Si-Fi Readers

Hey beautiful people! So I'm new to writing in the Si-Fi genre and I really want to know what readers are looking for. I am currently in the "I'm not sure how to write a book" stage but I am writing and that's what counts. I just don't really know what Si-Fi readers are looking for. I'd love it if anyone could help me!

~C. D. Hogan

Hey CDHogan! Welcome to the site!

First off, don't forget to throw in that 'c' in Sci-fi, short for Science Fiction.

If you're interested in writing science fiction, then you surely have an interest in science fiction. You like reading sci-fi books, watching films, etc. So you'll know what science fiction is. Now you just come up with an idea you like.

'What readers are looking for' is a very broad question. I wouldn't say readers are looking for something specific within sci-fi, or any writing, really. The most important thing is that it is good. And there's obviously a lot of elements that should fall into place for your writing to be good. That's what's gonna interest your readers. And then again, obviously, as I said before, come up with a story you like.

If you like it, others are probably gonna be interested in it too. Write for yourself. That's what I do. And I feel it's very appropriate for young writers. You're going to be your best audience and you worst critic. Work with that. Just have fun.

I'm not well-versed in sci-fi, but I echo what Birk has said. It doesn't matter in what genre you write your novel, and what you want to put in it; first, write it for yourself. Sci-fi genre has its own fans, and as long as you can handle the plot, characters, and settings, there would be readers wanting to be your followers.

There are so many different flavors of sci-fi, ranging between hard and soft. Perhaps the most popular are the space operas and space westerns because they focus on the adventures of people in the universe with everything else, including the technology, as flavoring. Most sci-fi franchises you can immediately think of are space operas, such as Mass Effect and Star Trek.

The one thing I would advise is to avoid trying to write hard sci-fi UNLESS you have a very strong understanding of the principles and applications involved in your setting. Hard sci-fi readers are notoriously nitpicky, and they expect those writing hard sci-fi to be as rigorous in writing about scientific principles as they are in analyzing them.

Soft sci-fi is a lot more forgiving when it comes to adherence to known scientific theories and laws, and space operas are generally soft sci-fi.