By Marissa Dunham //
Science fiction (SF) has some of the most unique genre tropes out there, and these craft books will help you discover them.
The imaginative play, tight story structure, and believability in SF make for a compelling read that can be tricky to achieve with the right balance.
Space opera, time travel, dystopian, steampunk, hard science fiction, soft science fiction. These are just a few of the subgenres that remind us of how vast the genre has become and how well we need to understand our own stories.
The books today will go into the details of worldbuilding, genre tropes, dialogue, and other craft elements that make SF an exciting genre to read (and write).
SCIENCE FICTION FACTS
Before there was The Time Machine by H.G. Wells or Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there were early science fiction writers like Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) who published The Blazing World in 1666.
Special thanks to Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) and Orange County Science Fiction Club (OCSF Club) for their contributions in researching this list. If you are looking for answers to craft questions or a community, both are incredible organizations to explore.
Here are the five!
- World-Building: A Writer’s Guide to Constructing Star Systems and Life-Supporting Planets by Stephen L. Gillett
When it comes to worldbuilding and space, there are certain factoids you have to get right in order for your reader to believe that your alien or planetary system is plausible. This book guides you through the basics of astronomy (like rotation and gravity) and science fiction to bolster the ideas you already have about your systems and bring your reader into the thick of it. You might have an easier time finding this book on smaller bookseller sites. (On Amazon, it comes up as World-Building Pod Edition.) The book is roughly 212 pages. - Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writer’s Workshop by Kate Wilhelm
If you are not familiar, the Clarion Workshop is a six-week summer workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers in San Diego, California. The program has been home to writers like Octavia E. Butler. Hugo Award and Locus Award winner Kate Wilhelm is one of the founders of the Clarion Workshop and writes this book as part memoir and part bridge between workshop and the writer, with writing tips in the back. The book is about 200 pages. - New Worlds, Year One: A Writer’s Guide to Worldbuilding by Marie Brennan
The trick to worldbuilding is not to leave the rules of your world a secret to the reader. This roughly 220-page book is written for both science fiction and fantasy writers and covers many chapters on worldbuilding, including “Measuring Time,” “The Etiquette of Names,” and “Kitchens.” - Putting the Science in Fiction: Expert Advice for Writing with Authenticity in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Other Genres edited by Dan Koboldt
A great book that deals with technology in fiction, but not just anthropomorphic toasters, cyborgs, or television sets. The book takes a holistic view of technology, expanding to any place you can think technology would appear. There are sections like “Genome Engineering: It Never Ends Well” to “Things to Know for When Skynet Takes Over” to large sections on space travel and planets. The book covers nearly every topic you need to consider for the rules of your world – and some that are just good fun to wonder what could happen. The book is roughly 272 pages. - Creating Short Fiction: The Classic Guide to Writing Short Fiction by Damon Knight
A science fiction author writing about the basics of story form, this book, full of examples from science fiction stories, will help you weigh out the other craft elements in your book, outside of worldbuilding. A popular book to learn about the craft of writing. It is about 224 pages.
Marissa’s Take Practice Exercise: I Remember Now
Write the opening scenes from an old television show you used to love. Add an unexpected encounter with time travel, an advanced ship, or an extraterrestrial.
Next month we’ll review craft books for fantasy.
MARISSA DUNHAM is a writer and freelance editor. She spent the early part of her career in educational publishing, but now spends most of her time editing literary fiction, magical realism, and middle grade fiction. She lives in Southern California, where she enjoys bringing new life into the world by planting tomatoes and flowers in the garden.