How to Come Up with Your Own Sci-fi Novel

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While science fiction genre is among the most marketable literature in today’s market, self-publishing and book marketing a book is certainly not a walk in the park. ReadersMagnet thinks these 9 tips will somehow help you start a career as a science writer.

Familiarize yourself with the elements of the sci-fi genre. Every genre has its own defining elements. Romance novels revolve around couples, love and of course, romance. Mystery books tell us about enigmas, unanswered questions, and a thrilling journey into uncovering the truth. For science fiction, the list of elements is as long as its subgenres. However, the basic elements include:

-a scientific
truth/principle

-a unique
landscape, world, or mostly, a universe

-a seemingly
credible foundation

-a unique
and remarkable character

-a timeline
to trace back

-an out
of this world/out of time crisis or conflict

There
are still many elements to consider but that would highly depend on the type of
sci-fi subgenre you are planning to write.

Read, appreciate, and understanding of sci-fi literature. Unlike other book genres, sci-fi covers a wide area of literature. It also has the largest number of sub-genres than any other category. Each subgenre, while possessing the basic elements of science fiction, has its own unique themes and underlying characteristics. Some of these subgenres can even merge or cross over other subgenres.  If you are going to explore the vast universe that is sci-fi, best familiarize yourself with some of its subgenres. According to SciFi Ideas, these are the main subgenres of science fiction: hard science fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Robot Fiction, Social Science Fiction, Space Opera, Steam Punk, CyberPunk, Bio Punk, Nanopunk, Superhero Fiction, Voyages Extraordinary, Scientific Romance, Gothic Science Fiction, Mundane Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi/Horror/Comedy/Fantasy, Apocalyptic Science,Post-Apocalyptic Science, Zombie Fiction, Alien Invasion/ Conspiracy, Alternate History, Parallel Worlds, Lost Worlds, Dystopian Fiction, Space Western, Retro Futurism, Recursive Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Slipstream, Pulp Science Fiction, and Erotic Science Fiction.

Embrace
the sci-fi literature. Reading
sci-fi novel is not enough for you to draw inspiration. Science Fiction draws
largely on imagined settings, the out of this world environments, wild
characters, and unimaginable storylines. Watching sci-fi movies is a must for
science fiction writers who are seriously considering publishing their own
novel one day. The visual experiences offer enormous inspiration for any
genuine sci-fi fan self-publishing his
or her own work.

Pick
a specific science topic. While
I’ve already mentioned this about, picking a science topic is more than an
element in any sci-fi novel. It can make or break your career as a writer. The
choice of a scientific law or principle is the most essential part since it is
this particular law or principle that your narrative will revolve around.
Whether its nuclear fusion, biological warfare, time travel or parallel
universe each of these are based on scientific principle whether
proven fact or an on-going theory. Without the elements of any
scientific fact, your science fiction narrative cannot be materialized.

Imagine
endless possibilities. The
great thing about self-publishing science fiction is that you can almost break
all the rules of reality. That is why it’s called science fiction. This genre
allows writers to imagine all the endless possibilities. The trick is to hinge
that impossibility under a known scientific truth to build up a credible
impossibility, something that your general audience can relate to. If you are
writing about a post-apocalyptic habitat outside Earth, you might want to
discuss space flight and the building of space stations that ultimately led
to the establishment of a man-made planet in space, no
matter how currently impossible that is.

Create an insanely out-of-the-ordinary landscape. Star Wars’ Galactic Empire, Dune’s Arrakis, Superman’s Krypton and even John Carter’s Barsoom are all unique settings. The Galactic Empire is a vast universe inhabited by thousands of species all under the empire’s political rule. Arrakis is no ordinary desert planet. It’s orbited by two moons, has no natural precipitations, and the only place where spice is found. Superman’s home planet Krypton despite being Earth-like, it has also been described as a “fantastically advance civilization.” Traveling to Barsoom is like traveling from one dreamlike landscape to another (Barsoom has 5 cities). It is also famous for its light gravity.

Come
up weird but unique characters. Yoda, Spock, Kal-El, The Terminator (T-800
and T-1000), and Neo are all exemplary
characters from their respective sci-fi franchise. One key element of a
successful science fiction narrative is not only the out of this world storyline
and setting but also the unique central characters whether they are the main
protagonist, antagonist or even a supporting character. While most sci-fi
literature has aliens and robots as central characters, they have a certain
humanity that makes them remarkable and unique as well.

Don’t be afraid to tinker with time and space. Whether it’s post-apocalypse, an alternate history, parallel or lost worlds, dystopian future or in an alien setting, science fiction novels are narratives not of the current time setting.  Seldom are sci-fi novels set in the present time and if they are they involve a detailed presentation of that particular setting (year, associations with current social and political events, etc.) But if you are going to set your narrative outside the present time, make sure to create your own timeline for that setting.

Pick
a truly an unpredictable ending. One
feature that is significant among works of science fiction is their unique
endings. Sci-fi stories usually have an unpredictable and haunting ending.
Science fiction works such as Oblivion, Planet of the Apes, A
Scanner Darkly, Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Sucker Punch all
have one thing in common- a remarkably haunting ending.

These
tips are just mere guidelines and in your research, you might learn a
thing or two about writing your sci-fi novel. The idea is to learn the basic
rules and at the same time expand your ideas. After all, sci-fi is all about
expanding one’s imagination.

ReadersMagnet Self-Publishing
offers editorial services regardless of the genre you are writing. Publish your
narrative with us and we will make sure to share your sci-fi story with the
world. Call us Office Number: (619) 354 2643 Toll Free Number:
(800) 805 0762 or email us at [email protected]

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