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  1. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Crossing into a new genre

    Discussion in 'Science Fiction' started by deadrats, Feb 10, 2018.

    So, yesterday was a pretty big writing day for me. I was talking over an idea for a pilot with my lover since I have a friend who has had quite a bit of luck selling pilots. I was bouncing an idea of my lover and this story started forming in my head. There were quite a few problems with my idea, but then solutions for them were popping in my head like magic. My lover didn't see all my answers as fixes, but I said I thought I could fix them fully while I was writing. Then my lover said. "Why are you trying to write this as a pilot?" I've had some really good luck with short stories lately, and my lover thought I should stick with that form for this story. This story is science fiction. I don't usually write science fiction and have never pulled off a genre story that is very good let alone publishable. The world is in my head, but I am making the story up as I go. I will say I think this is the most unique story idea I've ever had, even though I am aware at the same time that it's probably not. I don't want to go into any details, only because I'm still writing it and not in a place for any feedback about the specifics of a world I'm still trying to figure out. I told my lover to stop talking about it after a while because it was going to mess me up. And then I went to write. I went to write science fiction. Crazy. I'm about ten or so pages in. I'm guessing that's a third of the story. I have this sort of internal structure radar that's usually pretty right about where I am in a story and how much more there is to go and even if I don't have a story planned out, I know how long I need to build tension, how long to stay at the top, when the ending is coming. It's probably from writing a million short stories, but I can count on my hand the number of times I've written science fiction. I feel good about this but also very nervous. If you write something that could obviously never happen, is it harder to pull off making it in to a believable story? How often do you try out or slip into a genre that is not your norm? And by the way, I blame all the genre writers around here. :) Part of me just wants to fit in more with the majority who seem to write genre. :) I'm also wondering if you guys think I made the right choice by writing it as a short story vs. a pilot. I don't know if a different genre than I'm used to might work better in a form I'm also not so used to. I have read science fiction short stories, mostly from Ray Bradbury. I've written one pilot, but it was more of a genre-free drama, and I never tried to do anything with it. Nothing my pilot-writing friend has sold yet has turned into an actual show, but a lot of places seem to just give a one-time payment and the writer of the pilot is done. She also makes a lot more selling her pilots than short stories. I'm just wondering how often you leave the comfort of what you usually do to try something a new genre or a new form. Do you romance writers ever try fantasy? Do you fantasy writers ever try literary fiction? Do you science fiction writers ever try historical fiction? Or is it better to just stick with where your strengths seem to lie? And, also, do you stick with the form you are best with like novels or short stories or poetry or plays? There are endless stories and endless ways to tell them. How do you make the right choices?
     
  2. LazyBear

    LazyBear Banned

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    I recently left making comics which has practically no narration, so book writing itself is quite new to me. Whenever I get good at a hobby, I start to take it too seriously until it's not funny anymore.

    The easy part about science fiction is that one can take inspiration from ancient times and just rewrite it in a new setting. Just like "The Matrix" was based on the bible with Neo as Jesus and "Star Trek" tells Troy inspired stories using their ships as castles. The focus is still on people with the same ethical dilemmas.
     
  3. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Why did you make the switch? Just time for a change, basically? See, I do and want to take my writing seriously. I want to be really good at something. I guess I'm still searching for something. I thought when I started publishing the search would be over pretty much. But we'll see. Maybe it's just fun to mix it up and try new things. We're your comics science fiction?
     
  4. LazyBear

    LazyBear Banned

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    After spending a year drawing comics, my hand started to hurt because I insisted on using three-layer shading for every frame. Having Aspergers means being able to focus all my efforts in one special interest, but after a while it becomes an obsession where I cannot sleep because I have to take notes of new ideas at 3 AM.

    One of my comics was set in 1994, but had some mix of magic and science fiction. It was a story about having all the power, but still being afraid of the most innocent people because of the paranoia.

    The last comic I made was about a succubus seeking salvation in a church, but she had already converted the monks into depraved gamblers. Her overlord wanted her to finish her job by offering her a free ticket to heaven that she refused because she wanted to do it the right way.
     

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