What If This Goes On?
A Major Question For SF Writers…
A great way to get stories, but the question of “What if this goes on?” is never simple and often not something anyone wants to explore.
That is the topic of a special workshop from our last Kickstarter, and wow, as a sf writer my entire life, a bunch of stuff about asking that question just bothers me these days.
But thinking about it, in one way or another, that question bothered me through all my life.
One day at school back in the late 1950s, they had us do a duck-and-cover drill and crawl under our wooden desks in case of a nuclear attack.
I got home and asked my parents why we had to do that? Did they want to make sure all the children died quickly in an attack by making each of us hide under a pile of kindling?
My dad laughed. My mother had no sense of humor, but my question was an honest one, and clearly was an early sign I would be a science fiction writer.
So caution on that question, “What if this goes on?” Don’t ask it about anything going on now if you don’t want to face the possible answers.
2 Comments
S. H. Miah
Hey Dean,
Random question about writing craft but thought I’d comment it here if okay. When cycling sometimes I notice myself using certain words like ‘felt’ ‘looked’ ‘saw’ etc., instead of more active phrases. Also I find myself repeating the same phrases across a novel multiple times.
So far, I’ve kind of just assumed it’s a part of my creative voice so left them alone. If I find it boring / strange, then readers would probably love it since it’s my natural author voice coming through.
Would this be the correct assumption to make here? Or is there some merit to weeding out these kinds of word usages during the cycling stage?
Thanks!
dwsmith
Get out of the words and only focus on the story. Stage one and stage two writers only care about the words. Stage three writers start caring about only the story and characters and setting. Stage four writers ignore the words completely in service to a better story.
My answer to your questions. You are focusing on the wrong thing.