- How deviant from reality is this going to be? The more different it is, the more you will have to explain. Obliterating the usual “rules” can be fascinating but hard to follow
- How similar to us is an alien culture?
- Human systems are founded on religious beliefs (magic, gods, goddesses, God). What role does religion play in the fictional society? How is moral development affected? What is the foundation of the society? How do ideologies affect how they react to or treat other people?
- Map-making can be helpful in creating a new world (town, city, country). Spatial understanding of where people are to the natural world.
- Different/skewed versions of well-known stories/fairy tales
- Logic flaws make unhappy readers (ex: how does a sparkly vampire impregnate a girl if he doesn’t even have blood flow to get it up).
- “It works, because…” Make it believable. Explain why it’s possible.
- Nature is full of bizarre, fascinating things—good source for inspiration/ideas
- Environment is a huge determinant of people’s behavior (ex: more crime during heat, less crime/violence when women and children are present).
- Get inspiration from real news stories/feeds.
- Novel-writing tips: http://storyfix.com/
- Author/reader networking: http://redroom.com/
- Write FIRST, edit later. Don’t edit while you’re writing. Go back to edit after you’redone.
- Nowadays sci-fi fans demand technical accuracy.
- Only explain enough to take away questions (have someone else read it and find out if they feel distracted from the story because they’re wondering how something works).
- No one ever explains how a flux capacitor actually works, but just the mention of it is enough to ground the story
- When you’re making up names/words, stay consistent with the structure of the language
- Tactile experiences give things more credibility (acting out a story to a friend as opposed to just telling it to them).
- Don’t do a big information dump—“tease” it out a little at a time.
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