Science fiction is complicated to write. You have to create a believable world that is rich and full of detail with no breaks in logic in a limited pagecount, hit the genre conventions and then write a smart story on top of that. Also, it can\u2019t be something we\u2019ve seen before \u2013 it has to be fresh, feel new and updated. This means the writer needs to be aware of what sci-fi is in the market, know their material and still be creative. <\/p>\n
In my opinion, sci-fi is perhaps the most difficult genre to write for the reasons mentioned above. Every element within the script needs to be executed in a way as to not create any confusion in the mind of the reader, so one must be familiar enough with sci-fi precedent but then in addition create wonderful heroes and weave a fresh world generally with incredibly detailed and complicated plotting. It is very difficult. <\/p>\n
Also, sci-fi is hard because they are usually very expensive to make and thus very hard to sell or even get optioned. A writer friend of mine had an absolutely fantastic sci-fi with a networked optical implant twist that he sent out years ago now \u2013 at the time, this idea was current with the trend. However, every studio in town already had something along these lines in development, and so even though it was a really strong script, it didn\u2019t do anything for the writers. Studios tend to be more reluctant with very big budget projects and if they have anything similar in development already, you might be sorry you spent to much time on that project that won\u2019t get you anything. It\u2019s a big risk as a younger writer to invest that time with maybe no payoff. <\/p>\n
Most sci-fi scripts I read are incredibly confusing and convoluted. Localize. Make the world specific and contained. Any confusing element is an element that needs to either be made abundantly clear or taken out. There is no room for confusion. <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re going to write a scifi, know what\u2019s current, watch, read, and do your homework. Know what\u2019s out there, know what the trend is now, the upcoming trends, and then do better. <\/p>\n
DO NOT try to rewrite Star Wars and think you\u2019re writing the next Star Wars. You\u2019re not. <\/p>\n
Get Educated Self-proclaimed sci-fi \u201cfans\u201d tend to be the most combative about their not needing to be up on what\u2019s in the market. I have been pitched many ideas that are 100% derivative of shows already produced in the market but not as good and not as complete. Those produced shows took a fresh take on an idea, whereas these ideas, after the fact, are not fresh at all. They\u2019re done. They don\u2019t offer anything to the marketplace. <\/p>\n I\u2019ve had many writers argue with me that just because another (better) idea was produced, their idea is still valid and they would go ahead and work on it. That is a complete waste of time. Do not write a poor man\u2019s \u201cHeroes\u201d and think that is going to break your writing career. It won\u2019t. Be smart about how you\u2019re investing your writing time. <\/p>\n Remember that with film, many times we\u2019re writing years ahead of the curve. If you\u2019re writing something now and spending a year on something that\u2019s already in the market, that idea was probably conceived many years ago. So, your \u201cnew\u201d idea is already maybe 10 years behind the market curve. <\/p>\n This is especially true with sci-fi where scientific technology is at the heart of the subject matter. The concepts should be in anticipation of the new technology \u2013 not behind that curve. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Science fiction is complicated to write. You have to create a believable world that is rich and full of detail with no breaks in logic in a limited pagecount, hit the genre conventions and then write a smart story on top of that. Also, it can\u2019t be something we\u2019ve seen before \u2013 it has to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10,6,50,1],"tags":[5,28,52,51,53,23,25,3,4,17,31,16,123],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genre","category-logical-world","category-story","category-subject-matter","category-uncategorized","tag-how-to-write-a-script","tag-how-to-write-genre","tag-how-to-write-sci-fi","tag-sci-fi","tag-science-fiction","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplay-genre","tag-screenwriter","tag-screenwriting","tag-screenwriting-notes","tag-script","tag-story-notes","tag-subject-matter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268,"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.screenwriter-to-screenwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>I\u2019ve written about this before in other articles here, but I\u2019ll revisit the topic because it\u2019s important. Many people fancy themselves sci-fi fans. But, real sci-fi fans actually have an acute awareness of everything produced in the market. They can teach you the underlying technology behind a warp drive and know a smattering of Klingon they can bust out at parties. They can go into great detail about all of the plots on all of the shows \u2013 not just one. I have a handful of friends whom I would consider real sci-fi fans. For this reason I call myself a sci-fi \u201centhusiast\u201d \u2013 not a true fan. I love a couple of shows and have a pretty good grasp what\u2019s out there, but I\u2019ll be honest when I say I don\u2019t know exactly how a warp drive works and I don\u2019t care all that much to know. <\/p>\n