Under the Hood
What's Behind the Story?
Have you ever wondered what's behind the story?
Under the Hood is where we discuss the underlying mechanics, technology, and science that drives my science fiction.
My first love in fiction has always been hard science fiction, with its emphasis on plausible and sensible extrapolations of the effects of imaginable technology or science. Sure, I like fantasy or "soft" science fiction, too; but reading Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement or Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke offers the reader not only an exercise in imagination, but a real education in logical thinking and an introduction to viable science and technology, too. I'm the kind of guy who loves to read those footnotes and end notes that writers so rarely include to amplify and explain their science.
Of course, most readers don't enjoy reading Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation as I tell my tale. But as the writer, I have to know. For most of my stories, I generate about a one-to-one volume of notes on the underlying technologies and background: sketches, equations, citations, and whatnot to explain to myself how my story works. Naturally, I trim most of these elements away from each story, leaving only those few I feel are absolutely essential to the reader.
Here in the Under the Hood section, I'll share my view of my own stories' mechanics. For each story, I'll provide a brief summary of some key features:
Where Have We Seen It Before: Here I'll credit similar ideas in other writers' work.
Gimmes: Sometimes to make the setting or the plot work, a writer just has to knuckle under and allow in some element of technology or background detail for which there is just no explanation. The most common one seen in SF stories, without doubt, is FTL travel. Sometimes it's language - it just so happens the Arcturians speak an exact parallel version of English, only with a faint Russian accent and all of their names begin with the letter "Q." I try to avoid these, but some may be inevitable and I'm not afraid to call myself out on using them.
Enabling Technologies: Generally, some explicable technology or scientific discovery is essential to the plot of a real SF story. In this section, I'll provide some of my notes and an occasional citation to the key technologies that underpin my work.
Plot Holes: I try to avoid having inexplicable oversights or failures of plot in my narratives, but, as with "gimmes," I sometimes can't avoid it. Let me know if you spot any. Here are the ones I've caught myself. Either I chose to ignore them for the sake of the narrative, or I have a valid explanation - but was forced to cut it out during the editing process.
Under the Hood is where we discuss the underlying mechanics, technology, and science that drives my science fiction.
My first love in fiction has always been hard science fiction, with its emphasis on plausible and sensible extrapolations of the effects of imaginable technology or science. Sure, I like fantasy or "soft" science fiction, too; but reading Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement or Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke offers the reader not only an exercise in imagination, but a real education in logical thinking and an introduction to viable science and technology, too. I'm the kind of guy who loves to read those footnotes and end notes that writers so rarely include to amplify and explain their science.
Of course, most readers don't enjoy reading Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation as I tell my tale. But as the writer, I have to know. For most of my stories, I generate about a one-to-one volume of notes on the underlying technologies and background: sketches, equations, citations, and whatnot to explain to myself how my story works. Naturally, I trim most of these elements away from each story, leaving only those few I feel are absolutely essential to the reader.
Here in the Under the Hood section, I'll share my view of my own stories' mechanics. For each story, I'll provide a brief summary of some key features:
Where Have We Seen It Before: Here I'll credit similar ideas in other writers' work.
Gimmes: Sometimes to make the setting or the plot work, a writer just has to knuckle under and allow in some element of technology or background detail for which there is just no explanation. The most common one seen in SF stories, without doubt, is FTL travel. Sometimes it's language - it just so happens the Arcturians speak an exact parallel version of English, only with a faint Russian accent and all of their names begin with the letter "Q." I try to avoid these, but some may be inevitable and I'm not afraid to call myself out on using them.
Enabling Technologies: Generally, some explicable technology or scientific discovery is essential to the plot of a real SF story. In this section, I'll provide some of my notes and an occasional citation to the key technologies that underpin my work.
Plot Holes: I try to avoid having inexplicable oversights or failures of plot in my narratives, but, as with "gimmes," I sometimes can't avoid it. Let me know if you spot any. Here are the ones I've caught myself. Either I chose to ignore them for the sake of the narrative, or I have a valid explanation - but was forced to cut it out during the editing process.