Skip to content
Home » “What Science Writing Can Learn from Crap Novels”

“What Science Writing Can Learn from Crap Novels”

I’ve always associated bad writing with nonsense fiction – books and films that don’t make any sense, written by people who don’t know how to write for real. For example, when I was in high school, a lot of the books I read were terrible, poorly written stories about superheroes and space aliens. I thought that writing in general and science fiction in particular could only be done well by professionals, because at the time I didn’t think I had what it took to be a good writer. But as I got older, I started to see the potential in all sorts of stories, even the most corny and unbelievable ones. In fact, some of my favourite novels and stories were written by people nobody knew at the time, which is probably why they’re still regarded as classics even now: because they showed you that anything was possible even in the most unlikely situations.

It can be tempting to write off terrible novels and stories as examples of something you’ll never be good at. But that’s what makes them great. When you’re writing science fiction, it’s important to keep in mind the potential for a story to be awful and still work, because sometimes the most unlikely things happen and you never know when they might come in handy. For example, when I was in high school, I thought that vampires were supposed to be really ugly and disgusting, and I associated vampires with horror movies, which meant that when I read about vampires in my fiction classes, I automatically thought of Night of the Living Dead. But then I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula and realized that, actually, vampires aren’t always supposed to be grotesque and sometimes they can be quite attractive. It turns out that my mind’s eye was just taking its eye off the most important part of the vampire story: Dracula’s thirst for blood.

How to Write a Credible Science Fiction Story

To write a credible scientific story, you need to start with a strong sense of world-building and characterization, as well as a good grasp of the principles of science. World-building is about creating an immersive, three-dimensional environment in your readers’ minds, which is a lot harder than it sounds. For example, imagine you’re writing about space travel, but you don’t know anything about spaceships or space travel, how would you go about writing that down? You could do a lot of research or ask people who are experts in this area, but the best – and sometimes the only – way to learn is by doing it yourself, which is why it’s a good idea to read as much science fiction as you can. To give your readers an experience that’s as close to real as possible, it’s important to build a strong foundation in the rules and traditions of science, especially in physics and chemistry. A lot of the time I would just look things up and make assumptions, but there are entire websites with all the necessary formulas and equations you need, if you need them.

What Makes a Good Science Fiction Story

When it comes to writing science fiction, there are a lot of different kinds of stories you can tell: from the thrilling adventures of a space hero to philosophical debates about the nature of reality. But if you want your story to be taken seriously, you need to do a few things. First, you need to make sure that everything in your story makes sense according to the rules of reality as we know it. That means your setting, your time frame, and even your plot should all be consistent with what we know about science and the physical universe. It’s also important to keep things interesting. A lot of the time, people get distracted by trifles such as the writing style or the characterizations, but you should always be looking for ways to make your story as exciting as possible. Since we live in a post-truth world, it’s important to make sure that your story isn’t just an opinion masquerading as fact, but that the facts support your argument. In the end, it’s all about having a good story, and for that, you need to put in the necessary work to ensure that your story is both interesting and well-written.

What’s Next For Me

This is me, before my first book signing. It wasn’t long after that I started getting recognized on the street – mostly by tourists who asked me where I got my famous long black coat – but it was still kind of surreal. I’ve since noticed that a lot of the people who come up to me on the street have books they’re interested in my opinion on, which is usually some variation of: “Do women need to be protected from men?” I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations with fans over the years, some of whom have even ended up becoming close friends. To this day, I still get letters and emails from people who tell me their stories and how my books have helped them through difficult times. When I first started getting famous, I assumed that most of my fans were probably a little crazy, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that maybe everyone needs a little bit of crazy in their lives. Seeing the positive effect my books have had on so many people has been incredibly humbling.

I have a lot more to say about writing and the potential for storytelling in general, but for now, I think I’ve said enough. I would like to leave you with this: don’t get discouraged about the kind of stories you write, because there’s always opportunity to prove yourself wrong. You never know when the next great idea might come knocking, so keep writing, keep searching for that perfect story, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find yourself with a best-selling novel or series that proves to the world that you are truly a good writer.