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Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Dο уου dream οf -
Crossing thе galaxies?
Living іn thе far future?
Entertaining millions wіth уουr imagination?
Thіѕ book саn hеlр mаkе those dreams come rіght!
Writing Science Fiction аnd Fantasy brings уου expert advice οn hοw tο craft аnd market tаlеѕ οf thе fаntаѕtіс. Award-winning writers such аѕ John Barnes, James Patrick Kelly, Norman Spinrad, Connie Willis, аnd Jane Yolen reveal ѕοmе οf thеіr secrets οf crafting believable tаlеѕ, even аѕ Grand Masters
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Wildly Uneven, But Worth it For The Excellent Bits,
At the most basic level, this book delivers what the title and subtitle promises: How-to essays by some of the largest names (as of the mid-1980s) in science fiction writing. The majority deal with science fiction (rather than fantasy) and with magazine (as opposed to book-length) pieces. Would-be fantasy writers must beware, but must also be willing to cut the editors a small slack on the subject. New writers with no track record and no agent (the book’s target consultation) have always had an simpler time publishing small fiction than novels. Fantasy is (and has been for decades) nearly entirely published as novels, but here’s still (if only barely) a market for magazine-length science fiction.
The book is not, but, what it clearly *wants* to be: THE book for writers trying to break into the genre. The essays in it were written at uncommon times and for uncommon purposes. They vary wildly in length, depth, and (most critical) in the amount of knowledge they assume on the part of the reader. Trying to read the book straight through can give you a severe case of intellectual whiplash. If you want a unified, coherent book about how to write feature science fiction and fantasy, this is NOT it. (Try Orson Scott Card’s _How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy_ or Barry Longyear’s _Notes to a Science Fiction Writer_ instead.)
The real gems of this book include, as other reviewers have noted, Stanley Schmidt on worn-out plot devices and Connie Willis on humor. IF you want to write hard science fiction (tales everywhere the scientific details are firmly in the foreground and integral to the tale), then add Hal Clement’s on aliens to that list. IF you want to write fantasy, then add Jane Yolen’s superb essay on using elements from mythology and legend. Either group could benefit from Poul Anderson’s essay on world-building. (As Diana Wynne Jones pointed out in her hilarious _Tough Guide to Fantasyland_, fantasy writers are notorious for making worlds that make no ecological sense.)
The book is, ironicaly, least useful everywhere it’s most closely concerned with the mechanics of writing. Isaac Asimov’s five essays are breezy and amiable but offer small in the way of really concrete advice. Robert Heinlein’s single essay (written in the early 1950s, if memory serves) is valuable *only* if you keep in mind that it was written when the market for magazine SF was *much* better than it is now. Sheila Williams’ essay on “The Mechanics of Submission” is now terribly out of date, since it was written before e-mail and inkjet printers. Many of the markets listed at the end of the book have, sadly, stopped publication years ago.
The excellent bits of this book are very, very excellent. The essays by Anderson, Willis, and Yolen alone are worth the price of (paperback) admission. Be aware, though, that you get a *lot* of chaff along with the wheat.
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|Fantastic for Science Fiction, not for Fantasy,
I was disappointed with this book because my fundamental focus is on fantasy, not science fiction. Originally I chose to pass on this book in anticipation of I found out that a SF writer and teacher I admire likes this book, so I changed my mind and got it.
If you know Analog which focuses on hard science fiction and Asimov’s which focuses on character-driven science fiction, this book is exactly what you would expect. Here are some incredible articles on how to make a believable planet and how to extrapolate from the present society to hypothesize what a future society might be. Stanley Schmidt, the current editor for Analog, included some fascinating articles on tale thoughts editors see so often they know the ending after reading the first paragraph, and articles on what as an editor he is trying to do for both the writer and the reader. If you are a fan of Asimov or Heinlein, you may be interested in their articles just to know how they reckon. Except for Connie Willis’s wonderful essay on comedy and the world-, creature-, and society-building essays, the actual writing advice is excellent for a beginning writer, but won’t have new information for an intermediate/advanced writer.
For the aptly person, this book is a gem. If you are trying to publish in Analog or Asimov’s, I’d say it is a must. If you are interested in hard science fiction, here is a lot this book has to offer. If you are interested only in fantasy, this book probably will be a bit of a disappointment.
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|A Must Read for the Would-Be Author,
Aristotle had once said, in part, that a workable falsehood is better than an incomprehensible truth. If Science has any imagination, it is used in its ability to simplify complex concepts, by sometimes making small assumptions, in order to clarify them better to the common laymen. Science fiction writers borrow heavily on this concept to tell their own tales.
Since man, in reality, cannot travel quicker-than-set alight to reach distant stars in his own lifetime, the writer of such a fantastic tale must be able to clarify how such a fantastic journey could have ever full place. How you clarify this fantastic journey between the stars in your tale (though now a well-established convention in SF) can mark the difference in fiction between science, fantasy, or just plot unbelievable (…). It is up to you, and if you want to write excellent believable science fiction, then you must make every effort to learn everything you can about your scientific subject, and then you can make your own workable falsehoods.
The editors of *Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy* have divided the book into three sections, which they hope will inspire would-be-authors into writing credible fiction. Section One deals with *Storytelling* and includes the controversial essay from Robert A. Heinlein *On the Writing of Speculative Fiction*. Controversial because he advises, “you must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.” Section Two deals with *Thoughts and Foundations*, which will advise you on how to write better believable science fiction by using real rational science. (The essay on *The Thoughts that Wouldn’t Die* is mandatory reading.) Although the third section on *The Affair of Writing* lacks enough market resources and is all too brief with its essay on *The Mechanics of Submission*, it gives some of the best pieces of advice that any new writer could receive from Stanley Schmidt’s essay on *Authors vs. Editors*.
Despite any shortcomings, *Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy* is a necessary read for anyone who is seriously considering writing in any of these genres. Such luminaries as Anderson, Asimov, Barnes, Heinlein, and Spinrad, who are the best in their fields, wrote some of the twenty collected essays. Leave-taking small doubt that the advice and insights given therein comes from legends, whose prose we must all-be so lucky to stay on.
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