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| Writing Science Fiction | |||
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I've always been a dreamer, and the one fantasy that I've kept going for
almost forty years is about writing science fiction. Reading science fiction for most of my life has been like being at a dinner party and always just
listening to the other people talk. To write a science fiction story would be like formulating a
reply to all those years of listening. I would finally get to express my own thoughts.
Except for a few odd attempts, I never write SF, I just fantasize about
writing SF. As a child, whenever I saw a movie or TV show, or read a book, I
would replay the story over and over again in my head, but change the plot and
characters. I can sit for hours and just daydream. As I got older I started
inventing my own stories. There are some stories I would play with for months or
years at a time.
In the back of my mind, I always thought that one day I would feel like
sitting down and start writing out these internal movies, but I never have. Now
that I'm just a few years away from the half century mark, I figure I might
should stop waiting for that urge, and start "working" at the task.
Over the years I've kept an eye on the job skills required to become a
science fiction writer. Luckily, the SF genre might the best type of literature
for beginning writers. There are many professional and semiprofessional
magazines looking for short story writers. Also, there are many book publishers
looking to fill the shelves every month with SF books. And there is quite a bit
of information out there about the marketing of SF stories in books, magazines
and websites.
Since SciFan wants to promote the reading of SF, and to help support SF
magazines, whose readerships have been falling in recent years, I thought it
would be good to have a section on writing SF. I know there must be a lot of
people out there who dream of getting their stories published. Well, while you
are writing those stories, it is very important that you support your future
writing showcases. So subscribe to the SF magazines. And read them to be
inspired.
SciFan also wants to help people learn about SF history. If you want to be a
SF writer, you should study the history of SF. The SF story has history, and it
has evolved over many decades. Understanding where SF has been will lead to
insight into how to create a modern SF story. When Detroit designs a new car,
that car reflects the knowledge of all the cars that has come before it. Most
people's concept of SF comes from television and the movies, which is a pale
shadow of written SF.
To your left are a listing of books at Amazon.com that deal with helping the
new writer break into the field. On the right we have a list of all the science
fiction magazines we could find that have a website. Also included are links to
science fiction book publishers, and links to sites that are designed to help
struggling writers get published.
Additionally, at the bottom right, we've included some links to some
magazines at eNews a site for subscribing to
magazines online. Currently, they offer three of the top professional science
fiction magazines.
A fanzine to try is Speculations.
I recently received their sample issue that can be ordered online. Speculations
keeps up with the various market places that buy SF of different lengths. This
include professional and semiprofessional magazines, book publishers, electronic
magazines and anthology editors. This nifty little mag also includes columns by
writers for writers and tries to keep up with the inside world of SF publishing.
If you are serious about becoming a writer, the $25 this magazine costs may be a
worthy investment.
Locus Magazine is the granddaddy of the
science fiction news magazine. It has excellent coverage of the science fiction
publishing industry and from time to time has writer's market reports.
Another fantasy that I have had for years, has been the idea I should read
one science fiction short story a day, and that would inspire to me write. Since
working with Olivier to create SciFan, I've thought I should work at that
fantasy and also create a section reviewing the stories. I don't have the time,
but maybe someday. If you subscribe to Locus
Magazine you know it has a column by Mark R. Kelly called
"Distillations" where Mark attempts to review some of the best short
fiction from a variety of magazine sources. Every time I read his column, not
only do I want to dig up my copy of the magazine to read, it also makes me think
about writing. "Distillations" is a good source for inspiration. Locus
has many columnists that review SF books too, but I think the review of short
story ideas make a better muse.
Now if you are really dedicated to the dream of becoming a science fiction
writer, have some extra cash, and several weeks off from work, you can apply to
one of the follow workshops: Clarion
Writers Workshop, Clarion
West, or Odyssey.
Finally, be sure and visit our section on The
Science in Science Fiction to catch up some of the technical and scientific
ideas that go along with writing science fiction.
Additional Notes
Recently, to inspire myself to start writing again, I decided to read one short story a day and I write up a comment on SciFan eGroups mailing list. Stop by to just lurk, or join the fun. This little project is very inspirational. The list has very little activity, and eGroups allows for a variety of digests, so your email inbox won't get cluttered.
By Jim Harris, 08/16/1999
Writing SF
Pitfalls of Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Quill Society: Science Fiction
Houston and/or Texas Area Writers Groups
Tools
Magazines
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s FANTASY Magazine
Publishers
Workshops
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