22 March 2011
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Writing Science Fiction
What would happen if all the water in the world dried up? A very different world would emerge, peopled by folk with different priorities and cultures.The 'dry world' scenario is just the kind of thing that Lazette Gifford invites her readers to imagine as she guides them through the business of world building – the process of creating new and different worlds for science fiction projects.
The imaginary world that you build could be this one in, say, a thousand years time or it could be set on a different planet with an environment we can only imagine. Its inhabitants might experience weightlessness, or have to survive in temperatures of minus 200 centigrade.
Part of the fun of creating your own new world is that you have to create both physical factors – such as gravity, temperature, or whatever – but also create a culture for its peoples. If your science fiction is well created, the environment will dictate culture which in turn will define character. So setting and characterisation become entwined.
All this, and more, is explained as both the skill and the enjoyment of writing for the genre in Lazette’s Writing Science Fiction. And you are even shown how to market your creation once you have written it.