fruiting body call it own mycelium? Imagine you're that fruiting body and after releasing your spores you are about to die.
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13answers
7k views
Can I conceal an antihero's insanity - and should I?
I have an idea for an anti-heroic sci-fi character whose character arc runs from spoilt rich girl, to a refugee in the rubble of human civilisation after an alien invasion, to crewmember and then ...
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8answers
3k views
Sci-fi change: Too much or Not enough
I am in the process of editing a short story. It is science fiction of the "if this goes on" kind: I take a social trend I see, and paint its event horizon - a troubling future. 1984 and Fahrenheit ...
asked Jul 28 '19 at 17:33
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5answers
2k views
Sense of humor in your sci-fi stories [closed]
What kind of humor do you find appropriate for your sci-fi stories?
I realize that the question might seem so broad, but I think the target group for most sci-fi stories has a sense of humor that ...
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1answer
120 views
Write a story based on characters from an old novel
I am considering writing a "history" of the Morlocks (based on the characters in the H. G. Wells novel).
Question: Is this allowed, or do I need permission from his descendants?
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8answers
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Is a lack of character descriptions a problem?
I have written a novel in which none of the characters are ever described. It started out by accident (3 chapters in when I realized).
Question: Is this a good/unique approach or shot myself in ...
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9answers
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How do you show, through your narration, a hard and uncaring world?
As I've already mentioned, I'm working on a sci-fi novel.
One of the main feelings that I wanted to represent when I started is the sense of a vast, empty, artificial world, mostly cold and uncaring ...
asked Jun 2 '19 at 17:54
Liquid - Reinstate Monica
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7answers
787 views
How do you build a story from a world?
I have some material for a "world" (more fantasy than sci-fi at this point). I've noodled around with this world off-and-on for ages but have never had a story to put in the world. I have some brief ...
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5answers
223 views
20 Minutes into the Future - problem with setting the period
I have just finished a short story, set in what is known as 20 Minutes into the Future - a time frame that's only a little into the future from our own. There is a change from modern times, but it is ...
asked May 26 '19 at 22:42
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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21
votes
5answers
7k views
Is every story set in the future "science fiction"?
Science Fiction is a "big tent" genre, and we all know it when we see it. Even if we argue about the specific tropes – and what might make something lean heavily towards another classification (...
