I love writing Science Fiction. And Fantasy. The first stories I wrote were Fantasy, since I loved playing around with magic and all the cool things you could do by creating your own world. Once I started reading SF, though, I migrated a lot of what I wrote into that world-building field (not to say I don't love Fantasy anymore).
But sometimes I wonder if I'm cut out for it. While I enjoy Hard SF, full of its jargon and technicalities, I can't write it very well. It's too full of stuff I don't have a full grasp of. And though I enjoy reading Soft SF, exploring possible worlds that aren't quite so far ahead--or have more Fantasy elements--as some Science Fiction, I never really feel that I could match its level of complexity on a more human sort of level.
Then again, I write SF anyway. I write it because I love the genre and its twists and turns, and I love exploring new worlds and new ideas. Sometimes I don't think I do a story I've got in my head justice, or that my writing is up to it, but it's fun.
And when I do manage to come up with something part of my brain says, grudgingly, is not completely horrible, then it's even more fun.
So. Go take on your genre. Because regardless of what it is you love about it, writing is supposed to be enjoyable. And hey, the more you write it, the better you get.
What's your favorite genre?
-----The Golden Eagle
24 comments:
I agree- the more you write it the better it becomes. Great post.
I have an award for you. :)
I can commiserate with your concern over the nuances of SF. But a thing to keep in mind is that science tends to follow SF, not the other way around. So the key is a good imagination and a vivid sense of detail - which I imagine you must have if you enjoy the genre and write in it. I write primarily fantasy, but have written two shorter futuristic stories, and would agree they were much harder to write. ~Kate - http://fantasypoweredbylove.com/
I'm fascinated with SF, but have never really tried my hand at it until a recent short story I wrote. But it was more in the vain of slipstream. (did I use the right spelling for vain, there?) Gah, I'm tired, please excuse me. Anyway, my point is, no matter what genre you choose to write, make sure you enjoy it. It shouldn't be a chore. So just practice and make it work for you if that's what you like to write! :o) I gave it a go and I think I may have just broadened my horizons!
I agree. You can only get better. =) Thanks for sharing.
I had these same feelings about writing high fantasy. I decided to take a break from that becasue of those feelings. I'm hoping to learn a lot in that time so I can back to it and love it again :)
I know what you mean with SF! I don't think we can ever know everything we need to know in order to be technically accurate, but I agree that you always get better. BTW, I decided that I don't really like hard sci-fi, so I'm grateful for writers more like you that write "softer" sci-fi. You make Sci-fi reachable to a wider audience.
I love to write fantasy for all the reasons you mentioned above ;D
YA contemporary and Historical Fiction. Not the most popular at the moment, but I love them, so that's what I write ^_^
The one genre I would love to write is fantasy. I've tried a few times but everything I write seems to come out a pale imitation of someone else's work :-)
I never thought of myself as a hard SF type of writer. But somehow the stories kept on wanting to be written, and what do you know, I'm in the Rocket Science Anthology. Blimey. Just keep pushing.
Well, you know I love writing horror, suspense, thrillers.
I heart scifi but I am not cut out for hard scifi. One day, I shall create the true space horror genre. ;) Light on the scifi, heavy on the horror.
I love fantasy as well, but I lean more toward urban fantasy when writing it.
Pretty much anything speculative fiction...
So full of stuff!!
That's why I don't write high-tech science fiction. It would make my brain hurt. I do enough tech stuff at work - my writing is for enjoyment.
Well you SHOULD write what you know best and if SF is it, then write it. There's no one saying it has to be done in a certain fashion. How you write it is what makes it unique.
My favorite genre is the adult psychological thriller. It's all real, so it's probably easier than SF, but I have my own issues with doing it justice.
Yay for you!!!! I am in awe at all the hard SF writers but that's the beauty of SF and Fantasy - it's more to do with unlocking the imagination and exploring all posibilities not of this realm!! So yay - go for it!! p.s. you are a physics and all things science crazy person so you know a hell of a lot of hard science to be used for your fiction!
Take care
x
Sci-Fi also has some of the pickiest readers around due to the overwhelming amount of nerds and geeks in the gene pool. Just keep at it Eagle. You will one day be the author of a fantastic sci-fi book...I can feel it in my bones.
I never thought of writing sci-fi, but seem to manage it all the same, although I'm not good with the details either. I love writing some sort of fantasy, whether it's urban, or something with some serious world-building.
Summer: Glad you liked the post. :)
You awarded me? Thank you so much! I'll be right over.
KH: You have a point--a lot of "science fiction" has actually become reality, if a bit more slowly.
Jessica: Good for you! :)
E.: You're welcome!
J. A.: I'm sure you'll be back to writing High Fantasy in no time. :)
Barbara: Nope; which can actually be part of the fun. Leaves room to come up with new technology!
Awesome. :)
Angelina: I love Contemporary YA and HF! I don't read them as much as SF or Fantasy, but there are some excellent books in that genre. I tried writing HF, once--but never finished the project.
Sarah: I find it helps to imagine the world first, sometimes; the setting often plays a central role in Fantasy, due to all the building the writer has to do. :)
Deborah: That is awesome! And yes--just keep moving on.
Hannah: Yup!
I'd read it! While I don't read a lot of horror, space horror (especially if it's written by you) sounds awesome. :)
I've never tried writing Urban Fantasy; it usually ends up more like High Fantasy for me.
I love speculative.
Alex: It makes my brain hurt too, sometimes. Though I do love reading it!
Nancy: Definitely. :)
It sounds difficult, to me! I could never manage something psychological, at this point; I like the idea, but I just don't know that much about people and how they work to do it right. :P
Old Kitty: That's where a lot of the fun lies for me--creating new realms! :)
I'm not sure that I know that much to write a whole story based on physics; though I've thought about trying it sometime!
Michael: LOL. Yup, it does; and I consider myself to be a geek when it comes to some things. :P
Thanks. :) I hope to write a really good SF book sometime . . .
C D: I've never tried urban Fantasy; I usually tend toward heavy world-building.
I like writing contemporary -but my wIP is a post-apocolyptic horse-girl adventure - the world building is fun. But get this, my waiting in the wings new idea is straight up sci-fi. Weird.
great advice! i love sci fi and fantasy too =)
and practice does make you get better, i tell that to my boys all the time!
I agree you need to write what you love, I think it makes the story so much better when part of you is invested in it. Of course, that may be the romantic in me.
I started out as a fantasy writer, but I, too, have migrated to sci fi. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but now when I'm working out a new story, I find myself looking for scientific explanations rather than fantastical ones. I love them both, though!
Jaye: It sounds like a great book! :)
Hope you have fun with your idea.
Tara: Thanks! :)
Julie: I think it's true, nevertheless.
Susan: There's something attractive about the genre, isn't there?
Me, too. :)
Hey, fellow insecure writer here. I sometimes wonder the same thing. I love writing YA sci-fi and fantasy, but does it love me back? I sure hope so. Glad you own it and keep it up!
- http://pensuasion.blogspot.com/
S. L.: Thanks! And I think that if you love the genre, it will reciprocate. :)
Post a Comment