Reader Question: What is the best way to explain foreign technology in science fiction?
This question was sent to me anonymously via my Formspring profile. After thinking about it for a while, I’ve come to the realization that it’s not exactly an easy one to answer. There are no hard-set rules for how to deal with description and explanation in fiction, particularly in science fiction. People try to say […]
eBooks and the Future of Books: A Question From WhoHub
Someone on WhoHub recently asked me the following and I thought I would respond here: What is your experience with ebook readers? Are they comfortable for your eyes? Will the paper book fade away? One thing that an old-school book lover like me has had to admit is that eReaders have gone from being clunky, […]
Fantasy Essentials: What Should I Have Read?
Somewhere along the line I began getting criticized for not being all that great at writing fantasy because I had not read enough in the genre. Maybe this is true, and if so, I would like to rectify that, to the best of my ability. So, to all those reading this, I’m calling on you […]
Reader Question: Future Definitions
Bowie of Young Writers Online was on a role when he was asking questions. Here goes: Realistically speaking, would we consider a “holo-vid” a television or would we somehow adapt to calling it a “holo-vid”? Most likely we would call it a hol0-vid, or whatever term was created to describe that new technology. New advances […]
Reader Question: Lingual Formalities, Schmalities
If memory serves me, this question comes from Bowie of Young Writers Online: In most science fiction and fantasy stories, people speak in a more formal way. Why is that? Is it to reinforce the idea that it’s a different world than we know? Firstly, it’s not true that most SF/F resorts to formal modes […]
Reader Question: The Alien Exit
Mercy from Young Writers Online had this interesting question to ask: Why does everyone resort to aliens in recent sci-fi/gov/end of the world movies? Because aliens are easy. People do not question aliens as the villains, because, despite all our efforts to acknowledge our difficulty in understanding and dealing with the human/Other dichotomy, we are […]