SWRT 013 | Plotting Science Fiction with Chris Fox

August 3, 2017

Alida, Kathryn, and Robert welcome Chris Fox back to continue our discussion of science fiction. This week, we focus on plotting those science fiction stories. What makes a book science fiction? What about mixed genre science fiction? What trends do we see in science fiction?

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

How important is the science in science fiction? What are some conventions of science fiction? And when should you break them? How can you use names to bridge the familiar and unfamiliar? And are there any genres you can’t mash in with science fiction?

Find Chris at chrisfoxwrites.com

What we talked about:

How important is the science to science fiction? (1:18)

Does the science need to be integral to the plot? (6:25)

Conventions in sub-genre’s of science fiction. (8:52)

What are reader expectations for characters and subplots? (10:25)

More conventions of other sub-genres. (14:08)

How can you break with conventions? (14:55)

How you can use naming conventions and the familiar mixed with the unfamiliar in order to make things accessible to the reader. (15:35)

Sub-genre: earth destruction. (20:52)

Are there any genre’s that you shouldn’t mash up with science fiction? (22:56)

Is retro trending in literature as well as film? (27:04)