We often divide people into two camps – those who read and those who do not. By non-readers, I am not talking about those who can’t read – just those who choose other pastimes instead. Yet, these same people will often enjoy a good story that is told to them and get excited about new scientific breakthroughs. For these people, science fiction is just a natural genre of literature. Isaac Asimov once said that he did two things when he got ready to write a new piece. First, he thought of something that did not yet exist but that could in the future. Second, he developed a story line that revolved around how humans would respond to it and to each other with that new something in their lives. While that new something was important to the story line, it was not the central point. The central point was the humans and their stories – and getting the reader to place him/herself in those humans’ shoes. When a writer can do that, s/he has a tale that others want to read.
Elements of Good Science Fiction Stories
The common element of any good story is audience engagement. So, the question then becomes, how to make your writing engaging in a science fiction context. Here are some suggestions.
Think of your plot as a fairy tale. We all had our favorites. Let’s take Cinderella as an example:
This plot is in constant motion. Each part of the “build-up” adds tension until the climax is reached.
Your science fiction tale is no different. Whether your characters are battling space aliens (Star Trek), traveling in time (A Sound of Thunder), or dealing with an evil despot who is using new technology to control the masses (Harrison Bergeron), things have to stay in motion.
Good science fiction writing is no different from any good fiction writing. And if you want to engage your audience, you embrace all of the elements of good storytelling. Focusing more on character and plot is still the key.
Points:
Time spent:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
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Hello Cristina and welcome to YWS.
I liked this article because it has some good guidelines for writing not just science fiction, but fantasy as well.
There were only a few things that I picked up on which could improve it.
“The setting should not be unrecognizable.” Is a double negative and should be corrected to “the setting should be recognisable”
I would argue that your title does not quite match the article, as engaging is a wide term. When I clicked on the article, I thought I might be reading something about how to get non-readers to pick up books in the first place. Furthermore what you have written applies to engaging readers, as much as non-readers. Something like ‘writing Science fiction for a wide audience’ might be more in line with the majority of the article.
I agree with odd that leaving the links to the end would be better, as if they are clicked on the reader is less likely to continue reading your article.
I would also like to point out that each of your dot points has been made a 1.
You have elaborated on each point well, but not so much as to bore the reader (as you say we all have ADD/ADHD). I also like that you have included an illustration.
Personally I tend to be guilty of the third point so thanks for the reminder.
Look forward to seeing you around
Hello Cristina and welcome to YWS.
I liked this article because it has some good guidelines for writing not just science fiction, but fantasy as well.
There were only a few things that I picked up on which could improve it.
“The setting should not be unrecognizable.” Is a double negative and should be corrected to “the setting should be recognisable”
I would argue that your title does not quite match the article, as engaging is a wide term. When I clicked on the article, I thought I might be reading something about how to get non-readers to pick up books in the first place. Furthermore what you have written applies to engaging readers, as much as non-readers. Something like ‘writing Science fiction for a wide audience’ might be more in line with the majority of the article.
I agree with odd that leaving the links to the end would be better, as if they are clicked on the reader is less likely to continue reading your article.
I would also like to point out that each of your dot points has been made a 1.
You have elaborated on each point well, but not so much as to bore the reader (as you say we all have ADD/ADHD). I also like that you have included an illustration.
Personally I tend to be guilty of the third point so thanks for the reminder.
Look forward to seeing you around
Hello there, I am here to review your essay.
I'd like to start off by saying that I really liked this essay. It's complete, it's well-written, and most important of all, it follows a coherent order so that the reader does not get lost in it. Things are very clear here, and the essay is interesting enough to make me want to read all of it. I especially liked the part where you said that one must assume that every reader has ADD. I had never thought of it before, but it makes sense, and it could be very helpful (assuming you know how to efficiently get the attention of people with ADD). However, I think that there are a few things that you could improve on.
First of all, the hyperlinks. If there is one thing I did not really appreciate from the story, it was the hyperlinks. I do not think that you should link your readers to other sites for the duration of your essay. If you find that it is something important that the reader must know, then explain it yourself with your own words. If you think that it is only something additional that may help the reader understand your topic better, put the link at the end. As a reader, I am reading your essay, and I do not want to go reading other articles while I am in the middle of yours. Plus, once you do that, it breaks with the reader's attention and it might make the reader stop reading your essay. I think that if you were to put hyperlinks anywhere, the only place I'd appreciate it would be in the short stories you mentioned, such as "A Sound of Thunder", linking us to a PDF of the short story. This, however, is not something you need to do at all.
Then, in an essay, try to avoid listing things. If you do, do it with words, and not with a number in front of each paragraph. The form of the essay will look better if you do so, in my opinion. However, if you are going to enumerate your paragraphs, make sure the numbers are not all 1.
Finally, the last thing I would change is in your Cinderella example. The elements of your storyline are missing a couple of things. You briefly mention the climax on the next sentence, but you do not explain what it is, and the climax is one of the most important parts of the story. In Cinderella, the climax, the point with the most tension, would probably be when the prince is searching Cinderella's home, and the audience knows she is there, but the prince is oblivious to this, and the audience is wondering whether she will not see her at all and they will both miss the opportunity of their lives. So I think mentioning the climax in your storyline is quite important.
Overall, the essay is very good. Good job!
Keep on writing.