Any fiction writers/wanna-be's in the house?

[JetsIn06]

I've recently gotten the itch to write some science fiction. Anyone here like to write? Anyone ever get published?

I'm not really looking to get published or anything like that, I just wanna do it for fun. A huge part of it is my desire to create a universe of my own. Don't really know what it's gonna be or anything yet, but it should be fun to let the creative juices flow.

[Drake]

I had a SF novel published by a small press. What sorts of things do you want to know?

[JPhillips]

All of my fiction writing has been plays. If you're just doing it for fun, get started and see where it goes. If you want to get more serious, understand that writing it is only the first step. The editing and rewriting have always been the more difficult parts for me.

[Young Drachma]

I tried a few years back. Got about 2/3s done with it and then stopped, I didn't like where it was going, life got a hold and I haven't gone back to it. I've written smaller pieces, but...nothing with the volume of a novel yet. It's a goal and it'll happen. But I just don't want to force it for the ask saying, I've written.

It's a lot more interesting when you're not trying to be good at it, because the forcing yourself to do it part can be the toughest part.

[JetsIn06]

Believe it or not, I actually like editing a little too much. I can't write a sentence and move on without editing it, and that's probably one of the worst things you can do when your writing.

I need to just learn how to get out my ideas quickly and write my little heart out, and THEN go back and fix it, maybe even re-write it completely.

My problem is that when I'm writing, my mind stays focused on fixing the little mistakes rather than progressing the story. Maybe if I tried the outline route it would help.

As for the SF writer, how do you approach world-building and do you have any advice on that aspect?

[Izulde]

For world-building, I'd suggest taking a look at Tolkein first and see how he's structured the territories, the histories, the cultures, etc.

Oh and if you get into the languages, bow down to his linguistic mastery.

[Drake]

You can spend forever on world building and not actually make any progress on the story itself. Focus on your character in that character's situation and let the world develop around him/her as necessary. You can go back and do the world building/internal consistency stuff after the first draft.

That's what works for me, at least.

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by Drake

You can spend forever on world building and not actually make any progress on the story itself. Focus on your character in that character's situation and let the world develop around him/her as necessary. You can go back and do the world building/internal consistency stuff after the first draft.

That's what works for me, at least.

Word. Planning is not writing, unless you use chunks of prose later. Make the machine work first, and then worry about decorating it and having all the pieces fit well together.

[MacroGuru]

Orson Scott Card has released a book I liked about writing Sci-fi/fantasy. He covers a lot, it's basic but helps a lot.

[JetsIn06]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Orson Scott Card has released a book I liked about writing Sci-fi/fantasy. He covers a lot, it's basic but helps a lot.

I actually have it! It's pretty well done.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

I actually have it! It's pretty well done.

I recommend both Card's book, and Stephen King's On Writing, which is also terrific.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

Believe it or not, I actually like editing a little too much. I can't write a sentence and move on without editing it, and that's probably one of the worst things you can do when your writing.

I need to just learn how to get out my ideas quickly and write my little heart out, and THEN go back and fix it, maybe even re-write it completely.

My problem is that when I'm writing, my mind stays focused on fixing the little mistakes rather than progressing the story. Maybe if I tried the outline route it would help.

This is a very common problem, and one that I'm prone to doing as well. Not only does it take forever to write like this, but it also leaves the writing far too polished.

Now when I write I don't allow myself to make 'editing' changes to anything I've written until the end. If I need to change a detail or add/remove something, that's fine, but no rewording of anything until it's entirely complete.

As for the SF writer, how do you approach world-building and do you have any advice on that aspect?

The one time I attempted something like this I sat down, came up with the principal powers of the world, thought of a few major events, and then wrote a 4 or 5 page quick history of the universe to link everything together. Pretty obvious of course, but I was amazed by how much this helped my creative juices flow. I'd love to try something like this again when I get the time.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

As for the SF writer, how do you approach world-building and do you have any advice on that aspect?

http://www.amazon.com/World-Building...4867754&sr=8-1

There's actually 4 books in this series, this one is specific to World Building and is really good, IMO. It goes over a lot of the science behind creating a world, how planets, stars and entire solar systems form, etc. It goes over the Earth and how it works. And it also goes over what can't work. It doesn't get too invovled with the science, though. Anyone can pretty much understand it (it is intended for writers afterall ).

The other 3 are Time Travel, Space Travel and Alien Societies. I'd highly suggest all of them to sci-fi writers (except maybe Time Travel, unless you want to work time travel into your story). But then again, I've barely even finished anything I wrote, let alone published anything.

[sabotai]

dola,

http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Scienc...4868276&sr=1-4

I'd also recommend this book. It's a book of esseys by some of the top sci-fi and fantasy writers (although the vast majority of them are much more useful to sci-fi writers. Not much here for fantasy, despite the title) One of the Amazon reviewers is spot on, some of the esseys aren't really worth reading (some are old and pretty out-dated), but some of them are very good. Anderson's essey on world building is one of the, if not the, longest esseys and is very useful as is Clement's essey on aliens.

If you can find it at B&N or Borders, you might be better off finding a chair and reading through some of the esseys rather than buying it.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I recommend both Card's book, and Stephen King's On Writing, which is also terrific.

On Writing was super.

[JetsIn06]

Originally Posted by sabotai

http://www.amazon.com/World-Building...4867754&sr=8-1

There's actually 4 books in this series, this one is specific to World Building and is really good, IMO. It goes over a lot of the science behind creating a world, how planets, stars and entire solar systems form, etc. It goes over the Earth and how it works. And it also goes over what can't work. It doesn't get too invovled with the science, though. Anyone can pretty much understand it (it is intended for writers afterall ).

The other 3 are Time Travel, Space Travel and Alien Societies. I'd highly suggest all of them to sci-fi writers (except maybe Time Travel, unless you want to work time travel into your story). But then again, I've barely even finished anything I wrote, let alone published anything.

I actually have this book too! It's absolutely fascinating, but sometimes a little to technical for my taste. However, it's definitely a good book to have if you want to create believable planets, solar systems, etc.

[Drake]

Or you could get everything you ever needed to know about worldbuilding here for free:

http://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R414/