: Re: Sci-fi change: Too much or Not enough I am in the process of editing a short story. It is science fiction of the "if this goes on" kind: I take a social trend I see, and paint its event

What you can make out from these two contradictory statements is that the description of the progression of events from the present to the point where the story takes place might not be described well enough.

You might leave too many events open to interpretation or expect the reader to take certain developments as self-evident when they are not. So each reader fills in the blanks based on their own personal biases and comes to the conclusion that your end-result contradicts what they believe to be true.

How would you fix that issue?

Spend more time on describing the timeline of events that transpired
Spend more time on making sure that the events you describe are plausible
Spend more time on convincing the reader that you are correct by giving them the impression that you did your research

Also, be aware of the difficulty to overcome cognitive dissonance in your readers. If your work contradicts certain world-views your reader already believes to be true (even if they are not), then you will have a very hard time to convince them that you are right and they are wrong. You will have a hard time finding a socialist who wouldn't nitpick Atlas Shrugged to death or a neoliberal who wouldn't considers Jennifer Government to be a ridiculous overstatement.

Load Full (0)

: How do I present a future free of gender stereotypes without being jarring or overpowering the narrative? My story takes place in a relatively near future setting where gender stereotypes have

@Tiffany377

Load Full 14 Comments

: Is there a prefix for 'old'? I am writing a sci-fi novel in which humanity has struggled to survive in colonies throughout the solar system after the Earth becomes uninhabitable. I am writing

@Tiffany377

Load Full 0 Comments

: Iambs or Trochees in songwriting According to this website, English speakers prefer to hear iambs rather than trochees. We naturally bias our readings toward iambs. However, in my reading about

@Tiffany377

Load Full 1 Comments

: Picture the following situation: a passenger aircraft nearly 300 people on board suffers a catastrophic failure, making the plane almost unflyable. The flight crew are struggling to maintain control,

: Re: Sci-fi change: Too much or Not enough I am in the process of editing a short story. It is science fiction of the "if this goes on" kind: I take a social trend I see, and paint its event

More posts by @Tiffany377

: How do I present a future free of gender stereotypes without being jarring or overpowering the narrative? My story takes place in a relatively near future setting where gender stereotypes have

: Is there a prefix for 'old'? I am writing a sci-fi novel in which humanity has struggled to survive in colonies throughout the solar system after the Earth becomes uninhabitable. I am writing

: Iambs or Trochees in songwriting According to this website, English speakers prefer to hear iambs rather than trochees. We naturally bias our readings toward iambs. However, in my reading about

: Picture the following situation: a passenger aircraft nearly 300 people on board suffers a catastrophic failure, making the plane almost unflyable. The flight crew are struggling to maintain control,

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top