Special guest, Chris Fox, joins the round table this week to discuss science fiction. We have a great conversation about sci fi’s roots in pulp fiction and some of the early sci fi TV shows that popularized many of the tropes we see in fiction today. Chris and our resident sci fi author, Robert, share their experiences with alien characters, genre-bending plots, reader expectations, and you might be surprised to learn Chris created an entire alien species based on his…sorry, you’ll have to listen!
There’s a link to Chris’s book, Planet Strider, in the show notes below. Get it for free! Thanks, Chris!
VIDEO
AUDIO
SHOW NOTES
How did Chris Fox start writing science fiction? And how can you write a science fiction book with limited research? What is classic science fiction about anyway, and how does it compare with today? If you want to write science fiction, what are some technological and science based tropes you should be aware of? And how should you approach alien characters? Don’t make your readers work too hard! And how can you make tropes work for you?
Find Chris at chrisfoxwrites.com
Get Chris Fox’s book Planet Strider!
What we talked about:
What was Chris’s journey into science fiction? (2:26)
How did Chris write a science fiction book with limited research? (4:15)
How would you describe classic science fiction? (6:12)
Is today’s science fiction still about a final frontier? (9:47)
What are some of the technological or science based tropes that writers should be aware of? (13:19)
What about alien characters? Can you have an alien as a protagonist? What about as point of view characters? (15:24)
Where is the line where you are making readers work too hard? (21:50)
What about hard science fiction? (23:44)
Make the tropes work for you! (26:25)
LINKS
Things we mentioned:
The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
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Dances with Wolves
