Homework
In order to be a success at anything, we have to do our homework. In order to write a convincing story set in historical times, we need to research that time period. What did the people wear? How did they get around? How long did things take? How did they manage without modern conveniences? How long did they live?
We don't want to reiterate the same things that everyone else is saying, but we do want to know what we're talking about. I mentioned before that a telephone may not have been invented by the time of your story, so unless you're writing a science fiction story set in historical times, the telephone cannot play a part. The automobile might make a nice time machine set in this era. However, it might be difficult to explain how we fueled that automobile. If you write the story properly, though, the question might never come up.
The nice thing about science fiction is that it doesn't have to adhere to any specific timeframes or protocols. Bizarre events and props are totally acceptable. We might not have to do quite as much research in this case, however, we still want to be believable so whatever we do include, we need to know about it.
If we're dealing with alien beings, there are some preconceived notions about how these beings look. We don't have to follow them, but we might give explanations. For instance, many people believe that aliens can take the form of humans in order to be more acceptable and less threatening. This may be totally inaccurate, but it makes sense to the reader.
Unexplained events may need to be given an explanation in order to make them plausible. We need to keep these things in mind as we move forward with our work. This doesn't mean that we can't be creative. It means the opposite. Be creative and exploit your talent. Also be prepared to back up that creativity with some factual or factual-sounding text to make it more believable.
We don't want to reiterate the same things that everyone else is saying, but we do want to know what we're talking about. I mentioned before that a telephone may not have been invented by the time of your story, so unless you're writing a science fiction story set in historical times, the telephone cannot play a part. The automobile might make a nice time machine set in this era. However, it might be difficult to explain how we fueled that automobile. If you write the story properly, though, the question might never come up.
The nice thing about science fiction is that it doesn't have to adhere to any specific timeframes or protocols. Bizarre events and props are totally acceptable. We might not have to do quite as much research in this case, however, we still want to be believable so whatever we do include, we need to know about it.
If we're dealing with alien beings, there are some preconceived notions about how these beings look. We don't have to follow them, but we might give explanations. For instance, many people believe that aliens can take the form of humans in order to be more acceptable and less threatening. This may be totally inaccurate, but it makes sense to the reader.
Unexplained events may need to be given an explanation in order to make them plausible. We need to keep these things in mind as we move forward with our work. This doesn't mean that we can't be creative. It means the opposite. Be creative and exploit your talent. Also be prepared to back up that creativity with some factual or factual-sounding text to make it more believable.
posted by Vickie at 9:49 PM
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