This is a list of observations that were made after reading the stories submitted to our yearly Scifi Contest over the last three years. If these observations help a young writer to anchor her thoughts on the essentials, then the purpose of these observations would be fulfilled.

Some caveats. This list is limited in many ways. First, it is somewhat prescriptive. I've adopted a prescriptive tone to be forceful. Being forceful does not imply that what one says is correct. Rather, I urge you to read these observations as a set of signposts that direct you to the areas of in your story where careful attention is needed. This list is intended for those who have just begun to explore creating fiction with scientific themes. Finally, let us acknowledge that there will always be stories by exceptional writers which may follow no conventions but still make a great reading.

Sit yourself somewhere quiet and comfortable, and read on.

The 'idea' story
An idea story has no characters. The characters that are present are abstract generalities with no discernible personal history. It is clear that such a story will not be very readable. A story must not solely be an 'idea' story. A reader cannot identify solely with ideas. For a reader to read and enjoy a story, there must be compelling characters. They must speak either through dialogues or through monologues; they must have a life story; they must undergo the motions of life - their world's equivalent of brushing, bathing, eating, talking, thinking and living - in order to become real within a reader's mind.

Researching the science
Researching the scientific ideas used in the story is crucial. The reader may overlook minor scientific inaccuracies. Still carelessness on the part of the author is a breach of trust from which a speculative story may not recover. Remember not to underestimate what the readers know. If you make an error in the science that could have been easily rectified by better research, then you've lost many discerning readers by letting that error stay. Whether you are writing a space-time travel story, a story about an alien visitor, or any other scifi theme, the science alluded to in it must hold up to scrutiny. An author must do his homework before asking the readers to suspend disbelief.

Self-censure
Do not beep anything out. Self-censure is neither a useful trait nor a virtue in a writer. G H Hardy, the great mathematician, once said that good work is not done by 'humble' men. Self-censure makes the writer appear dishonest and idiotic. If one wants to have a character say 'fuck', make the character compelling, compelling enough that when the character says 'fuck', it is convincing. Self-censure also indicates muddle in the author's mind where he is unable to distinguish between himself and the characters in the story.

Humor
Humor is one of the hardest things to get right. Do not attempt it if your story does not need it. Bad jokes inflict grievous wounds on a story. Repeating such jokes make the wounds grow in size. Gratuitous and tasteless humor are best avoided if the author wants to retain reader's interest and respect.

Under-developed characters
While character development may not be expansive in a short story, they must still be developed. Descriptions of where they are in place and time, why they do what they do, and other details vital for the story's theme are still important. Without such details a reader will be unable to relate to what a character does. Generalized abstract characters in a story is a sign that you have not taken the time to know the characters in your story.

The sin of strange perspectives
Do not go into unnecessary detail while attempting to describe the world from an interesting angle - how an alien sees earth, for instance -, unless those details say something about the alien. Inexperienced authors are prone to this perspective-trip. Remember, the reader may not share your enthusiasm for describing earthly eyes from the vantage point of an alien who thinks they are a pair of quantum googles. Scientific euphemisms like this are irrelevant and distracting.

The unnecessarily puzzling story
Do not puzzle readers simply because as the author you know all about what's going to happen next while readers don't. Good stories explain what they have set out to do within the first few paragraphs. Authors of good stories are generous to the reader, they don't have the reader guessing about irrelevancies. A generous author is a good author to read.

The Gushing Tone
Another of a beginners' vice. In an attempt to create pace, thrill, hilarity, surprise and other fireworks in a story, new authors use broken sentences, muddled dialogues and recruit the exclamation mark and other english syntactical characters. Do not do this. It does not work. Rewrite your story to let it stand on the strength of its characters, their actions, and sensible prose.

Scifi buzz words
When a story has many scifi buzz words, it usually implies that the author has many ideas crowding in her mind. She needs to sit down and sort them out before committing a story in service of those ideas. Which ideas are relevant to the story and which are not; why should the reader have to hear about Hyperspatial Halo Dongle and other excitingly named imaginary gadgets. Do these ideas advance the story's plot? If not, throw them out. Distinguish between what you like to put in and what the story needs. They may not be the same thing. Don't make a story become the kitchen sink of all that crowds one's head. If an author does this, then he should not be surprised if cockroaches visit the story instead of discerning readers. If you are not sure about using a buzz word in your story, don't.

Dialogues and descriptions
Dialogues are good but dialogues alone don't normally work very well. Pace the story with descriptive text. Descriptive prose also allows the author to expand the theme and explain characters and the situation they are in. Inability to write good descriptive prose should warn the author that she has not done the required research, not written the necessary character sketches, and not written all the other preparatory notes. Before embarking on writing a story, the author should fill her mind with much detail. Coleridge may have written the poem Kubla Khan in his dream, but before he went to sleep he filled his mind with history and opium. Besides tasteful descriptive prose, I personally enjoy inner monologues in a story. Monologues give the reader insight and intimacy into a character's mind.

Death run
Somewhere in the middle of the story the author begins to doubt if he would ever finish the story. This is a fatal thought. This fatal thought makes the author immediately proceed to close all avenues of exploration, kill-off all the characters, and sprint to the finish line on an apparent death run dragging the mutilated story behind. This is madness. Please stop. When in doubt, you can rewrite the story, or write a new story, or take a break for as long as it takes for your muse to become sane again.

Events in the story
The choice of events that reveal the story must be carefully and deliberately made. The story does not write itself, you write it and the choice of events that move the story forward are yours. The culminating points is a story must be brought about by a series of carefully chosen events. Imagine how unsatisfying it would be if Carl Sagan had made Eleanor Arroway meet aliens without giving us any insight into her personal history, longings and motivations. Rethinking and revising the events in your story is essential. Revising helps close the gaps in thought that you left open when the story was first written.

What is a short story
Short stories take the reader to the edge of a precipitous thought. The closing event then makes the reader jump one way or another. Brave readers may jump over the edge, others may retreat, some may just stay on the edge and ponder for a while. What a reader choses to do is up to her. Nevertheless, the author's goal should be to get the reader to the point where passive acceptance of what they have read becomes impossible.

Essay, story, poetry, or nothing
To begin at the beginning: ask yourself why write at all. Every writer who aims high will quite early in their pursuit address this all important question. If you are convinced that you must write for whatever reason, then the next important question must be addressed before every story, essay or poem you write: is my choice of the literary form suitable for this task? Essays, stories, novels, poetry - these established structures should be studied. The creative process may soar or sink depending on the choice of the formal structure. Do not write an essay as a story, a poem as an essay or a short story as a novel. Choose wisely.

Resources
Resources for a writer are too vast and too varied to list or even attempt to list. To write is to explore oneself within and without, and to be driven by the overarching desire to tell stories and be remembered for it. You will have to find your own way to do this. However, you can learn how to pursue your creative goals from the masters. Study all the Paris Review Interviews [1]; study great ideas - historical, scientific, political, philosophical and cultural; and study the classics for inspiration . Good luck.

You can download a relevant selection of feeds I devour as an OPML file from here [2].

-Selva.
Last updated: 15 November 2008.