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I need sources for a futuristic world.



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Sun Aug 23, 2015 7:05 pm
Lewenhart says...



I'm having a problem with writting a futuristic novel. The characters and the plot are pretty much where i want them to be, but i have the felling that something is missing, you know?
Reading everything i've wrote, the biggest problem i'm seeing is the lack of descriptions of technologic enviroments,devices and basically everything. This is the first time i'm working with this subject, usually work with medieval historys, so i need to enlarge my knowledge.

Any recommendations?

( this is my first post, sorry if this is the wrong section.)
( also english is not my first language, so please correct if i've wrote anything wrong.)
  





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Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:21 pm
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jumpingsheep says...



How far into the future is this novel?

I would look at technology today and think "okay, well, where are we going?"

For example, smart phone technology now uses voice activation and commands. Would cars in the future possibly use the same technology?

"Where are we going?" can also be answered by looking at trends. The human race seems to want to constantly build things that are bigger, faster, and more efficient. So, in the future, cars may be faster, buildings may be bigger, and computers may be smarter and more efficient than ever.

Think of technology today and use that to picture how the technology of tomorrow might be used.
Best of luck!
hello there
  





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Mon Aug 24, 2015 1:52 am
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SabrinaO says...



Adding in those little details such as clothing, technology, devices even architecture really will make your story POP! Also it's incredibly fun! Since I'm not well versed in sci fi i can't give you a ton of info on it i can give you some awesome recourse if you need some inspiration.
Pinterest = just search sci fi
http://www.amc.com/talk/2007/11/22-sci-fi-sound = Some different soundtracks. I think music is just inspirational in general.
Reading other scfi novels are also a great help.
http://www.scifiideas.com/category/insp ... n-gallery/ & http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/sci-fi-artwork/
= Pictures are worth a thousand words

Hope this was helpful! Can't wait to read your writing.
  





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Mon Aug 24, 2015 2:54 am
Lewenhart says...



jumpingsheep wrote:How far into the future is this novel?

I would look at technology today and think "okay, well, where are we going?"

For example, smart phone technology now uses voice activation and commands. Would cars in the future possibly use the same technology?

"Where are we going?" can also be answered by looking at trends. The human race seems to want to constantly build things that are bigger, faster, and more efficient. So, in the future, cars may be faster, buildings may be bigger, and computers may be smarter and more efficient than ever.

Think of technology today and use that to picture how the technology of tomorrow might be used.
Best of luck!


That's the way i was doing. How far... it's still an earth limited universe, but there're mechas and, i'm not finding the best word for it in english for "nave", but is basically an airship like the one in the first avengers, a giant aircraft able to carry several weight. Vehicles are being a bit of a struggle.

SabrinaO wrote:Adding in those little details such as clothing, technology, devices even architecture really will make your story POP! Also it's incredibly fun! Since I'm not well versed in sci fi i can't give you a ton of info on it i can give you some awesome recourse if you need some inspiration.
Pinterest = just search sci fi
http://www.amc.com/talk/2007/11/22-sci-fi-sound = Some different soundtracks. I think music is just inspirational in general.
Reading other scfi novels are also a great help.
http://www.scifiideas.com/category/insp ... n-gallery/ & http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/sci-fi-artwork/
= Pictures are worth a thousand words

Hope this was helpful! Can't wait to read your writing.


Thanks! There are some pretty interesting and inspirating photos there.
About showing what i have, well, i've already done a little part of it, but i'm writting it in portuguese, my first language, and my english isn't good enought to make a good translation. :?
I'm looking for some sci-fi novels, but i'm in the dark here, if someone could indicate any good one i would appreciate that.
  





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Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:51 am
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Lightsong says...



Well, I'm not exactly sure if my advice here would be helpful or not xD. Okay, so technology description. Well, take examples of the current one and try to develop those technological devices. Make them more functional, advanced and stylish. Make them relevant to your story too! If not, they would become background description and the story would be long-winded.

If you look at the Hunger Games novel, fashion is a strong aspect that shows how advanced technology at that time. You can make it more sci-fi feeling with natural black, white and blue outifits and simple designs or you can make them as nuts and avant-garde as Suzanne Collin has made. Either way, clothing is important to show the culture of people at that time.

Also, language and names should change too! Maybe you can put some new words, make the names more sci-fi-like or more weird-like, depending on the type of future you're aiming for.
"Writing, though, belongs first to the writer, and then to the reader, to the world.

The subject is a catalyst, a character, but our responsibility is, has to be, to the work."

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Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:34 am
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Kale says...



I think the best question you can ask yourself is "What technologies do we use now in these scenarios?" and then, based on that answer, ask "How could it be improved or combined with other technologies we use now?"

Having analogues for the technology we have now will help make the setting a bit more relatable (and therefore believable) even as the new combinations of technologies give it a more futuristic feel. A lot of current technologies are combinations of older technologies, for starters, and the recombination of technology is a trend going back for pretty much as long as technology has existed.

For example, phones went from being voice-calls-only and limited to landlines to being miniature computers connected to the internet at pretty much all times. Continuing in that trend, phones of the future might not be physical objects at all, or if they are, they would likely be bundled with another form of technology (such as a visual display implant) and provide a more direct interface to the internet.

It's also worth noting that older technology doesn't always disappear as newer technology is adopted. A very common example are buttons. They haven't been entirely replace by zippers despite being ancient in design, and buttons are often used in combination with zippers. Other forms of technology stick around or are used in tandem with newer technologies all the time, so having those sorts of things still around adds another touch of realism and relatability to your setting.

Advances in technology are often the result of new applications of existing technology and/or knowledge, and advances aren't uniform across all aspects of technology (such as an advance in phone technology doesn't mean surgical technology also advanced), so approaching the technology in your setting from that angle will get you a plausible and believable framework for technological advancement, and from there, you can mix and modify until you find a range of technologies that work for your story.
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Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:50 am
Lewenhart says...



There are a lot of good tips here. Thanks everyone, got a lot of ideas from you guys.
  





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Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:42 pm
WritingWolf says...



I skimmed through the comments and I think most of what I wanted to say has already been said so I'll just skip through that to some new stuff.

Another thing to think about is what the worlds government looks like, and how it got there. If there was another world war not that long ago that would have pushed ahead all the military type stuff and slowed down all the personal living type stuff in development. If there has been a long stretch of peace then those might be reversed (or at least evened out).
You also need to think about origins. Is the novel taking place in what used to be America? Did their government stem from what ours is today? Or maybe China took over? Those are important details that can help you flesh out your world.
@jumpingsheep said "The human race seems to want to constantly build things that are bigger, faster, and more efficient" and that is pretty much true. But depending on culture that can vary some. For example, in Japan space is something they have to contend with all the time so "bigger" doesn't really apply to them. The question is, if they had access to more space would they continue to make things compact and practical (I love my little bitty fold-up Japanese scissors <3) or would they overcompensate and make things even bigger? It's the answers to questions like that that give sci-fi worlds that depth and possibility.

Now, not everyone thinks about that. You really don't have to. It's just if you're like me and you have a hard time with the "where are we going?" you can also ask "where did this come from?" and sometimes that makes it easier.


And you said you wanted some recommendations on sci-fi books. I haven't read very many recently, but here are the good ones I remember...
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (and other books in that universe)
The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld
A Beautiful Friendship by David Webber

I have several friends that read sci-fi that I could ask for more suggestions if you want.
~You can only grasp what you reach for~
  





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Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:17 pm
Stori says...



Just to add to the recommendations, try reading Starship Troopers. I find it fascinating that, despite the fact that he's Hispanic, the protagonist seems to talk and think like your typical "Yankee". There's also a pretty detailed description of the powered armor he uses. ;)
  








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