Author: avadel
Requester: quaint_elle
Topic: Writing Tips
Fair warning—we don't write a lot of science fiction, and what we do tends to be on the softer side. However, we have read a lot of sci-fi, and it has a lot of overlap with fantasy (even when describing). So, while this article will be geared toward sci-fi gear specifically, the principles can also be applied to any element in your story that the audience might have no idea how it works. (;
When designing your device, there are three main world-building elements to keep in mind:
1. How It Looks
2. What it Does
3. Why It Works
When writing, you also need to keep what your readers are expecting in mind. Is your audience children or adults? Are you writing soft sci-fi or hard sci-fi? This is going to affect the way you hit all three of the above points.
But maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's break it down in detail.
Section 1: Designing Your Device
Part 1: How It Looks
This is part one not because it's the first thing you need to do but because it's probably the simplest of the three. Is your gadget palm-sized or plane-sized? Is it a shiny silver or a rusty brass? Does it have levers or buttons? Basic questions like these will help develop the aesthetic to your device and your overall world.
Just like any other description in your story, these choices shouldn't be arbitrary. It's form should have something to do with its function (which we'll talk about below). For instance, it doesn't make sense if you have a device to make you undetectable, but it constantly emits blinking lights and beeping noises. It's appearance might also have something to do with the person who owns it. Is the grip to your laser gun worn and the trigger loose because your MC is a little too fire-happy? You might also consider the person or entity that built the device. What would they want it to be able to do, and how does what it looks like help it do that? What materials did they have in order to develop this technology? Is it state-of-the-art or a knock-off? Does it have a particular company's or inventor's insignia on it? And so on.
If this is an important element to your story, we suggest writing a lot about it—for yourself. Know in detail where it came from and why. We'll talk more about how much of this you should work in during Section 2.
Part 2: What It Does
This is the most important part of the equipment. You should know what it can and cannot do. When world-building, draw out the benefits and drawbacks of your device. When does it fail? When does something else work better? What is it used for? How good is it at that job? How hard is it to use?
Then, you should be able to distill down the device's primary function into a single sentence. You can add extra information about it in your story for sure. However, your reader should be able to easily understand what this thing does—no matter how complicated it is. That's why we suggest a core, one-sentence description.
For instance, consider some real technology. What does a cell phone do? Well, it allows you to communicate with other people who also have one. You could add some information to that (texting, calling, accessing the Internet, etc), as well as a limitation (you have to have their identifying number to contact them), but the phone's base function is communication. Readers need to be able to understand that. If you're not clear in what it does, you'll lose them in the muddle of description and world-building.
Part 3: Why It Works
This is probably the hardest part. Depending on what kind of sci-fi/fantasy you're writing, you might not have to pin down the nitty-gritty details of it. However, even in a completely soft, no-science-attached setting, you as the author need to have some idea of how it does what it does. What rules in your universe allow it to function? Especially if you're writing soft sci-fi, it is okay to make up rules. Just make sure you're consistent. The audience needs to feel like there is a stable reality and that you're not pulling loop-holes out of nowhere.
Questions to consider:
- what powers the device?
- how much power does it take?
- how expensive is it to build/use?
- why does this device do this but other things don't
(in other words, what rules of your world allow it to function)?
- how many people have one of these?
- if everyone that has one uses it, how would that change your world?
- what restrictions are there on your device? what can't it do?
These answers should go hand-in-hand with what it does, but this kind of description is probably more complicated than that. We'll get into how in-depth you should go with explaining it in the next section, but the most important thing is that you know.
For reference, let's consider a cell phone again. A cell phone is powered by a battery, which is powered by a charger, which we plug into a specific outlet someplace that has electricity. It's built to send out and receive signals and things like radio towers and satellites pick up the signals and transmit them to other phones. Our cell phones are really good at sending text, voice, and image, but they can't, say, send anything actually physical anywhere. I'm no scientist, but that's a decent working idea of how phones function. Now I can start writing.
Warning: One of the most important parts of this step is making sure whatever rules that allow this device to work don't break your world if applied in a different way. If someone other than your hero having this device might cause the end-of-the-world-as-your-characters-know-it, you might have a world-building problem. If the same logic could be applied to a similar device but would cause the end-of-the-world-as-your-characters-know-it, you might have a world-building problem. You can fix this in a few ways.
1) You can change the rules of your world to be more specific. You know. So they don't cause the end of the world.
2) You can let your world evolve in your mind. Maybe this device has changed your world. Make that part of your story.
3) Hand-wave it / ignore it. Have your tech wizard say, "No, that only works for the doohickey because [mutter mutter, techno-jargon]." This is the laziest (but easiest) way. We really challenge you to think through the other two before you resort to this.
Section 2: Describing Your Device
We know this is getting long, so we'll keep this part brief. If you've done your homework in the previous section, this stuff should be a little easier. However, how you describe all that glorious world-building detail depends on your audience and what they're expecting. There's two scales to consider.
Scale 1: Children Fic to Adult Fic
This is probably pretty obvious, but if you're writing kid's lit, you don't want a lot of complicated words and jargon. Your mad scientist muttering science-y words to himself to give us some sci-fi flavor might be the exception. You shouldn't rely on it to convey your device's meaning though. Because kid's fic tends to be less complicated, you can get away with more hand-waving.
You can get a bit more complicated with YA and adult fiction. However, just be aware that most books are written on a fifth-grade reading level.
In children fiction, we suggest focusing on the look of the device mostly for the aesthetic. Form and function should be considered, but you don't have to describe every nut-and-bolt in detail. Even in adult lit, if your description is too complicated, people will skim it. Remember to get that golden, one-sentence summary of what the device does (either at the end or beginning of your description; better yet, sandwich it and reinforce your point). In any age group, that summary is the most important bit.
Scale 2: Soft Sci-Fi to Hard Sci-Fi
People who read hard sci-fi expect your descriptions to be scientifically plausible. You'll need to do your research for this genre. Your descriptions will need to be more thought-through and technical. In soft sci-fi, you can make up your rules. Soft sci-fi is basically fantasy with a metal gloss.
When you describe in hard sci-fi, your readers will probably want more of the theory (Step 3 stuff). In soft sci-fi, your readers will probably want more of the function (Step 2 stuff). The rules you give in soft sci-fi are for believability and consistency's sake; not science's. Don't bore your reader with three paragraphs of detailed, technical description. Give us what we need to know.
Final Thoughts
Whatever you're writing, make sure you read a lot of it. You'll get the feel for the genre and your reader's expectations. And as in any description or world-building, sprinkling is better than dumping.
Have any questions? Let us know and we'll get back to you.
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