Announcement: There is action on my new novels. The publisher renamed the series--they are still working on the name. I provided suggestions as did one of my prepub readers. Now the individual books will be given single names: Leora, Leila, Russia, Lumiere', China, Sveta, and Klava--at least these are some of the suggestions. They are also working on a single theme for the covers. 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.
The major areas in warfare technology are:
1. Software
2. Weapons
Heavy Weapons
3. Countermeasures
4. Defense
5. Communications
6. Robots
7. Vehicles
8. Environments (personal equipment)
9. Costs
Tactical costs are food, fuel, ammo, and replacements. If you bring live ordinance home, you need a way to handle it, a place to park, and a way to off load it. The handling is the opposite of the loading--except that with a malfunction, you may not know what is wrong until you get it on the ground and examine it. The parking is the hazardous cargo area. Almost every major and definitely every military field has a hazardous cargo or hot ordinance area. These are near the ends of the runway and isolated from the base or airport facilities. The reason is that if the ordinance goes off, the fire and emergency crews let it burn.
That's not true in the Navy--except on the land. On the seas, and likely in the future in space, it is too dangerous to bring malfunctioning ordinance (or any live ordinance) back on board. The Navy dumps any live ordinance before the aircraft lands on the carrier at sea. In the future, in space, the rules of the game may change a little, but not that much. If the risks of landing with live ordinance are low enough, then you could bring it on board. If it is high--like a carrier landing, you can't risk bringing it on board.
By the way, the Navy has the crew eject or land on land if they can't get rid of live ordinance.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment