Science fiction stories can take place at any time period and in various locations; the future, a different planet, an alternate timeline, parallel universe, in the future or the past.
Science fiction and its sub-genres make up around 5% of all published books, making it one of the most popular genres.
Due to its complexity as a genre, it can be challenging to write a sci-fi book. That’s why we created this guide. Here are four simple steps you can follow if you want to write a sensational sci-fi novel.
How to Start a Sci Fi Story
Science fiction novels are part of the speculative fiction genre where the story departs from reality. In the case of science fiction, technology is advanced beyond what we have in the modern day.
Science fiction ranges from very hard science fiction where everything is explained using current math and physics understanding to soft science fiction where not a lot is explained, and the technology is almost like magic.
Be careful not to confuse science fiction with fantasy, even though they may be shelved together. Dragons are iconic creatures of the fantasy genre. However, if your dragon is mechanical or was created using bio-engineering techniques unavailable today, or they are creatures on another planet that are just similar in some way to the fairytale dragon, then you have a science fiction story.
Determining where on the spectrum of hard to soft science you plan to write is one of the most important decisions you will make when writing a science fiction novel. This is a part of your world building.
Science Fiction novels also generally are used to make a commentary on current social conventions of humanity and explore what other possibilities exist for creating a civilization. This could include interactions between alien species or dystopian governments.
4 Steps For Science Fiction Writing
First, these steps are given in a specific order, but just like an outline, they are only for you as the author to get your ideas down on paper. Allow your creativity to flow and do these as the inspiration hits you, but don’t spend too long on any one step and do spend time on each of them.
Step 1: Outlining the Plot
While science fiction relies heavily on the setting aspects and world building, in order to have a strongly structured book that readers will love, Fictionary suggests beginning your novel writing journey with a bare outline.
The Fictionary outline isn’t something to fear, and it isn’t something to lock you in and ruin your creativity. It is merely the basic action of your main scenes.
Genre itself is a tricky word with a variety of definitions. The primary genre science fiction explains more what the setting of your story will be like, whereas the outline will show what your story is about.
But there are also sub-genres to consider.
Are you writing an action story where the hero is going to save the universe, a romance where two different alien species fall in love, or a horror where an alien species slowly kills the members of another? What are the “what ifs” of your story world? Consider which themes and sub-genres you wish to explore.
Knowing the main action of your story and at least the five story arc scenes, inciting incident, plot point one, middle plot point, plot point two, and the climax, will guarantee that your plot line will be strong enough to build trust with your readers.
Step 2: World Building the Setting
World building is definitely one of the most important aspects of writing science fiction. Just like fantasy, science fiction readers read to discover and immerse themselves into a new world, different yet similar to their own. A place and time where fantastical things can happen, and the main characters can achieve great things.
Decide when your story takes place. You can have a science fiction story take place in the distant future, like a dystopian novel or space operas. Or it can take place in the past where aliens came to earth and left behind the Egyptian pyramids. Or maybe it is happening in the current time involving scientific research gone too far or in places hidden behind the scenes (think Men in Black). Or it could be in an alternate timeline.
Consider where your story takes place. Is it on earth, the moon, another planet, in a spaceship, etc.? This allows you to be creative by describing the surface of a planet, what the spaceships might look like inside and out, and the weather of space or various planets.
Develop the technology of your world. Think about how your characters communicate, move about, or eat. What kind of economic, social, religious, lingual, and governmental systems do they have and how has that affected the current technology they have?
Step 3: Creating Unforgettable Characters
Who are the characters that inhabit your world/s? Consider developing different species, races, and cultures of peoples to give your world depth. Describe them using eye color, skin color or texture, environment they can survive, hair or no hair, appendages, etc. You can be more creative when it comes to aliens and possible mutations of people in the future.
Consider using character archetypes to fill out your cast. Decide whether your characters are dynamic or static. Think about the desires of your characters and their flaws, which are keeping them from achieving their goals. This is especially important for your main character or characters.
Knowing a character’s goal and motivations for achieving said goal are imperative in creating sympathy and/or empathy in readers. As readers become attached to your characters, the stakes begin to matter, and your reader will root for your characters to get their heart’s desire.
Some authors like to fill out character sheets or do character interviews to get to know who their characters are and how they would behave or speak before they begin writing. Other authors get to know these things about their characters as they write. Either way, consider creating a story vault to keep track of these things about your characters and other world building ideas.
Step 4: Writing Your Great Science Fiction Novel
Once you have a good grasp of your world, plot, and characters, start writing. Do what works for you. You can make a more detailed outline including lead-up and reaction scenes, plus plot necessary scenes and science fiction trope scenes.
You can go into depth using the Fictionary scene outline, to outline each scene before or as you write. Or you can just start writing and see where your creativity takes you. You may even use a combination of these.
Some authors write to a schedule, and some write when they are free. Some authors write with the screen and font color the same in order to avoid getting distracted by their prose. Consider your point of view strategy and protagonist strategy before and during the writing process. It is okay for these to change as you come to understand your story better.
The point is to write the story. No amount of world building will get your story written and published unless you stop world building at some point and knuckle down to write the draft.
Don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be pretty at this point. That’s what the Fictionary StoryTeller or StoryCoach software and Fictionary StoryCoach editors are for. Once you have a draft, then you have something that can be molded and shaped through editing, then revising, into something that your readers will search the galaxy for!
Modern audiences have a short attention span, so start with a great opening line, scene, and chapter to hook your reader as fast as possible. And keep them hooked by opening questions throughout your novel. However, you must also build trust with your reader by answering questions throughout your novel. The bigger the question, the longer you can go without answering it.
Tips For Writing Science Fiction
- Research: Depending on your choices for hard/soft science, the setting of planets and spaceships, and other world building ideas will determine how much research you will need to do to make your story believable to readers. Consider how much you need to know about the physics of wormholes, the process of splicing DNA, or weather when there are multiple suns, moons, or rings. Root your ideas in real science and history.
- Create Balance: Remember that your story needs a balance between plot, setting, and characters. If you have an immersive science fiction setting, but your characters or plot line are weak, the story may not sell. And the same for any of the other areas. Create an immersive world with compelling characters acting out a strong plot and you’ll have a winner.
- Ask Questions: Science fiction novels strongly rely on asking questions and commenting on current standards. Pick an issue or question and show both the pros and cons of what might happen with the change. Different cultures would have different moralistic standards.
- Maintain Consistency: Keep the rules of your world and technology consistent and explain them just as much as you need to in order to make it believable for your reader.
- Avoid Info Dumping: As much as readers love your world building, too much at a time is called info dumping. To avoid this, alternate a few sentences of world building with plot and character. Keeping what the reader is learning about the world and characters focused on the plot will also help.
- Consider Tropes: Think about the length of your novel and what subplots or science fiction tropes you wish to include that make the most sense for your story. Science fiction tropes include space exploration, tech showing a glimpse of the future, tech allowing for time travel, the world/universe/species/etc. is in danger, evil and good empire battles, aliens invade earth or humans invade another planet to settle or steal resources. Or consider what fresh takes you might make on these or new plots you design.