Worried about writing a Sci-Fi book and getting things wrong.
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Posted Mar 2, 2020, 6:42 PM UTC
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One of my stories starred a bunch of circus performers. At some point while I was researching how big a circus performer's trailer is, I found some writing advice: believability is more important than realism. Most of my readers are not experts on circus performer living conditions. None of yours will know what it's like to dig a hole on the moon. If you can't find an answer after a bit of researching, go with what you - a non-expert, just like your readers - thinks is believable.
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I read up on astrophysics as a hobby. (That doesn't mean I understand it all, but I have a decent grasp) I also write sci-fi. But, my sci-fi is action adventure, and closer to Star Wars on the realism spectrum than something like The Expanse.
What's important is that the tone matches your realism. If it's meant to be super realistic, and you get something wrong, it's a much bigger sin than if you have everyday joe's getting in blaster fights and flying around their own beat up space trucks.
That being said, you can always work around your own knowledge gaps by giving them to your characters. Unless your doing an omni-narrator. But most of us don't understand most of the tech we use. I can build a car from parts, but I couldn't forge an engine block. I do some surface level coding, but I couldn't make a videogame. Lord know very few of us could build a cellphone from scratch if the world was ending.
So really you can go far by just avoiding trying to explain how all the tech works when you're not sure if its even plausable. At the same time, you can do a lot of repair in your second draft if you really got something wrong.
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Wow thank you, this is amazing advice!
Comparing Star Wars and The Expanse really demonstrates what you mean too. I'm a huge fan of both those shows, both for the scientifically accurate portions of The Expanse, and the sometimes fantastical tech of Star Wars.
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I like this guy's books. http://andyweirauthor.com/books/the-martian-tr He wrote a similar idea and did well.
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Oh this is the story that got turned into that Matt Damon movie right? Great example!
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Better fit for r/scifiwriting.
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This is why revision and drafts exist. I'd say do some light research and get the parts you need but your primary focus should be to get the first draft done. Then on subsequent drafts you can analyze the science deeper if you need to (or beta readers will point it out).
Yeah I've been finding the research has helped get me motivated to start thinking about it, but you're right that a first draft will probably get the gears turning way more than just Googling stuff.
Googling stuff then spiraling the endless hole of less and less relavent searches and wikipedia articles as time goes on, haha.
Yup, then eventually getting stuck in a loop of watching 90s music videos on YouTube.