Book Review #10 How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card

[amergina]

Book: How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy Author: Orson Scott Card 140 Pages Short Thoughts: An old-y but a good-y. The copy I have (from 1990) is a bit outdated, but all but the last chapter still ring true, and the last chapter still has useful advice on getting published.

I read bought and read this book at some point while I was still at CMU, so 15 or so years ago. It's interesting to read it again, just from the aspect of how much the genre has changed and how much publishing has changed. In 1990, there was no Web. There were not e-mail submissions, or PODs or Amazon or Blogs...

... But, that doesn't mean the whole book is obsolete. Oh no.

I'm going to be concentrating on what Card says about writing Fantasy. The book also has a lot of good info about Science Fiction, such as different types of space flight, et all, but as I am writing fantasy, I took notes on the pertinent info. I'm also going to put comments I have in italics

In the first chapter, Card talks about the boundaries in the genres, but around that, he mentions a few good pieces of writing advice:

-If you write competently and if your story has spark, you'll sell it, no matter what you write. This is a piece of advice that is repeated again and again in the industry in many ways. The best way to get published is to write a good story well.

-You should read your genre. (Which is also another piece of advice I hear all the time. I couple it with "You should read outside your genre" and just read a lot.)

-A good fantasy limits the magic that is possible. This is another piece of advice that I've heard in many ways. Card touches on it in more depth later.

Card also states that while SF/F is a publishing category with boundaries, within the genre you have a lot of freedom to write. Perhaps more than in other genres. He tries for a broad definition of Science Fiction as: If the story is set in a universe with the same rules as ours, it's Science Fiction, and if not, it's fantasy.

The second chapter is on World Creation. He starts out mentioning that it takes a while for ideas to ripen, but even then, they're not stories... they're story ideas. Outlines, an immediate draft, maps, world building are all ways to get the idea out on paper to see if it will work as a story.

The talk of ideas ripening makes a lot of sense to me. The germ of my thesis novel was a dream I had 12 years ago of a woman in a park being attacked by large black wolves and rescued by a sword-wielding man. In the dream, I knew it was present day. It's gone through a lot of changes on the way to being this novel. I have early drafts where my main character (now) doesn't even exist, and where the plot was completely different. They didn't work. Somewhere along the line, I gathered up bits and pieces of other ideas and they all melded into a cohesive set of characters and a plot. That's pretty much what this chapter talks about... getting the bits and pieces together.

This is where Card talks more about the rules of magic. You don't want the reader thinking anything can happen... it ruins the story. You need to set up limitations, and then follow them. If you break your rules, the readers will be disappointed. It's a cheap way out. When you set up rules, Card says, you gain more plot possibilities, as you have more to work around. This is a good point that he makes, and it's not just one for SF/F. Part of what makes a story a story is working within the world the story is in, including all the elements of that world. If your character's car breaks down, and he need to get somewhere, all sorts of options open up. What will he do, who will he meet? It's more interesting than him just driving there.

Card talks about inventing the past, knowing the history of your world, the communities within it, the biographies of your characters. You may never show even half of this information to the reader, but it gives you the ability to create a rich world in which to tell your story.

One of the things I'm noticing about my own story is that my character Essen is much better developed than my character Silvia. Part of this is because I made the mistake of thinking I could do less work on her because she's human (Essen is not), so I don't have her history as thought out. It shows in the writing. It's one of the things (that I feel that) I need to improve next semester.

For the next part of world creation, Card talks about languages. One bit of advice I have tired to follow from the first time I read this book: You don't need to create a new language.

Even though my characters speak two tongues, the whole book is in English. I've not the time nor the inclination to be a linguist. JRR, I am not. I've tried to indicate... when it's important... which language is being spoken. Also, one uses gestures and tonality a bit more than the other. I don't know how successful I've been and I'll probably have to revisit the ideas once the whole story is written.

Card also cautions against names and words that are unpronounceable. No characters names Xrnwbt, please.

The other two bits of advice he gives on world creation are to get your facts right. It doesn't hurt to know how to take care of horses if you're character's going to be riding around on one, which leads to the next bit of advice: You can never know too much.

The third chapter is on Story Creation.

Card brings up ideas again and cautions that sometimes ideas change in the course of story creation. In fact, you must be willing to change your ideas during the creation process.

This has certainly happened to me in my story... good guys have turned not so good, on character lost a sibling along the way *and* changed sex... a lot of furniture got rearranged while coming up with the story.

The first thing to know is whose story it is. Who hurts the most? Who has the power and freedom to act?

The protagonist is the character you want to succeed. It is *not* always the main character.

From what viewpoint do we see the story? Is there more than one viewpoint character?

In my thesis novel, it was not until I sat down to think about how to talk to my mentor about my novel (the night before I talked to him) that I realized that the story I was writing was Essen's. I had always assumed it was Silvia's. Silvia and Essen do trade off being viewpoint characters. While she is an important part of the story, it's more about how Essen's life changes than about Silvia's.

Card then talks about where the story begins and ends. The myth of a story is always large than the story itself. There are events that play into what happens in the story, and there are repercussions to the world after the end of the story. These are good things for the author to know, but the reader doesn't need to know them. The story should start with the beginning that sets up the end. That is, the beginning of the story should asked the questions that are answered at the end of the story.

He dislikes prologues because they keep the story from starting where it should begin.

I've really only seen one recent use of a prologue that worked for me... and that was in Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. It wasn't one of those "The world has changed..." type things. It was viewing an event right before the story that marginally plays into the events in the story later, but gives us a really good feel of the world and the issues involved. In fact, I wouldn't think it *was* a prologue, except that the POV is from a character that we never see again.

The beginning should create tension in the reader that drives them to read to the end and the ending should satisfy the desire piqued at the beginning.

Of course, you can't lay all your tension onto the beginning, then neglect it later, but what Card says is important. Beginnings should make the reader want to reach the end. The middle should increase that desire, not decrease it. The ending should satisfy the desire.

Card then talks about four types of stories, using the acronym MICE:

Milieu story - A story that is more about the place than anything else. The main character is an outsider who comes to this place, sees and experiences things and is transformed by what he sees and experiences. He then returns from whence he came a different man

Idea story - A story about the process of finding new information. The story starts with a question being raised and then works toward answering that question (i.e., a mystery.)

Character story - A story that revolves around the transformation of a character and the community that matter to him. Card notes that even if you are not writing a character story, good characterization is important in *all* stories.

Event story - Something is wrong with the world, world out of order. The story is of returning order to the world and ends when the problem is resolved and order is restored.

Card suggests only using idea stories when the characters are searching for the answers to question, not the reader or the writer.

My thesis novel, indeed, the majority of what I have ever written, seem to be character stories.

The fourth chapter of the book is on writing well. Card skip talking about plot, as he wrote an entire book on it. Rather, he focuses on elements of writing well that are especially useful for SF/F.

Dealing with exposition is a balancing act between revealing too much information at once and not revealing enough. Either way, you end up with bored and confused readers.

A lot of SF/F uses abeyance. Hooks the reader with a tidbit of information that the characters know, then explains it later. This can confuse non-genre readers, but has been used in the genre a lot as a way not to dump information onto the reader.

Card then talks about the use of language and suggests that you use the correct prose for the characters and the story. If the characters are of a certain rank, they will talk a certain way. Also, the prose in a comedy will be quite different than one in a drama.

He cautions on the use of profanity and vulgarity.

Though, I think this is more common in SF/F now than 18 years ago. However, I did have an issue with the constant use of vulgarities in The Lies of Locke Lamora. I think it can be overdone. It's one of the things I'll revisit before my final draft... whether I need those few shits and fucks in there. Probably not.

The last chapter is on the Business of writing This is probably the chapter that has changed the most. 18 years ago, many publishers accepted unsolicited manuscripts, so you didn't need an agent. Today, its probably better if you get one *first*. 18 years ago, e-mail queries were unheard of, so there's nothing in there. Also, his query letter is not up to what people expect today.

But there are things that still are true:

Send out today the best work you are capable of producing right now. That is, don't sit on your stories once they're to an acceptable stage. Get them out and start new stories.

Submit to magazines or Writers of the Future or anthologies. Subscribe to Locus.

He talks about fanzines, but I think these have all become on-line magazines.

Writers have two self-images at the same time: The story I am writing is the greatest thing ever! and The story I am writing is utter crap!

Glad that's normal

If you do get a book offer from a publisher and you don't have an agent, get one before signing.

Reading fees - stay away from agents who charge. The updated version of this, I've found, is that money always should flow to the author. Stay away from publishers who accept you and then want money from you. It's a lot easier for the new author to be taken for a ride today, due to the internet.

Classes and workshops are good things to go to, especially since deadlines make you write.

This has been very true of the monthly deadlines for my master's thesis.

Card talks about Clarion and Clarion West. These are six-week long intensive writer bootcamps.

I've heard awesome things about them, and Oddessy, but I think Seton Hill's WPF Masters program works better for people who can't get more than two weeks off a year from work. And you get a degree at the end. And a hood.

Don't give up your day job.

Go to conventions.

A lot of what Card writes comes off as common sense. It did back when I first read the book, and does now. I've internalized a lot of it already. I just need to work on other bits.