Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Better, all told, to just show your characters using the devices, and don't pop the hood and start talking about how they work, unless the how is critical to the story.
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Yes, when Gene Roddenberry was creating the writer's bible for the original Star Trek TV show, he noted that in a cop show, when a policeman fires his gun, he does NOT stop and explain that the hammer strikes the firing cap, igniting a charge of gunpowder, which expands and pushes the lead bullet out the barrel.
So neither should a starship captain explain how his ray-gun works. Just let your readers know it is a futuristic kind of hand-gun and leave it at that.