TECH: The Science Fiction Novel (moldy oldie!)

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 Original Posting 9/30/2020

Writer's Digest, August 1992, had an article by Michael Seidman, defining the science fiction novel. This was part six of eight articles, talking about the genres – romance, mystery, suspense/thriller, Science Fiction, fantasy, horror, action/adventure, and Westerns. He starts out by telling us that each genre has a formula at its core. "You must understand this basic guideline or philosophy, must learn the formula that makes a category work for the reader… And the editor."

Now, he admits that individual publishers do have specific interests and needs, but there are general rules you need to know.

"Traditional SF is hardware oriented." Imagine tomorrow's technology, and then write stories about it. However, the ideas behind the stories have become more sophisticated. Time travel is more interesting than space travel, because space travel is too close to reality. "To a very great degree, contemporary SF is parable, an opportunity to explore not only the stars but ourselves."

Now, we still like hardware. Robots, communications, weapons, power… All kinds of things.

At that time, he said that, "There's still a broad, active, hungry market for short stories, magazines devoted to the form, and a rabid fandom that sponsors conventions on almost every weekend of the year."

Now, most successful SF writers grow up reading it. You need to know what has happened in the genre, you need to know worldbuilding, and you need to know a mix of physical and social sciences.

In the fantasy fiction categories, fantasy, horror, and Science Fiction, "you are limited only by your imagination and your ability to create worlds." It's the situation more than the characters that drives the story.

What separates SF from technothriller or action/adventure? Partly, marketing. Especially, modern-day or near future stories. Don't worry about the category, tell a good story.

Make sure to follow one cardinal rule: "The story, the action, is all plausible given the rules that you dictated when you sat down to begin."

He does recommend Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) and Locus.

So, get those genres rolling…