Announcement: My novels Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness are about to be published. I write this blog about 2 months prior to its publication. I just heard that the proofs will be here soon--likely before the end of the week. My publisher also wants to put the entire set of novels based on Aegypt on contract--that's 5 more novels for 8 total. They also want to put my other novels on contract. The release schedule should be one novel every 2 months. I'll keep you updated.
Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.
I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.
The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:
1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
I am writing about the extrapolation of science and technology to be able to write science fiction. I made the point that it is almost meaningless to try to fully extrapolate a universe (world) that is 10,000 years in the future (and maybe 1,000 years in the future) without applying some cultural and technological shaping.
By shaping the cultures of your science fiction universe, you can shape the science and technology that is extrapolated. Here is how I culturally shaped the universe of The Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox to make the 10,000 year extrapolation work.
I've mentioned a lot about books and writing and some about music in the extrapolation of science. There are obvious extrapolations that everyone should understand. Energy is one obvious extrapolation. Energy production will go to fusion. Solar panels will get more efficient--they will likely never get efficient enough to be used for cost effective energy production, but they will fit more and more niche areas. Think of solar powered calculators. Fusion energy will likely get smaller and smaller. Will it move to the level of a battery--likely not, but who is to say. This is where a great science fiction author can provide some hard science inventiveness to produce a future technology.
Batteries will become smaller and more powerful. The decrease in size and increase in power will likely not be geometric, but linear and incremental. Already, we are seeing devices that are almost all battery--think iPhones. The devices and their batteries are disposable. If you think of technology changes through the ages, things that were dear became disposable. In general, many scientific inventions that didn't fly were of this variety--like paper clothing. Clothing is disposable--by the way. We just don't think of it that way. The movement of things to become more and more disposable is related to the device, the power provider, the repair-ability, and the speed of change. An piece of electronics is ultimately disposable. A piece of clothing, not so much. A piece of china is not as disposable as a paper plate. A science fiction author in extrapolating the technology and shaping the culture will put these ideas in play. Just what would a future society consider disposable?
Also remember, I'm trying to show you and give you examples of how to write a science fiction theme statement and turn it into a plot.
For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
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