Writing Tips to Make Your Science Fiction Stories More Exciting
While writing scripts for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, I employed strategies to create exciting science fiction stories. Although I’d always been a sci-fi fan and had previously written many of my own original science fiction short stories, Hollywood producers in charge of Star Trek had either heard it all in pitch meetings with writers or seen it all in spec scripts sent to the show. I learned early on that I needed to give them the best plots and original scenarios I could hatch, if I wanted to sell or be invited back to try again.
Although consistently the genre of huge blockbuster movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, Independence Day, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, The Matrix and Terminator movies, sci-fi remains a category where many writers feel ill equipped to write for confidently. Despite these blockbusters and so many other film favorites, navigating through the apparently mysterious depths of science fiction can be daunting.
Science Fiction is popular backdrop to tons of successful Hollywood movies, books and television. You’d think with that amount of audience exposure and mainstream acceptance, there would be loads of writers churning out better sci-fi. Sadly, it’s not always the case. One only has to look at cable network The Sci-Fi Channel to see that while solid programs like Battlestar Galactica or Stargate excite fans with thoughtful sci-fi stories, there’s a lot of weak fare also. The Sci-Fi Channel’s mediocre Flash Gordon TV show or many of their original movies, sorely disappoint hungry sci-fi fans or even totally turn off many Sci-Fi Channel viewers.
Is there a true lack of creative talent when lots of sci-fi is produced? Perhaps by its nature, effective science fiction stories aren’t always easy to pull off. Directors or writers can easily get too bogged down in putting in as much flash and noise in their work, while neglecting foundational elements that make any story regardless of genre engaging or even timeless. All sizzle and no steak – or a “Where’s the beef?” mindset in regards to crafting compelling science fiction is good to remember.
Ray guns blasting monsters and hyper fast star hopping ships stretch just so far. Gadgets and space ships are the trappings or props of sci-fi, but the core meaning or plot should be about a lot more. After laser gun fights have drained your batteries, ask yourself what does the story mean and most importantly, what will it mean to your reader or viewer?
A common pitfall when constructing a sci-fi tale is the simplistic notion of merely throwing together a group of futuristic characters who run around a future landscape qualifies it as proper science fiction. While it’s true sci-fi gives us wild romps through the far reaches of outer space like Star War or Star Trek, planet based sci-fi which never blasts off into the star speckled unknown like the machine controlled world of The Matrix or Terminator is just as much Sci-Fi as those cosmic flights of fancy. Even Steven Spielberg’sE.T. The Extraterrestrial plays out fully on Earth and his little marooned alien conveys all the emotion and meaning we need through body language – plus a nifty glowing finger.
Real Science Stimulates
Being interested in real science isn’t mandatory for a sci-fi writer, but it helps immensely. Buying science oriented magazines like Scientific American or Discover are ways to stoke a sci-fi imagination and angle up a story. Perhaps you already have a tale in mind involving wormhole travel or time travel – or both considering just how much time and space is interconnected. Purchasing the latest magazine or subscribing will keep you up to date on just how much science fact is in your science fiction.
Interviews with scientists engaged in cutting edge experimentation or who are formulating new theories on everything from astronomy to microbiology will shape your thinking on stories in development or provide a spark to ignite the fires of new tales. Browsing websites of organizations like NASA will keep any writer firmly in the space race of creation.
Netflix Equals Research
Research can be fun, really. When it comes to science fiction writing research, watching classics like The Day The Earth Stood Still or Forbidden planet – both of which are being remade – double as solid mental stimulation, while confirming just why you’re writing sci-fi in the first place. The truth is you probably love it as much as I do and familiarizing yourself with science fiction classics or reacquainting yourself with them is essential to writing your own material.
Modern sci-fi epics like The Terminator or one of my favorites The Abyss, both from director James Cameron, are perfect examples of their creators employing likeable three dimensional characters who solve problems in a thrilling science fiction environment. When Arnold Schwarzenegger sacrifices himself at the end of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, it’s a wonderful example of a beloved character fully integrated into a plot – here a time travel cautionary tale where Arnold’s T-800 artificially intelligent machine must not fall into the wrong hands. Netflix or Blockbuster or wherever you get movies from can give the research you need to see what’s come before, so you can write the future.
Brain Picking Can’t Hurt
Brains! I don’t mean a sci-fi zombie movie. Don’t have the fondest memories of your high school chemistry class or college biology lab? Well, you’re not alone of course, but those science teachers or professors are not only huge resources of scientific info, but are most likely science fiction fans themselves.
Call them, go to them, email them. Set up a lunch date with a former teacher or a recommended one from the community and pitch them your story or just pick their brains about what’s most interesting to them about new science advances. As teachers, they’re keeping up on science to convey it to their students and would probably be thrilled to help a struggling science fiction writer.
There’s no magic scroll or potion to writing anything – science fiction included. Fantasy folk hero Harry Potter certainly has nothing on logical, computer loving Mr. Spock or lightsaber wielding Luke Skywalker
