Science Fiction Draft Writing; Beginnings, Settings, Writer's Block

Science Fiction Draft Project:

Science fiction is any story that takes place in a setting contrary to known reality. It usually works with a speculative idea: What if...

• What if space travel were like airplane travel?
• What if aliens (not just illegal ones) invaded our country or world?
• What if we could travel back in time (not just think about our past, but visit it!)?
• What if...

Getting started on a story idea can be difficult. The first thing you want to do is play around with a speculative idea. Ask yourself "what if" questions. 

Once you have a bit of direction (or if you need more direction) choose a few tropes from science fiction and use these items to think up a story idea. This is your PREMISE. All stories (films, short stories, plays, etc.) have a premise.

1. Craft your premise. Your premise is the basic idea for your story. At the core of all drafts is the answer to this question: What is my story about?
2. Roughly sketch scene ideas. Armed with a solid premise, you can now begin sketching your ideas for this story. HOW TO DO IT: Use index cards or divide up a page in your journal into 4 parts. The point is use the space to consider what scene to include that is necessary to tell your story. We want the good stuff for scenes--not all the boring minutia or details about what a character's left eyebrow looks like or the time he took his pet malamute for a walk. If the scene does not advance the complication or solve the conflict (or attempt to solve the conflict), skip it.You can find a copy of a storyboard at this link. Print it out and use it if you'd like. Use it to help organize and plan scenes for your story. Just like we do in film writing!
3. Interview your characters. Know who your protagonist is, possibly your antagonist, and probably a few minor or other characters, like a mentor or love interest. Flesh these important characters out too. Who are they? What do they do for a living? What are their hopes and ambitions? What is their personality like? How do they handle stress and conflict? What do they want to accomplish? Have some answers to these questions. Generally, we don't care what they look like. A reader wants to know what a character wants and what a character does. Save your backstory for the middle of the story. 
4. Explore your settings. See previous post. Setting is absolutely essential in fantasy and science fiction writing. The setting must be familiar enough, but also defined enough to be different from our own time, place, and culture. The cool thing about fantasy and science fiction is that stories take place in odd, weird, or different places from our known reality. As a writer, you need to know the details! Setting can also help create theme, conflict, and develop character. Use it. Describe it. Repeat.
5. Write your complete outline. Sketch an outline so that you have an idea what your beginning, middle, and end are likely to be. Outlines can also be what are called treatments. A treatment is a short summary of your story idea. [This is generally what your first draft tends to be when you turn in a "short story" project for creative writing. But we want to be more detailed and flesh out our story!]
6. Condense your outline; put it in action. Remove the boring parts of your treatment/outline. General rule: if a scene in your story does not advance the plot, develop or introduce a conflict or complication, or develop character, cut it. Keep your outline near you when you write. Consult it, but don't feel like you need to stay true to your original treatment/outline ideas. As you write, if inspiration strikes you, let it. Go off topic when you need to. 

Science Fiction Tropes for Space Travel:

• Hyperspace/Warpspeed & Wormholes
• Generation ships
• Cryo-travel
• Stardrive/Ramdrive
• Time dilation or Time Dilation
• The ansible

Antagonists/Aliens:

• Bounty hunters: bad cops
• Warlike aliens: violent aliens
• God-like or cosmic aliens: aliens whose motives are beyong human comprehension
• Parasitic aliens: aliens that take over your body or mind
• Evil organizations or evil galactic empires: bad governments and the people who love them
• Evil galactic terrorists: bad rebels fighting against an empire or society
• Evil artificial intelligence (androids, robots, computers, etc.): beings that lack human compassion and love...
• Cyborgs (the best of both worlds): both artificial intelligence and bad human traits
• Space madness: go crazy!
• Power hungry villains: power corrupts absolutely!
• Corrupted villain: see above, but without all that power...
• Vengeful villain: revenge is a dish best served in space...

Write your science fiction draft. 

If you get stuck, look through this material (or the material on science fiction in the last few posts!) Take a quick break, but try to work through your impulse to NOT write. Instead, skip ahead or go back to the drawing board or introduce some action into your story. 

If you still need help or need a break, please check out these video clips:

Sci-fi Films

Sci-fi films #2

Sci-fi films #3

If you need a model or a break, read Martian Chronicles. There will be a test on this book next class (Tuesday). Please prepare by knowing recurring characters, basic plots, structure of the book, the use of setting and consider the themes of the book. 

HOMEWORK: Complete The Martian Chronicles. Keep writing your science fiction draft.