Questions tagged [science-fiction]
Stories about space, technology, the future, and other things that could be real but aren't.
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Characters' motivation and feelings on defending against an alien invasion [closed]
I got really good answers to my last question, so I decided to post a new one:)
In my novel, a few humans suddenly find themselves tasked with defending humanity against an imminent alien invasion. ...
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3answers
1k views
What are key features and pacing in a satisfying ending to a science fiction novel?
My novel has been through multiple drafts and beta reads, and by and large is in good shape. I've learned how to cure a saggy middle, how to stay in point-of-view, how to keep the protagonist driving ...
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12answers
6k views
When writing science fiction, how important is it to provide scientific details for the (fictitious) things you are presenting in the story?
I know there is a difference between 'hard' and 'soft' science fiction. But even then, it can be hard to know what sort of categorization in which to place and treat your story, and it is not really ...
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5answers
176 views
How can I make a compelling character unlikable?
I know what goes in to making an unlikable character compelling and engaging but I'm not sure I know how to make them unlikable in the first place. In particular how does one show that a main ...
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4answers
1k views
How alien can my aliens be if I want them to demonstrate how alien a human character is?
Using non-humans to show human failings is a mainstay of Science Fiction but is there a limit to how alien a viewpoint can be and still be used to show that a human character is devoid of an aspect, ...
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1answer
43 views
Seeking Comp (Comparison) Titles for my Work-In-Progress [closed]
Seeking comp titles for my WIP. Can you recommend books that meet one or more of these criteria?
Soft sci-fi
Space setting with fantasy feel
Speculative fiction about species that has advanced ...
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8answers
7k views
Is it considered lazy writing to have a dry prelude at the start of a book?
I'm thinking of the crawl sequences at the beginning of Star Wars, that just give you the background information straight up, and then start the excitement.
I've just been wondering if putting a ...
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17answers
5k views
The role of the supernatural in hard science fiction
The response to this question makes it clear to me that I haven't quite asked the question I had intended, the answers are useful but not quite what I'm looking for.
So different but related ...
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13answers
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The role of inexplicable events in hard science fiction
The modern world has few true mysteries, among them the fate of the Roanoke colonists and the crew of the Mary Celeste but do such happenings have a place in futuristic settings?
In settings with ...
9
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1answer
140 views
Writing a short story set in a place I’ve never been
I’m writing a science fiction type short story set in Germany (actually Stuttgart). To some extent the location isn’t that important- it could be set anywhere but setting it there appeals to me and ...
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3answers
1k views
Researching Future Technology for a Science Fiction Novel
Because I enjoy reading Science Fiction, I'm thinking of writing a Sci-Fi novel myself. I'm interested in 'hard' (related to the engineering sciences) science fiction with a military bent (think The ...
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8answers
213 views
Why do most literature magazines take so long (several weeks or months) to respond to submissions despite having only a few hundred subs per month?
I have heard that the the editor of F&SF (Finlay) is the only one who reads all the submissions. Yet he always responds within a week! (With detailed comments on each story.) Clarkesworld is ...
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8answers
2k views
How do I know which elements I can use from the work which orginally inspired me?
I recently read the Blood on the Stars series by Jay Allan and really enjoyed the idea of a post-Golden Age human civilization that has splintered into factions and is now at war with itself.
I ...
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9answers
5k views
Does everything have to be accurate?
Do I have to make everything apply to logic, physics, science, etc?
The Harry Potter series has been a major hit, and it is nowhere near to being scientifically possible. But I've noticed that I can'...
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7answers
4k views
Fantasy novel with obvious - but never defined - sci-fi elements?
I'm considering writing a fantasy novel. While I'm striving to make the world as original as I can, and not rely on many of the popular fantasy tropes, for the purposes of this question you can assume ...
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0answers
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Am I too young to publish a book? [duplicate]
I am writing a novel called "Abducted by Aliens", but I'm only 9 years old. Am I too young to publish a book?
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5answers
170 views
Creating a logical framework for the concept of “decisional causality”
I'm working on a science fiction universe in which time travel exists, in a very limited form, but it's useless, at least it's the intention that it be useless. To that end time travel, on the rare ...
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4answers
160 views
Writing a Novel Set In The Future
So, I have this idea of writing a novel set in the future. Not the far future but a few decades away from today. Could you please give me an advice for that. The reason that I am asking this is that I ...
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4answers
127 views
Do I have to capitalize ESP in sci fi fiction sentences?
Some of my fiction sci fi characters are ESP sensitive and the term is used a lot. Capitalized ESP stands out in my sentences like yelling so I am using esp,lower case. Is that acceptable? Will a ...
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5answers
2k views
How to add depth to writing - turn a story into a book [duplicate]
I've had a few 'great ideas' for books. I'm a big sci-fi fan, especially Michael Crichton. I'm not sure if that's relevant but there it is.
I want to write a full length book, not a short story, a ...
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9answers
3k views
Referencing modern pop culture in science fiction
A geek today is quite likely to reference the pop culture of 30 years ago: "Do or do not, there is no try", "Beam me up, Scotty" and "Ground control to Major Tom" are easily and commonly recognisable. ...
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1answer
72 views
How to balance between dialogue & character building and action scenes?
I'm writing a novel which takes place in a carefully built (science-)fictional world. The protagonist is also a fictional creature.
Obviously, the reader does not know about the world or the creature'...
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19answers
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Writing a Super Intelligent AI
Something I have been thinking about recently is how to write a character who is an artificial intelligence and not have him feel human. Specifically an AI who is designed to think faster and better ...
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5answers
8k views
Can I use the name Valerian in my sci-fi novel?
I have an Ancient Roman theme with the names of my characters, however someone pointed out to me Valerian is already a scifi character's name. Are the french comics (which spell it with an accent over ...
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2answers
115 views
Third person into first person as the protagonist becomes the same entity as the narrator
I'm attempting to write a sci-fi novel in a dystopian future baring semblance to that within 1984. I'm using third person to describe what the protagonist sees, what he feels and what he thinks, ...
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5answers
1k views
How to write a 'fish out of water' character?
Inserting a Fish out of water character could be good way to introduce the reader to the world and also great for comic relief, but there were cases in books I've read when the character's naivete or ...
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4answers
77 views
Presenting unrelated or vaguely-related stories in a setting in backwards chronological order by epoch?
I'm thinking of a science-fiction or science-fantasy setting wherein modern humanity colonizes a new homeworld in a classical star system, bombs themselves back to a Neolithic technology level, and ...
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2answers
231 views
Describing a psychological concept like Stockholm Syndrome in a non-Earth setting?
I actually posted this originally over in the Psychology and Neurology SE in hopes of getting specific, helpful, psych-related responses from people who were actually knowledgeable in the field, but ...
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8answers
194 views
To read or not to read similar works before write my own?
I was thinking if is better or worst to read other works that share similar ideas to the story you want to write before you start it or while doing it.
Two quick answers comes to my mind:
Yes, do ...
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2answers
77 views
Should I write about a particular lingering thought? [closed]
I have had the thought of writing about a nation with states on another planet. The planet is earth-like and the quantity of some resources is higher than on Earth.
There are some differences between ...
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9answers
1k views
How to expand my vocabulary?
I wanted to write something for a long time. But what I think is, in writing the choice of words plays a very significant role. From where I can learn this thing?
I think I don't have enough words in ...
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1answer
79 views
Electricity Manipulation Variations [closed]
Trying to create a character with the ability to generate, and manipulate electricity. He's going to be an antihero. Saving people but killing the ones who inflict suffering and chaos. But I'm just ...
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1answer
116 views
Writing an autobiographical science fiction [closed]
I would like to write an absurd fictional biography/memoir
How do I go about it?
What does Autobiographical Science fiction inspire you?
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3answers
124 views
Writing a letter from the future
I'm writing a letter from the future to my dear friends, posing as the child they're about to have. The main aim of the letter is to be amusing, but also to give some perspective (you don't need to be ...
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3answers
278 views
What makes bad science fiction? [closed]
The obvious way to understand quality is to examine what is successful. On the other hand, it is often more helpful to examine what has failed.
Are there any tropes generally considered to make ...
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5answers
2k views
Rewriting a scifi story to fit with actual science, should I do it as I go?
Rewriting a scifi story to fit with actual science, should I do it as I go, or just write first and make the needed changes while editing?
My world exists in my mind, clear and palpable. but I am ...
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6answers
466 views
How to use short stories to explore a new setting and potential characters for a novel?
I'm an aspiring fantasy and sci-fi writer and I my goal is to write a novel that is to be the first in a series within the same setting. I'm getting to a point where I can feel "the world coming ...
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10answers
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I wrote a novel, now what?
I'm new here, so, please, bear with me.
I had a look at previous answers to similar questions, but my case is (possibly) a bit different.
I am not a professional writer, so I wrote this (long) novel ...
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4answers
2k views
Could I be overdoing it on my first story?
I have always wanted to write a story so I finally started to take action rather than just dream about it. I have started writing down characters, their personalities, their roles in the story, a ...
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1answer
125 views
How to find a publisher for a a science fiction novella
I've always tried writing novels, and have just recently discovered how much I actually enjoy writing a novella!
I'm getting very close to sending it out to beta readers, and have started looking ...
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3answers
488 views
What to consider when choosing a pen name for a sci-fi novel?
I am writing a sci-fi novel with a female main character. My style is lo-tech, more about character development and a beautiful and unusual planet than about descriptions of technology. My target ...
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2answers
150 views
When is it “not okay” to say a spoiler in writing?
I feel like I've said too much in the first few chapters of my novel, but it feels necessary. The story tells of who is invading, and it tells their backstory. Is that too much? Should I wait until ...
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8answers
3k views
Worth writing, if end is obvious
I am currently sketching a novel about people at the end of time, some months or years before the Big Crunch:
There is a space station full of people who can only sit and watch as their final moment ...
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6answers
173 views
Working out details of a technology concept
I have a sci-fi technology concept in the work I'm currently writing, and its potential implications for society and for individual characters are quite far-reaching. I want to systematically explore ...
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4answers
163 views
How to deal with nameless characters?
In the novel I'm planning the human characters that inhabit the world are all clones of each other. Man and woman. They aren't given names when born, instead they are given serial numbers that also ...
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4answers
441 views
Does the concept come before other “literary devices” in philosophical science fiction?
I have read in a few books about writing science fiction that a compelling concept should override considerations for character, and possibly other things like setting or plot. I have the notion to ...
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2answers
196 views
How to writer longer stories for a SciFi novel?
I'm writing science fiction short stories and intend to later expand and stitch them together into a science fiction novel.
My problem is that (e.g.) the scenery is left / the destination point is ...
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8answers
297 views
Can a person get bogged down by science fiction research?
I discovered my interest in writing a few years ago. I was extremely stressed out from work, and so out of the blue, I sat down to write science fiction every night for a week. Although I have been ...
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1answer
149 views
Case studies of the use of concept mapping in science fiction writing?
I have a general concept for a science fiction novel. I have a habit of looking for information from books and scholarly journal articles to help "fill in the gaps" with such ideas. In the last few ...
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5answers
175 views
I need recommendations for what software can I use in writing my first story [closed]
Hi I'm new here and obviously I'm also just a beginner in writing a story. Actually, I'm gonna try to write a fictional story. So I will just ask if how do you start writing a story? Of course, this ...
