: Re: Spiritual elements in a science-fiction novel Does using unexplained spiritual elements (soul, "spiritual"/non-physical beings, afterlife, God, etc.) in a story with a futuristic setting make it science

Sometimes, it all comes down to a very precise answer to a very simple question: Are you dealing with magic or advanced abilities that transcend the current human understanding of the universe?

Some people will say that there's no difference between those two things. For such people, it's all fantasy, end of story. However, those people make up a fairly small percentage of the science fiction community.

There has been a long history, in science fiction, of elements that are beyond our current understanding of the laws of the universe. Some are relatively minor (the movie Dreamscape) while some have been quite dramatic (the Q in Star Trek, or the Vorlons in Babylon 5).

On the other hand, there have been stories with magical and religious elements that still had the look and feel of science fiction (Star Wars, and the Warlock of Gramarye books by Christopher Stashef). Some people consider them fantasy, some don't. Does it really matter?

In the end, I think the most important thing is to focus on writing a good story. Let people argue about labeling it once it's been printed.

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: Re: Spiritual elements in a science-fiction novel Does using unexplained spiritual elements (soul, "spiritual"/non-physical beings, afterlife, God, etc.) in a story with a futuristic setting make it science

More posts by @Alves689

: Faith, Hope and Love as the keys to victory in an action-adventure novel? I'm at the outline stage of my novel writing. It is pretty straightforward to think of an action-adventure novel's victory

: Should you specify camera action in a film script? Some scripts I read specify the exact camera angle of every shot-- where the camera starts, what we see, how it will move during the scene.

: Should it be a Short Story or Full Story I asked Three questions in another question. To break it up, I am going to ask one which I still would like more feedback on. NOTE: I was told

: How do authors gain strong familiarity with archaic and extremely rare words? I keep thinking about this because I've lately been reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, and it's just ridiculous.

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