How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy

by Orson Scott Card

Overview

Learn to write science fiction and fantasy from a master

You've always dreamed of writing science fiction and fantasy tales that pull readers into extraordinary new worlds and fantastic conflicts. Best-selling author Orson Scott Card shows you how it's done, distilling years of writing experience and publishing success into concise, no-nonsense advice. You'll learn how to:

 • utilize story elements that define the science fiction and fantasy genres
 • build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world your readers will want to explore
 • develop the "rules" of time, space and magic that affect your world and its inhabitants
 • construct a compelling story by developing ideas, characters, and events that keep readers turning pages
 • find the markets for speculative fiction, reach them, and get published
 • submit queries, write cover letters, find an agent, and live the life of a writer


The boundaries of your imagination are infinite. Explore them with Orson Scott Card and create fiction that casts a spell over agents, publishers, and readers from every world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781582971032
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/15/2001
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	262,667
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.96(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Orson Scott Card is a novelist, critic, public speaker, essayist and columnist. He writes in several genres but is known best for science fiction. Card is the author of the international bestsellers Shadow of the Giant, Shadow Puppets, and of the beloved classic of science fiction, Ender's Game—which was adapted into a feature film. He is also the author of Seventh Son, the first book in the acclaimed fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker.

Hometown:

Greensboro, North Carolina

Date of Birth:

August 24, 1951

Place of Birth:

Richland, Washington

Education:

B.A. in theater, Brigham Young University, 1975; M.A. in English, University of Utah, 1981

Website:

http://www.hatrack.com

Table of Contents

	Introduction	1
1	The Infinite Boundary	3
	What is, and isn't, science fiction and fantasy, and by whose standards: publishers', writers', readers'
	What basic concepts and approaches qualify a story as true speculative fiction, and how SF and fantasy differ from one another
2	World Creation	26
	How to build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world that readers will want to share with you
	Dragging ideas through "the idea net" of why, how, and with what result
	Developing the rules of your world ... and then abiding by them and making them matter: the rules of Time, Space, and Magic
	Working out the history, language, geography, and customs of your invented world
3	Story Construction	63
	Finding a character for an idea, or developing ideas for a character to enact
	Qualifications for the main character: who hurts the most? Who has power and freedom to act?
	Should the viewpoint character be the main character? How do you decide?
	Determining where the story should begin and end
	The MICE quotient: milieu, idea, character, event--knowing which is most important in your story will help you decide its proper shape
4	Writing Well	88
	Keeping exposition in its place
	Leading your reader into the strangeness, step by step
	Piquing the reader's interest
	Keeping the "level of diction" appropriate to the story's imagined world
	Using invented jargon sparsely and effectively
5	The Life and Business of Writing	104
	The markets for short and long speculative fiction--magazines, anthologies, fanzines--and how to reach them
	Classes, workshops, conferences and conventions
	Collaboration, adaptation, and shared worlds
	Professional writers' organizations
	Awards in speculative fiction
	Index	138

Editorial Reviews

From one of the all-time bestselling authors of science fiction and fantasy writing comes an excellent resource for beginners or pros. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card covers topics such as the creation of worlds and alien societies and the use and rules of magic, topics specific to the genre. Learn creative science fiction and fantasy writing from one of the masters.

bn.com

YA-- Card does not discuss how to write in general, e.g., plotting, style, dialogue, point of view, or characterization, but instead covers creative writing as it relates to the science fiction/fantasy genre. He includes such diverse topics as inventing a world, creating alien societies, the rules of magic, etc. This well-written volume is an excellent resource for beginning writers or a refresher for those already on their journeys to other worlds and other stars.

School Library Journal