posted
I'm working on a project that, unfortunately, violates one of the rules of science fiction--the speculative element is buried in the middle of the book. Unless I think of a good workaround (no success there yet), its got to remain structured that way.
I was wondering if anyone could recommend any good books that didn't reveal the speculative element right at the beginning. I think I'd find it helpful to read an example of how someone else (successfully) violated this rule.
posted
Your book needs to be fascinating without the speculative element. You might try reading OSC's Lost Boys. While there are hints of possible speculative fiction elements at various places in the novel, it's not clear until the end.
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posted
It's not a surprise, and I'm not trying to spring it on the reader. It's a new technology--secret--that the POV character isn't privy to until about the halfway point of the story. On the other hand, discovering the exact nature of the technology is a (minor) part of the opening conflict.
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quote:discovering the exact nature of the technology is a (minor) part of the opening conflict.
If you have the POV character wondering what that strange thing really was, you've introduced the speculative element near the beginning, even if the POV character doesn't find out what it was until much later.
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posted
You make an excellent point, but, unfortunately, my MC doesn't get a glimpse of the new technology--doesn't even know what it is, or that it's at all remarkable or strange--until around the middle of the story. There's nothing at the beginning of the story that would clue the reader in that a speculative element will later be introduced.
I'll definitely check out Lost Boys. Sounds like just what I'm looking for.
posted
Give "Doorways In The Sand" by Roger Zelazney a look. There are hints in the beginning that something SF will get in the mix, but the SF loop of the plot doesn't really kick in until about a third of the way through the book. And when it does, it adds a nice velocity to a story that's already nicely in motion.
posted
The only novel I can recall with fantastic element that does't pop up until late in the book. It was a murder mystery set on a cargo ship that somehow ended up involving UFO's or super weapons or something in Siberia. I can recall not having very uncomplementary thoughts about the author.
Are you sure you're sure you can't give some kind of foreshadowing?
How about a prologue not from the main character's point of view? It doesn't have to be long and you dont' have to name the characters. Being prologue, you can get away with having a differant point of view.
It's also very unlikely any SF or fantasy market will buy something without any fantastic element upfront.
[This message has been edited by Ted Galacci (edited February 22, 2006).]
posted
Read Lost Boys, but be willing to admit it has nothing to do with what you're trying to do here.
You need to clearly signal to the reader that the story is going to involve a significant speculative element from well before that element appears, unless it appears on the first page.
If your POV character doesn't encounter any clues that this is a speculative fiction story till this element pops out of nowhere, then you're using the wrong character or you're starting in the wrong place.
Now for the loophole. If you signal that this is speculative fiction by virtue of a different story element that appears earlier, you could be okay. For an example, consider if your story has robots running around doing stuff from the very beginning. In that case, when your hero (or villain) pulls out a light-saber to solve a problem halfway through the story, I won't bat an eye. But it isn't a perfect loophole. Robots will prep me for some kind of energy weapon, but if the other speculative element is voodoo, I'm going to become annoyed. Choose your milieu development carefully.
posted
"Lord Foul's Bane" by Donaldson (granted it's more fantasy than SF). The speculative element doesn't show up until chapter three. There's a hint or two along the way, but up until then it's a story about a man with leprosy dealing with the prejudice shown him by the townpeople.
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posted
In today's publishing world, you might be able to get away with writing and marketing this as mainstream fiction. Crighton has been doing it for years (bringing science fiction elements into mainstream fiction), Clancy did it to a lesser degree, other military writers (Dale Brown comes to mind) have done it, and the recent success of Kostova's Historian (more horror/fantasy than scifi) shows that it can still be done. That's a book in which we're entirely unsure whether there is a speculative element or not for a good portion of the book. It's all in the approach and focus of the book these days, I think.
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posted
A short prologue could do the trick -- something that establishes that there'll be a sci-fi element, and hopefully adds a lot of tension to the begining. I usually hate prologues, but a very short one might be helpful here. Brandon Sanderson's Elantris had prologue like that -- it very neatly set up the rest of the book. It was good enough that they used the whole thing as the teaser on the back of the book. Here's a link to it on Amazon:
posted
I'd also suggest reading some Connie Willis, e.g. Lincoln's Dreams and Bellwether. At the beginning of the books, there are some potentially speculative stuff, but it's pretty subtle and light.
Willis just rocks anyway.
[This message has been edited by electricgrandmother (edited February 23, 2006).]
posted
There are plenty of mainstream books out there that use speculative concepts at some point.
Early strange elements attributed later to the speculative element will be enough to keep the story speculative.
If the story makes a radical change of direction midway because of the introduction of an important speculative element that had no bearing on the previous pages of the story, well, then your story might start in the wrong place.
posted
Ultimately, this comes down to "you can do anything you want - as long as you're willing to pay the price."
If you've got a definite reason for your speculative element not being revealed until a specific point in the book, then so be it. If the story leading up to that point is interesting enough, with a little judicious foreshadowing that there's *something* coming, then you should do just fine.
posted
Sorry for such a delayed response to Ted Galacci's post, but he's talking about Smilla's Sense of Snow , which reveals its speculative element at the very end of the book. The end actually completely ruined (for me) what had been a fun read. However, I think revealing the science fiction element in the middle could be all right if handled well.
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posted
The simple fact is that there are no rules to writing, unless you count things like grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but even those are broken from time to time. Rules is the terminology used, but what these rules truly exist for, is as helpful suggestions for beginning authors who want a better chance at publication. You can do whatever you want with your writing. The difficult part is to get an editor willing to read and publish it if you don't follow some of these very good suggestions made by published authors, editors, and other authoritative sources familiar with genre publications.
As far as examples of breaking rules, almost every publication I've ever read breaks somebody's rule just because there are so many. Examples of published pieces that break any major rules are rarely first publications and are usually from established authors. The key is to write a good story, and if you are going to write for a specific genre, then make the genre evident right up front, or it will likely have little chance of getting read and considered for publication unless you are already established and have published before.
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