Day 2 - Plunging Into the Past

Today's focus is on using past events to change the way our characters behave.

<--Day 1   Day 2 Lesson - Investigation - Action and Plot   Day3-->

Day 1 - Science Fiction and You

Our First Day is focused on introductions, distributing the syllabus, a general course overview, and writing exercises to put us in the right frame of mind for Writing The Human.  I cannot, however, promise the absence of bloodthirsty velociraptors from the classroom setting.

Day 1: Science Fiction and You - Point of View - Day 2-->

Telling the Story: Point of View

In fiction, we have several choices of narrator, and you should decide which narrative voice to use based on the needs of your story.

Day 1: Science Fiction and You - Point of View - Day 2-->

Point of View - Choosing Your Narrative Perspective and Scope

In science fiction, the point of view (POV) of your narrator determines a great deal about how you convey facts and events to the reader.

Story versus Plot

If you've ever written a flashback or a distant memory into a story, then you've already experienced the difference between Story and Plot.  As you write, you'll use plot as a tool for telling the events of the story, and it's important to note this distinction during our discussions...

Memory and Information Control

Memory: the facts of the past colored by present perspective.  In fiction, the memories of our characters not only reveal their backgrounds, but also the ways their personalities have evolved over time.  Yet we must take care in the timing of memories in the narrative.  By controlling when individual memories appear in the narrative, we directly affect how our readers perceive the course of a story.

Solving the Plot versus Exploring the Soul

Fiction is a delicate art.  "Pure" fiction - the kind of literary works that focus entirely on the exploration of human nature - is by nature unpredictable.  Genre fiction, in contrast, is sometimes seen as a kind of mechanical stepchild.  This perception is due to the somewhat artificial rules of the genre writing - just as mysteries require criminals and romance novels demand lovers, science fiction lives on robots and aliens while fantasy is carried on the backs of dragons.

When writing stories set in the alternative realities of speculative fiction, we must be careful that the so-called "rules of engagement" genre don't blind us to the primary goal of quality fiction: revealing a deeper understanding of the human experience.