09-02-2010, 05:37 PM | #16 | |
Not scared!
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Can't really say that I look forward to all future sci-fi being written from a standard set of rules! |
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09-02-2010, 05:56 PM | #17 | |
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09-02-2010, 06:04 PM | #18 |
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09-02-2010, 07:51 PM | #19 |
Grand Sorcerer
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RULE #1 about science fiction.
It's about people in new environments and the problems they have, not new environments that happen to have people in them! (I'm real broad-minded about what you consider people...The world awaits a yarn about a intelligent dolphin, from the dolphins point of view....) No matter how interested you are in your created world, it's the people... |
09-02-2010, 09:11 PM | #20 | |
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Yes, Sir Edward, there are a limited number of story plots, and pretty much all of them are about people. |
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09-02-2010, 09:47 PM | #21 |
Hi There!
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If you want your character to be called Triathelete, then call him Triathelete. Don't spell it Tr'th'leit and expect me to care. Nothing turns me off faster than trying to sound out something with too few vowels and too many apostrophes. It is very intrusive and I can never lose myself in the story.
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09-02-2010, 11:17 PM | #22 | |
Geographically Restricted
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09-03-2010, 12:53 AM | #23 |
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Personally, I don't like hard sci-fi. For me, reading is about imagination. It's about entering another world. I don't really care if it's implausible, or unlikely. All that matters is that I can suspend disbelief. If I can do that, then I don't care about warp drives and ups and downs in space ships, their layout, the fuel they burn, and so on and so forth.
I don't even know why such details have to appear in a story. If they're not integral to the story (which is about the "people") then they should be left out. A lot of science fiction written today seems to have forgotten the point. It's fiction. The science fiction writers I admire: John Wyndam, Christopher Priest, Robert Silverberg (and others) can be shot down on a hundred points. Who cares? Agatha Christie wrote seventy-odd novels about murders that are entirely implausible. The people who read them don't care. It's all about the atmosphere, the tone, the style, the feeling. I can read a very much more plausible Patricia Cornwell (which is akin to what is happening in science fiction) and it is about as interesting as a teaspoon. |
09-03-2010, 08:35 AM | #24 | |
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Feel free to acknowledge the full name in at least (and usually no more than) one place in the story. |
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09-03-2010, 08:41 AM | #25 |
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Rule: Don't feel obligated to explain a character or alien's entire life history and racial background when you first meet them. Your character's having a pet Targ at age nine probably has nothing to do with the story, and is just extraneous filler. Save it for when NBC knocks on your door and wants to turn your book into a TV series.
Work on character-establishing scenes: Scenes where some word or act, early on, does a good job of defining your basic character. Think of Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park movie: We learned in two minor scenes that he thinks he's a tech jinx, and he improvises quickly on his feet. |
09-03-2010, 09:38 AM | #26 | ||
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Example Gayik'Von vs Gayik-Von. The first looks cooler and gets the same job done. And I certainly don't use it to hide vowels. For me it's a unique way to cut names in two. And there's actually only two book series I use it in, and for two races only. The Gayik'Von in my Earthfleet saga, and the Sattazins in the Land of the Lions series. And even in those two instances, the uses are limited to a couple of names. Fill her up, Scotty! And make sure you use premium! Quote:
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09-03-2010, 10:14 AM | #27 | |
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09-03-2010, 11:09 AM | #28 |
neilmarr
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Laws of SF? My rule of thumb is simply this: Head in the stars, feet on the ground. Cheers. Neil
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09-03-2010, 11:21 AM | #29 | |
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Keep in mind: Some characters will feel obligated to use full names; some will use shortened names; some will want to use nicknames. So you have choices. Last edited by Steven Lyle Jordan; 09-03-2010 at 11:24 AM. |
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09-03-2010, 11:44 AM | #30 |
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If memory serves me correctly I believe at least part of "Startide Rising", by David Brin, is written from the point of view of the dolphin captain.
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