Introducing the Sci-Fi Writer's Guide to Reality
I'm making it up as I go along, so let's lay some ground rules
Hi, friend.
My name is Arthur H. Manners. I don’t insist on the H. I’m a science fiction, fantasy and horror writer. I’ve only recently begun my writing career, but I’ve been lucky enough to sell several stories to professional markets and I’ve won an international award.
I’m also a science nerd. I’ve been a data scientist and software developer, and I have a PhD in space physics. I could have a real career and stuff (as I’ve been told several times by people trying to understand why I’d rather be an artist instead). But I liked writing stories too much. So here we are.
Who is this newsletter for?
I love science fiction, wherever it appears, in any medium. A lot of people do—if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them. But science is a big hill to climb, and writing about it with authority can be daunting.
That’s why I made this newsletter: I want to enable anybody to write grounded, well-informed science fiction. Not to be a gatekeeper and “make people do the science right”, but to provide a bridge for people who have the will but not the means.
Which topics are covered?
Anything I can. I’ll try to cover the usual tropes and technologies that end up in sci-fi stories, but I’ll try to put together deep dives, and (time permitting) some tools to help people with the maths.
Suggestions are welcome!
Why do you have to nerd all over the place, you big nerd?
Science covers a lot. Everything, actually. Well, the physical, at least. Some of it’s easy to grasp, and some of it’s so difficult that only a handful of people in the world understand it.
Naturally, artists can’t always get it right. At least some of the time, many decide to do it wrong on purpose (the horror!) for reasons of artistic license; as with memoir, sometimes bending reality can tell a story truer than truth.
Unsurprisingly, this leads to snobbery. Phrases like ‘hard science-fiction’, where people prioritise scientific accuracy. They slam equations onto the page, thrust numbers down their readers’ throats, parade about in cloaks fashioned from their (read in sotto voce) “back of the envelope calculations”.
Sometimes verisimilitude isn’t the goal. Laser guns, artificial gravity, hyperdrives galore, or landing a spaceship as though it was an SUV are all fair game in imaginary worlds. Space fantasy is an entirely valid genre that I also love to read. But if a writer’s goal was to write something grounded in the rules of reality, with an air of authenticity, they need to take the time to get the details right.
I experience a similar fear when thinking about how I’d write a police procedural or military fiction or a courtroom drama.
For example:
“You, defendant of the law place with lots of wood and wigs,” growled the High Judge of Supreme Justice, “I sentence thee to three years immersed in a barrel of eels while listening to James Blunt.”
“No!” screamed the lawyer with the chiseled jaw, parading about in his Armani suit. “Your honour, I haven’t monologued in front of the jury yet!”
“Objection!” roared the judge, banging his judge hammer. He waved to the prison guard standing nearby. “Bring in the barrel.”
While this is clearly a gestating masterpiece, it would probably send anyone with expertise in the legal profession into apoplectic fits of rage.
It’s good to remember that somebody is an expert in any topic you’re ever going to write about, and if you get it wrong then there’s a chance that they’ll foam at the mouth and set out into the night to find you.
There’s no excuse for not doing your homework, but you can’t do your homework if the resources aren’t there. Hopefully, this newsletter is one tool among many to help fill that void.
Disclaimers
Seeing as people may be using some of the content here to help them construct their stories, I think it’s only fair to lay out some disclaimers:
If you see some spellings/phrases that look weird, you have my apologies. I’m from the UK. It’s incurable. I’ve checked.
I do not know all science. I am not Stephen Hawking. As far as real scientists go, I’m like the enthusiastic but ultimately hapless hanger-on who gets the coffees, and was maybe dropped a bit too much when he was small.
My speciality is space physics (sort of a sub-branch of astrophysics, focusing on planets, the sun and the space in between), but I have training in general physics and other bits of science. That said, I love a bit of research, so if someone requests a topic to tackle, I will do my best.
If you spot a mistake (big or small), please tell me. I WANT you to point out my stupidity. I’m building this to help the community and hopefully bring people together in the pursuit of cool stories—not because I think I know all the answers and want to dispense my wisdom from a mountaintop. (Though, if enough people insist, I will don my robe and start climbing.)
All that said, I just wanted to talk about science and stuff. Have fun!