Post by creature386 on Jan 2, 2017 2:52:49 GMT 5
This is a thread for allowing writers of fan fiction, original fiction or alternative history to show their work. "Fiction" is broadly defined so that it can refer to speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, alternative history or even speculative documentary/evolution), fiction set in the real world or even fiction set in your life with you as the main character.
We can also discuss general issues about worldbuilding, creating characters and plots here, as well as how to actually write such stuff.
I'll start with my own work of fiction. It is an original fiction (which means I have done the worldbuilding) and it is a science fiction story.
The basic plot:
Our hero (a normal Earthling) gets captured by a mysterious creature whose nature and motives will be revealed later and sent to an alien planet. There, three very weird looking aliens find him who later become his friends and want to help him to send him back to Earth. One of the three is an exobiologist and wants to investigate life on Earth. Because the wormhole with which our hero got to the planet got destroyed, it looks like he will have to stay with his alien friends. It turns out that there is a whole network of wormholes and on their adventures, they find new friends and have to face hazards like other civilizations.
carnivoraforum.com/blog/entry/3838574/300072/
As you may know, science fiction settings can be classified by their hardness, where "soft" means close to fantasy, while "hard" means closer to reality.
My setting falls somewhere in the middle.
It includes no evolved humanoid aliens, nor aliens with obvious homologies to Earth life. However, the psychology of the aliens is not so alien because some aliens are in the main cast.
It includes no literal faster-than-light travel, but it includes wormholes which allow convenient interstellar travel (without which no space opera could operate).
I include no naval-analogy space battles, but there are still some space battles which are not terribly realistic.
I try to be cautious with "nanobots" (industrial robots scaled down to the nanoscale) because they are utter nonsense and a story breaker power (altering the atomic structure of everything removes literally any obstacles), yet nanotechnology still features in the story (I do avoid stuff like pico- or femtotechnology). Let's put it that way, molecular nanotechnology (i.e. protein-analogy machines) features in the setting and the technology can also perform some engineering feats.
I try to keep it as hard as a transhumanist space opera can be.
Unsolved problems:
How do I write non-human characters with believable psychologies (they don't even have the same senses as humans, as some aliens are deaf, others are blind in my setting), while keeping them actual characters rather than inscrutable aliens? Also, I need to develop actually alien cultures.
How can I let my heroes defeat opponents which vastly overpower them?
What sort of powers are consistent with the setting, useful and no story breakers (i.e. make interesting battles)?
Wow, most of the OP is now my own stuff.
Feel free to add yours as well.
We can also discuss general issues about worldbuilding, creating characters and plots here, as well as how to actually write such stuff.
I'll start with my own work of fiction. It is an original fiction (which means I have done the worldbuilding) and it is a science fiction story.
The basic plot:
Our hero (a normal Earthling) gets captured by a mysterious creature whose nature and motives will be revealed later and sent to an alien planet. There, three very weird looking aliens find him who later become his friends and want to help him to send him back to Earth. One of the three is an exobiologist and wants to investigate life on Earth. Because the wormhole with which our hero got to the planet got destroyed, it looks like he will have to stay with his alien friends. It turns out that there is a whole network of wormholes and on their adventures, they find new friends and have to face hazards like other civilizations.
carnivoraforum.com/blog/entry/3838574/300072/
As you may know, science fiction settings can be classified by their hardness, where "soft" means close to fantasy, while "hard" means closer to reality.
My setting falls somewhere in the middle.
It includes no evolved humanoid aliens, nor aliens with obvious homologies to Earth life. However, the psychology of the aliens is not so alien because some aliens are in the main cast.
It includes no literal faster-than-light travel, but it includes wormholes which allow convenient interstellar travel (without which no space opera could operate).
I include no naval-analogy space battles, but there are still some space battles which are not terribly realistic.
I try to be cautious with "nanobots" (industrial robots scaled down to the nanoscale) because they are utter nonsense and a story breaker power (altering the atomic structure of everything removes literally any obstacles), yet nanotechnology still features in the story (I do avoid stuff like pico- or femtotechnology). Let's put it that way, molecular nanotechnology (i.e. protein-analogy machines) features in the setting and the technology can also perform some engineering feats.
I try to keep it as hard as a transhumanist space opera can be.
Unsolved problems:
How do I write non-human characters with believable psychologies (they don't even have the same senses as humans, as some aliens are deaf, others are blind in my setting), while keeping them actual characters rather than inscrutable aliens? Also, I need to develop actually alien cultures.
How can I let my heroes defeat opponents which vastly overpower them?
What sort of powers are consistent with the setting, useful and no story breakers (i.e. make interesting battles)?
Wow, most of the OP is now my own stuff.
Feel free to add yours as well.
