| Author | : George Ochoa |
| Publisher | : Writer's Digest Books |
| Total Pages | : 324 |
| Release | : 1993 |
| Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
| ISBN | : 9780898795363 |
To hold the interest of knowledgeable sci-fi readers, a writer the genre must stay within certain fuzzy boundaries of scientific belief. This volume provides some of the scientific detail that will make a writer's adventures compelling and consistent with current views of the universe. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
| Author | : Charles Yu |
| Publisher | : Knopf |
| Total Pages | : 257 |
| Release | : 2010-09-07 |
| Genre | : Fiction |
| ISBN | : 0307379884 |
This enhanced eBook includes video, audio, photographic, and linked content, as well as a bonus short story. Hear TAMMY talk. Learn the origins of Minor Universe 31. See the TM-31. Take a trip in it. Photos and illustrations appear as hyperlinked endnotes. Video and audio are embedded directly in text. *Video and audio may not play on all readers. Check your user manual for details. National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Award winner Charles Yu delivers his debut novel, a razor-sharp, ridiculously funny, and utterly touching story of a son searching for his father . . . through quantum space–time. Minor Universe 31 is a vast story-space on the outskirts of fiction, where paradox fluctuates like the stock market, lonely sexbots beckon failed protagonists, and time travel is serious business. Every day, people get into time machines and try to do the one thing they should never do: change the past. That’s where Charles Yu, time travel technician—part counselor, part gadget repair man—steps in. He helps save people from themselves. Literally. When he’s not taking client calls or consoling his boss, Phil, who could really use an upgrade, Yu visits his mother (stuck in a one-hour cycle of time, she makes dinner over and over and over) and searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished. Accompanied by TAMMY, an operating system with low self-esteem, and Ed, a nonexistent but ontologically valid dog, Yu sets out, and back, and beyond, in order to find the one day where he and his father can meet in memory. He learns that the key may be found in a book he got from his future self. It’s called How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, and he’s the author. And somewhere inside it is the information that could help him—in fact it may even save his life. Wildly new and adventurous, Yu’s debut is certain to send shock waves of wonder through literary space–time.
| Author | : Philip Athans |
| Publisher | : Adams Media |
| Total Pages | : 256 |
| Release | : 2010-07-18 |
| Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
| ISBN | : 1440501459 |
Science fiction and fantasy is one of the most challenging—and rewarding—genres to write. But with New York Times bestselling author Philip Athans and fantasy giant R. A. Salvatore at your side, you’ll create worlds that draw your readers in—and keep them reading! Drawing on his years of experience as one of the most acclaimed professionals in publishing, Wizards of the Coast editor Athans explains how to set your novel apart and break into this lucrative field. From devising clever plots and building complex characters to inventing original technologies and crafting alien civilizations, Athans gives you the techniques you need to write strong, saleable narratives. Athans applies all of these critical lessons together in an unprecedented deconstruction of a never-before-published tale by the one and only R. A. Salvatore! There are books on writing science fiction and fantasy, and then there’s this book—the only one you need to create strange, wonderful worlds for your own universe of readers.
| Author | : Glenn Yeffeth |
| Publisher | : BenBella Books |
| Total Pages | : 211 |
| Release | : 2005-03-11 |
| Genre | : Literary Criticism |
| ISBN | : 1932100563 |
Every aspect of the science fiction classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is analyzed in a variety of quirky ways in this collection of essays. Topics include the logistics of the restaurant at the end of the universe, how the Internet is creating the real Hitchhiker's Guide, an assessment of Vogon poetry, and an analysis of computing. The essays are written by both science fiction greats, such as Cory Doctorow, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Stephen Baxter, Jacqueline Carey, and Alastair Reynolds, and up-and-coming writers.
| Author | : Stanley Schmidt |
| Publisher | : |
| Total Pages | : 248 |
| Release | : 1995 |
| Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
| ISBN | : |
A thoughtful, clear and utterly fascinating reference, this book is absolutely vital to writers who want to put extraterrestrial life-forms in their novels and stories.
| Author | : Cory Doctorow |
| Publisher | : |
| Total Pages | : 360 |
| Release | : 2000 |
| Genre | : Business & Economics |
| ISBN | : 9780028639185 |
Offers advice on how to get a science fiction novel or short story published, including tips on the basic elements of a work of science fiction to getting an agent, and signing a contract.
| Author | : Orson Scott Card |
| Publisher | : Penguin |
| Total Pages | : 418 |
| Release | : 2013-09-30 |
| Genre | : Language Arts & Disciplines |
| ISBN | : 1599631407 |
Do you envision celestial cities in distant, fantastic worlds? Do you dream of mythical beasts and gallant quests in exotic kingdoms? If you have ever wanted to write the next great fantasy or science fiction story, this all-in-one comprehensive book will show you how. Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction is full of advice from master authors offering definitive instructions on world building, character creation, and storytelling in the many styles and possibilities available to writers of speculative fiction. Combining two Writer's Digest classics, Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy and The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, along with two new selections from award-winning science fiction and fantasy authors Philip Athans and Jay Lake, this new book provides the best of all worlds. You'll discover: • How to build, populate, and dramatize fantastic new worlds. • How to develop dynamic and meaningful themes that will expand the cannon of sci-fi and fantasy storytelling. • Exciting subgenres such as steampunk, as well as new developments in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. • How to imbue your tales with historically accurate information about world cultures, legends, folklore, and religions. • Detailed descriptions of magic rituals, fantastic weapons of war, clothing and armor, and otherworldly beasts such as orcs, giants, elves, and more. • How societies, villages, and castles were constructed and operate on a day-to-day basis. • Astounding methods of interstellar travel, the rules of starflight, and the realities and myths of scientific exploration. • How to generate new ideas and graft them to the most popular themes and plot devices in sci-fi and fantasy writing. The boundaries of your imagination are infinite, but to create credible and thrilling fiction, you must ground your stories in rules, facts, and accurate ideas. Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction will guide you through the complex and compelling universe of fantasy and science fiction writing and help you unleash your stories on the next generation of readers and fans.
| Author | : Paul J. Nahin |
| Publisher | : JHU Press |
| Total Pages | : 222 |
| Release | : 2011-04-01 |
| Genre | : Literary Criticism |
| ISBN | : 1421401207 |
From H.G. Wells to Isaac Asimov to Ursula K. Le Guin, time travel has long been a favorite topic and plot device in tales of science fiction and fantasy. But as any true SF fan knows, astounding stories about traversing alternate universes and swimming the tides of time demand plausible science. That’s just what Paul J. Nahin’s guide provides. An engineer, physicist, and published science fiction writer, Nahin is uniquely qualified to explain the ins and outs of how to spin such complex theories as worm holes, singularity, and relativity into scientifically sound fiction. First published in 1997, this fast-paced book discusses the common and not-so-common time-travel devices science fiction writers have used over the years, assesses which would theoretically work and which would not, and provides scientific insight inventive authors can use to find their own way forward or backward in time. From hyperspace and faster-than-light travel to causal loops and the uncertainty principle and beyond, Nahin’s equation-free romp across time will help writers send their characters to the past or future in an entertaining, logical, and scientific way. If you ever wanted to set up the latest and greatest grandfather paradox—or just wanted to know if the time-bending events in the latest pulp you read could ever happen—then this book is for you.
| Author | : Judith Simpson |
| Publisher | : iUniverse |
| Total Pages | : 218 |
| Release | : 2001-08 |
| Genre | : Education |
| ISBN | : 0595197914 |
So, you want to write a novel? Your character is demanding to be let out of your head and be put down on paper! How do you write a story that sells? Writing good fiction is more than having a great story in your head. It is creating characters that live and breathe and plots that grip the reader. It is creating a setting that is real to your readers, dialogue that sparkles, and pacing that drives the story forward. It is action scenes that put the reader, sweaty palmed, in the middle of it all, and love scenes that melt the reader’s heart. You need to learn the art of crafting a story. How do you get your story published? Foundations of Fiction takes you step by step through the process of finding an agent or publisher, and creating a compelling synopsis. All writers serve an apprenticeship as they learn their craft, but learning by trial and error is frustrating and tedious. Foundations of Fiction covers all of the nitty-gritty techniques of fiction writing. This how-to book, written by an author who has been there and done that, is your foremost source for creating a story that sells!
