Very interesting response, thanks. You may have hit the nail on the head here. I will endeavour to make my characters interesting. What I need is an app which allows me to record and tract them in the novel at the same time keep my Libre Office Writer document and not change.
Oh, I misunderstood what you were asking. Sorry, sometimes I just skim and then answer off the top of my head. I thought you were asking about hard sci-fi books to read, not general sci-fi that you're writing. Yeah, you can definitely write sci-fi and get some decent characterization in there. You should look into character-driven writing as opposed to plot-driven. And make sure the main plot points are built around choices made by your characters, rather than sci-fi ideas or plot devices. If you hit up Youtube and search for character driven stories, you should be able to tap into a vast continuum of videos clustered around character and how to build stories around it.
This would be an excellent starting point. Shaelin always does such a good job of explaining these things. I'm not sure how far you want to go toward character-driven, you might actually want more plot-driven but with decent characters. She explains both quite well and also gives the caveat—that there's no such thing as a completely plot-driven or completely character-driven story, each will lean some way toward the other.
Great thanks Xolc. Will certainly look at those. IMO an Arrival scenario where we are the dummies will cause many plot threads mainly along the lines of international politics and nations reactions i.e. mainly panic where no individual can contribute. This time the Aliens work us out first get a neutral human on board and the discuss strategy which I have centred around the only international forum with any chance of handling the situation. Yes there will be many characters to deal with and a changing plot as we go. lots of research which I enjoy.
