NOT using the
panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in
Helsinki, Finland in August 2017 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire
from education)), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree
with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not
today. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes
reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the
spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…
Lately, I’ve been frustrated with my writing.
It’s not that I haven’t been able to produce anything – I have.
It’s not that what I’ve written doesn’t have a message couched in a
good story -- I hope.
It’s that I’m not doing it WELL enough.
See, I know I can write for the professional market. My publications list
to the right proves that to my doubting mind, I CAN. I’m a member of two professional
organizations – the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. The groups have offered
help several times, so they’re not just “self-congratulatory, back-patting
clubs”. I’ve learned things from both.
But as I’ve said before, I’m on the wrong edge of being able to write well
CONSISTENTLY.
I’ve tried several “how to” articles, but most of them fall back to beginning
writer’s stuff. I’ve read (and have in my library) a dozen or so writing books
aimed specifically at the SF market. I’ve read them, underlined them, studied
them even. I’ve gotten better as a writer; but CONSISTENCY is my new bane.
Maybe my most recent stories are TOO serious?
“What the Cockroach Said” – North Korean political prisoner is
contacted by Americans through a “cockroach robot” and given a way and a
promise of support if she sparks revolution. (Modeled this on John Brunner’s
1970s ANALOG story, “Who Steals My Purse?”)
“Talking My Way Back Into Life” – Jet slips 20 years into the future
and a 15-year-old-guy is suddenly 35 and alone and has to remake his life. (I
lost the contest, so reworked my response to this Xprize challenge: https://www.xprize.org/press-release/visionary-sci-fi-writers-transport-you-20-years-future-new-xprize-anthology)
“The Princess’s Brain” – A blue-blood royal has her brain transplanted
into a genetically “impure” body to spark change on a world. (Sci-fi twist on
PRINCE AND THE PAUPER)
“Titan Mission Drops Bomb” – A humorous thought for ANALOG regarding
space poop, Solar exploration, and alien traces. (OK – this one doesn’t suffer
from seriousness…)
“Storm Change” – What if a Dakotah in ND got hold of a gene lab and
planned on using it to redress the past and was opposed by his brother?
“The Daily Use of Gravity Modification in Rebuilding Liberian Schools” –
This was ambitious for me. A genetically unique soldier uses his skills to
rebuild Liberia after another civil war and is joined (reluctantly) by a
gravity physicist returning to her homeland. (I stayed there for several months
and want to see technology at work in much less developed countries. One editor
asked me to drop all the “serious parts” and just do the “adventure” parts and
it would be much better! I said, “No thanks”.)
“And After Soft Rain, Daisies” – A tribute to Ray Bradbury’s “There
Will Come Soft Rains” and the application of monitoring and AI to the care of
Alzheimer’s patients.
“The PsISMoDiDE Evaluation of the Borra-Trottier Stars” – in which the
odd distribution of certain kinds of stars MIGHT be a sort of “vision test”
laid out by vastly superior aliens for us to figure out. (Model: “Can These
Bones Live?” (Ted Reynolds))
The rest of the Nancy Kress quote above goes on to specifics: “Emotional
Promise: [signals] ‘Read this and you’ll be entertained, or thrilled, or
scared, or titillated, or saddened, or nostalgic, or uplifted – but always absorbed’…Intellectual
Promise: [signals] ‘Read this and you’ll see the world from a different
perspective’; ‘Read this and you’ll have confirmed what you already want to believe
about this world’; ‘Read this and you’ll learn of a different, more interesting
world than this’. (The third promise can exist alone or in combination with the
first or second one).”
After writing the above,
I’ve realized a couple of things:
1) My Emotional Promise
isn’t compelling enough. How can I lay out a story so that a reader will be “always
absorbed”? Analyze prize-winning stories and see what the writer did to absorb
me.
2) My Intellectual
Promise isn’t compelling enough. How can I lay out a story so that a reader
will END the story with a different perspective, a confirmation of their belief
system, or discover a new, interesting place. The second is the biggest
challenge for me because I’m a Christian. There aren’t as many Christian
science fiction readers as there are readers with not-Christian belief systems,
so fewer will find confirmation through my stories. That being said, there ARE
SF writers who are Christians whose stories sell and who (maybe?) angle their
stories to do either the first or the third Intellectual Promise. Maybe I’m
emphasizing the second Intellectual Promise too…impolitely?
Hmmm…now I’ve got
something to think about!
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