Inventing Reality: A Guide to Writing Science Fiction

Stories always occur somewhere – a starship traveling between the stars, another planet, a science lab on Earth a few years from now, an android factory or any of a million other places. This aspect of the story – the “place” when the story occurs, is an element of setting (the other is time).

Determining the “place” of a story is important because it will help ensure the story is believable. After all, you’re making an extrapolation from known science. Where that extrapolation occurs should fit seem reasonable to readers who’ve never seen man go farther than the moon.

The place of the story must appear real to readers or it will serve as a distraction. Because of this, science fiction authors need to research their settings so they are scientifically accurate. If you don’t note weightlessness’s effect on your astronauts as they walk across Moon or Mars, many an adroit reader will notice this error and lose faith in the world you’ve created. In addition, the more magical the gizmos your characters use to make their setting Earth-like (such as gravity plating on starships), the more attention you need to pay to their consistency in your world. Gravity-plating, presuming it’s possible, is an extremely advanced technology. That such a civilization would only use something as “primitive” as atomic bombs in warfare is extremely inconsistent with gravity plating technology. Whatever technology that allows for gravity plates also likely allows for exotic weapons.

The 1970s television series “Space: 1999” is a good example of a setting that lacks scientific accuracy. In the series, the moon breaks from the Earth’s orbit. Virtually no discussion is made of how the no longer being in the Earth’s gravity affects the moon’s rotation on his axis and how the ensuing change in sunlight and darkness affects the Luna outpost and its inhabitants. Worse, the moon careens through interstellar space with virtually no mention of how this near light speed travel affects the outpost (wouldn’t collisions with dust wreak havoc?).

You Do It
Search online for some articles about the moon Triton. Take notes. Now write a 200-word piece describing a space outpost on Triton. What problems must its inhabitants cope with? What innovations are developed to overcome or at least deal with these problems?