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'm writing about the patterns we see in technology and science. I'm writing about transportation right now. We know the ultimate for transportation moves from suborbital to orbital, then intra-solar system to inter-solar system. You could extrapolate as far as inter-galactic. We know writing that moves this far technologically. The question is how. In hard science fiction, the author posits a means. In soft science fiction, it just exists. The point is the technology and the capability.
The how of space transportation is a very interesting part of the extrapolation equation. In The Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox, I extrapolate space transportation as ships in warp type FTL (Faster than Light) flight. I assume a situation similar to today with spaceliner travel for the majority and individual ships for the minority wealthy. This is a reasonable assumption. This assumption and extrapolation may be completely wrong. If we evaluate the other possibilities, the extrapolation looks better and better.
In the age of aviation, regulation makes individual ownership of aircraft very expensive. We can expect his same model with space craft. Governments will not want individuals to have this ability to travel. I expect their resistance to be at least as bad as the current regulations with aircraft. The model of ships may be even better with many able to own small intra-solar system ships and the minority unable to own inter-solar system ships. We see similar problems with computer technology. More tomorrow.
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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