How to Write Fantasy and Science Fiction

[@aaronhunyady]

Zombie fairies on spaceships, in love.

[@MrNoucfeanor]

Holy... There's a story here!

[@Drudenfusz]

Interesting, I would use the two words complexity ad complicated exactly the other way around, that complexity is the well ordered and complicated is the interference from chaos.

[@WavyOne18]

I love watching for reaffirmation on what I'm working on. Thank you good sir

[@zhadebarnet3773]

First comment! Love your content, sir. And writing an urban fantasy right now 😊 Edit: Okay, now I've watched the video 😂... I'm not sure about your definition of sci-fi vs fantasy. I wrote a fantasy book where the magic system is basically "If you wield one of the 12 sacred swords, you get these powers". According to your definition, because anybody could wield one of the swords, that's sci-fi, right? Feels wrong 🤔

[@Alkemisti]

I agree. If 'everybody can use it' makes it scifi, then _Black Clover_ is also scifi and not fantasy because everybody can use magic.

[@sonja.86]

You say the wielder gets their power only from one of these "magical" swords. I guess the swords are not just lying around for anyone to pick up but you'd have to earn the right to possess the sword through a special act/sacrifice/maybe birthright. Or there can only be 12 people, who have the power as long as they are the wielder/ or possess the sword. What happens if one (bad) guy possesses all 12 swords at once - greatest villain of all time / dark master of the universe? Sounds like Fantasy to me. 😅🍀

[@zhadebarnet3773]

@sonja.86 kinda yes and kinda no 🤣 technically, once you're bonded to the sword that's it until you die, then anybody else can pick it up. And if you so much as touch another sword whilst bonded to another, you'll die.

[@PhoenixCrown]

@@zhadebarnet3773 That sounds like the Fantasy element to me. Only 12 people (at a time) can use this magic. So it is limited. Don't kill yourself over labelling too much, it sounds like a really cool idea. My immediate questions are 1) How do you obtain a sword and what are the risks? 2) Who is motivated to get one and why? 3) Where did the swords come from, and what is their intended role in the world (balancing power)?

[@sonja.86]

@@zhadebarnet3773 intriguing! I really like the idea. But, everyday-everybody technology doesn't kill you if you switch from apple to windows. At least I hope so... 🙈😅 So, it's still the magical force that makes it fantasy and not sci-fi. At least in my humble opinion. 🍀

[@spookyfirst9514]

The Story Grid use of the word Genre is the most confusing part for me. I drop that word off, and things make more sense. I write sci-fi fantasy--Harry Dresden with Star Trek sprinkles.

[@StoryGrid]

Sci-fi fantasy is the SETTING. It’s part of the genre but not the whole. We still don’t know the value at stake in your story… what your story is actually about. Is it about life and death? Justice and injustice? Love and hate? Tyranny and freedom? Shame and respect? That’s the Content Genre. - Tim

[@spookyfirst9514]

@@StoryGrid before my third cup of coffee, it's just 'wut r werdzzzz'.😄 And , thank you.

[@aaronhunyady]

It's the publishing industry's use of "genre" that has made things confusing, IMO. The Oxford definition is "a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter." This definition includes form, style, and subject matter, which roughly covers Story Grid's 5 leaf clover diagram. As far as the publishing industry goes, "genre" means what bookshelf they put it on to maximize sales. By doing that, publishers necessarily strip away many of the components of a book's genre (and they tend to only want to publish books with certain combinations of genre components to minimize the number of shelves and restrict readers' choices.)

[@PhoenixCrown]

​@@aaronhunyady Blame marketing. Publishers just want to sell sell sell, and labeling like this makes it easier I guess... or so they thought.

[@dreamslayer2424]

@@aaronhunyady On this, I agree. Like "literary crime novel" will be marketed as a mystery or psychological suspense because they think they can move more copies to the demographic of mystery readers than literary readers. Sometimes I think this contributes to dissatisfaction for a reader. You buy a mystery and it reads like Herman Melville. Then you realize they marked it as a mystery because someone stole a chair.

[@aix83]

Good scifi/fantasy is when the setting is deconstructed into plot. Setting some random plot in a weird setting is just a recipe for schlock.

[@PhoenixCrown]

Curious what you all think of my book on the fantasy-scifi spectrum because one of my central themes is centralization of power: The ruling class are the only ones with access to magic, and they've convinced everyone they're the only ones who CAN use it... but it's a lie. Turns out, anyone can use magic, with varying levels of innate and trained competency. I think this is like Star Wars? Everyone has the Force in them, right? But only a few, with hard training, can actually use it in a meaningful way?

[@dueling_spectra7270]

Awesome premise! Yeah, that sounds like it straddles both genres. In John Truby's book, the anatomy of genre, he breaks down the common moral that are central to the different genres. Sci-fi's typically explore how to make society better, where fantasy is about discovering innate strength you possessed all along. But I feel like with that premise, you could do either.

[@gray_mara]

I write "science" fiction i.e. fantasy, but with better health care and hygiene. Plus hot Greek gods in space. 😂

[@dueling_spectra7270]

Crap! My sci-fi is a fantasy! (The aliens are mostly color blind, which gives my mc a huge advantage.😂)

[@abhishekmohanty7820]

So what about a magic system everyone but a few can use and the non users who are few are treated as slaves.

[@JoelAdamson]

Sorry, but it sounds like you're saying two different things: the world is what the story is about, but it's not what the story is actually about.

[@PhoenixCrown]

I've heard people describe it as thinking of your 1) Characters, 2) Plot, and 3) World are the 3 major building blocks of... STORY. Many ways to describe it, but the key is that your setting/world should have a purpose and play a role in the story. Otherwise, you're setting the characters and plot in the wrong world.

[@abhinandangurjar9826]

yes the world is a big part of the story which SHOULD be explored by the characters.

[@bradgibson1238]

Good examples! I love this video

[@fbafoundationalbuck-broken6011]

8:40

[@isaacthewebcomiccreator9750]

First of all, present day Earth and humanity exist in the reality of my setting, but it’s otherwise essentially a space opera universe. Secondly, Love is the main theme of my storytelling, but more specifically, both romantic love and surrogate family love. Given the right circumstances, I could feasibly imagine a love triangle type story, about 2 alien girls who are both in love with the same guy, but also are supposed to be 2 enemy soldiers fighting in an interstellar war. Kinda’ like a mix between William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, and the Greek Myth of Adonis, but set more or less in space. What do you think?

[@specterman603]

i have a question: i thought about adding spaceship to my world, but i think it will lose its grounded feeling, i mean literally grounded as by moving from place to place on the ground and journys ( which i wanna include ) become kind of pointless as u can use a spaceship, but if i limit spaceships to move only from planet to planet and only be able to be stationed at ports it kind of ruins the fantasy of moving freely in the spaceship ( it feels if i remove that whats the point of having spaceships at all, it looses alot of the fun ). so, any advice on the matter? ( hopefully i explained myself well enough to understand )

[@rbowdenscipio3408]

I'm not following you 100%, but I think I got the gist. I'd recommend you think about the evolution of transportation and think about the last time your culture/society experienced the "grounded feeling" you're seeking. As a thought exercise (if you live in the West,) replace the concept of a spaceship with the automobile - we use ports (i.e. parking lots and garages) and travel is dedicated lanes for safety (i.e. streets/highways/interstates,) but we can also go off-roading and reach places where there are no roads. Now take this exercise further back in time if necessary (i.e. horse and buggy, etc.) There's also the relative wealth factor to consider: not everyone will be able to afford car/spaceship ownership. Play around with it in your mind and search for current-day parallels, then translate them into your futuristic setting.

[@specterman603]

@@rbowdenscipio3408 that's intresting imma try it, thanks!

[@gray_mara]

Maybe spaceships travel is super expensive. Maybe it's slow. Maybe it requires you to go into cryosleep and the hero is allergic to the chemicals that induce it. Maybe he's claustrophobic. Maybe certain classes of people aren't allowed on spaceships. Maybe all space travel has to be government approved. Maybe he has a secret identity and can't risk the security protocols associated with boarding. Maybe he's space-Amish. Lots of reasons why spaceships might be in the story but not available to every character.

[@Jake-bz4df]

Why don't we use a space ship to go to the grocery store now? Just give it limitations and practical defining characteristics

[@faithfaraday]

In my upcoming sci-fi book, Faith Faraday, Faith has the "magic" of the power of observation, like Sherlock Holmes, and programs it into augmented reality devices so that anyone can wear them and benefit from her heightened perception of body language and other clues. she starts by programming it into AI Androids, but also programs it into the cybernetic eye of a human friend named Hiro.

[@Jake-bz4df]

I'm assuming Faith is a person and not a concept of spiritual beliefs. Cuz the latter had me confused for a bit. Question, why does she give this away like that? And how does she program in her power which I assume no one else has been able to do? Or is it, they just don't have the insight to translate those abilities into a usable and literal sequence of an algorithm that a machine can now replicate?

[@faithfaraday]

@@Jake-bz4df Yes, you got it. It's her innate empathy that's she's examined and put into algorithms AIs can leverage. For instance, if the AI detects sudden pupil dilation, the chances that person is experiencing "love" goes up by 30%. The AI adds that to other context cues to detect what's happening. And yes, "Faith Faraday" is her name.

[@WakenAngels]

My cheatlist for Fantasy and Sci-Fi Fantasy: Character driven stories about heroes on quests to stop villains - often using magic powers, creatures, or artifacts. In Fantasy, the characters are more important than the world Sci-Fi: Society driven stories about the consequences of the advancement of civilization - often as a result of technology. In Sci-Fi, the characters are less important than the world Science Fantasy: Character driven stories about heroes on quests to stop villains in societies dealing with the consequences of magic or technology The science fiction genre is inaccurately named. It should be called Speculative Fiction because it's speculating about the progression (or regression) of civilization. Dune is actually Science Fantasy because it's character driven and features a hero on a quest to stop a villain while dealing with the consequences of spice production; spice stands in as a magic artifact. However, most people would look at Dune as a sci-fi work only because it doesn't have traditional magic archetypes and is heavily based on futuristic technology.

[@malosprime4910]

Good cheat sheet. My current project is a science fantasy about the adventures of two mercenaries and the interconnected relationships they make with the people they encounters.