The Three "Questions" Of Science Fiction

There is a great deal of misunderstanding just about what that particular branch of literature called “Science Fiction” really consists of. Is it space-ships and monsters? Time machines? Galactic empires? Well, its all of those things, and often none of them.

Science Fiction, broadly speaking speaking, is story-telling that deals with the impact of organized noesis on human beings. Usually, this means technology, and the way it changes us—and reveals just about us. After all, most technology is an extension of our senses, attributes and desires: computers are brains, cell-phones are voices and ears, cars are legs, planes are the dream of flight.

Many classic S.F. films and books take place in worlds identical to ours, except for the production of several new device, or the appearance of a new life-form. Others take place in worlds so apparently foreign that only the most dedicated and fully fledged reader can understand what is going on!

But at the core, there are three questions or musings most often asked or explored in any activity with the “Science Fiction” label. Those three are:

1) What if?
2) If Only…
3) If This Goes On…

Although these three "questions" overlap considerably, the first, “What If?”, is the most essential of the three. “What If the Martians attacked?” “What If eternal life was accessible at a price?” “What If we knew an asteroid would-be hit Earth in a year?”

The second adds a bit of desire to the equation. “If Only President Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated…” is the kind of question that leads to social science and historical speculation, or the “Alternate History” branch of S.F. which has become hugely popular in the last decade. “If Only the factor for generosity (or anger, or bigotry) could be mapped…” “If Only we could by selection prune bad memories…”

There is an emotional quality to the “If Only” questions, and they often speak to a sense of incomprehensible opportunity, roads not taken.

The third question, “If This Goes On” is tailor-made for cautionary tales. “If we continue to begrime the environment…” “If one party continues to dominate American politics…” “If much women enter the management class…” “If the space program continues to Privatize” “If human beings become better at modifying their physical characteristics…”

These questions are starting places for speculation. Patch it is easy to use any of them for trivial or absurd (and entertaining!) questions like “What if a 300-foot hot lizard attacked Tokyo?” they can as well address profound issues, as in “how would-be humanity change if we gained incontrovertible proof of intelligent alien life?”

By concentrating on the question, or proposition, at the core of your story, it becomes easier to support it from becoming a CGI-fest. Ask yourself how YOU would-be react to a given situation. How your family would-be react—you cognize them well. Then friends. Political adversaries. Different nations, and folk of different groups. Dig into the meat of it. Study history, and begin to grasp the way societies change in response to technology, for instance the Automobile, or Printing Press, or Computer.

The much deeply you delve, the much likely you wish be to create a unique question with unique answers. Then folk your earth with breathing, likely characters responding as intelligent, feeling folk have since the beginning of time. Your activity wish blossom and reach new levels…

Even if it IS just about a 300-foot hot lizard!

About The Author

NY Times Bestselling Writer Steven Barnes has publicised over three million words of fiction. He has lectured from Constellation to the Smithsonian Institute. Discover much just about his exclusive Lifewriting™ system at: http://www.lifewriting.biz and http://www.lifewrite.com.

This article was denote on Gregorian calendar month 10, 2005