S is for Science Fiction

Genre post time.

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I like Sci-Fi to a degree, though I will also admit that I don't quite understand the genre. I even took a Sci-Fi Lit class in college. Some of the stories I could not figure out at all, but the others students had no problem, but other stories I thought made perfect sense and it confused everyone else. Like some of the alien stories I struggled to read, but the story about Schrodinger's Cat, that one I got at once. It was pretty cool.  So, some of my stories fall under the genre science fiction and I figured it would make a good S post.

What is Science Fiction?
Dictionary: a form of fiction that draws imaginatively on scientific knowledge and speculation in its plot, setting, theme, etc.

Based off the definition it makes for one broad genre (though many "genres" are broad thus why we have so many subgenres). Many stories fall under that and there is enough detail that it gives some direction but it's rather open in general as far as what it could accept under the umbrella of the dictionary explanation.

There are other sources that try to define Science Fiction as a genre and they vary to a degree. Some include technology to the definition, for example. Here is one link but there are many other sites out there. http://scifi.about.com/od/scififantasy101/a/SCIFI_defs.htm

Sci-Fi subgenres (a few at least on wikipedia):
Hard - A strict adherence to science with attention to details. Accuracy is considered important and the readers pay attention to those factors too. Examples: Gregory Benford, Isaac Asimov, Kim Stanley Robinson
Soft/Social - Used to describe writing based off social sciences such as sociology, anthropology and such. Can also be used on character driven stories that are less detail attentive to the science side but still falls within the science fiction realm. Examples: Ursula K. Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Margaret Atwood
Military - Stories set in conflict that use national, international, interstellar army forces with a primary military personel viewpoint. Stories involve details of the technology, procedures expected and sometimes the use of history. Examples: David Weber, John Ringo, S.M. Stirling
Apocolyptic - Fiction focused on end of the world times that come through various means such as wars, ecological disaster, and many others. In general can focus on the actual disaster and or the aftermath. Examples: George R. Stewart, Russel Hoban, Pat Frank
Space Opera - Adventure science fiction that is set in outer space or distant planets. The conflict is often large scale and heroic. Examples: Edward E. Smith, L. Ron Hubbard, Vernor Vinge



I haven't read much science fiction at this point, but I'm a little distracted with young adult and middle grade novels that range in genre. I need to read more because some of my novels fall under this genre in varying subgenres.


Do you read science fiction? Any books you'd recommend?
Do you write science fiction?

H is for Horror

This is one genre that I don't quite understand. I've attempted to write a few horror short stories over the years in part just to see if I could and I struggle each time I try. And each time I struggle to figure out what would qualify as a horror story. I just don't know how to write in a scary way, same as I don't know how to write funny on purpose.

Horror

The Horror Writers Association had a great explanation of horror on the site: http://www.horror.org/horror-is.htm. The part that really caught my attention was this:
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary gives the primary definition of horror as "a painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay." It stands to reason then that "horror fiction" is fiction that elicits those emotions in the reader. If we accept this definition, then horror can deal with the mundane or the supernatural, with the fantastic or the normal. It doesn't have to be full of ghosts, ghouls, and things to go bump in the night. Its only true requirement is that it elicit an emotional reaction that includes some aspect of fear or dread.


I even once had a long conversation with a friend on writing.com where she tried to get me to figure out what scared me. She asked all kinds of questions with the sole purpose of finding out if I "found that scary." And after over 30 minutes we basically found out not much scares me when I'm just reading the suggestion. I think my fears are starting to change because I know death is starting to appear in my mind more often than before, but for now, I struggle to think and then use that information to write something scary.

I think another issue I have is more when they think about horror it is those horror movies, such as slashers or maybe psychological thrillers. And all those movies do is remind me of my grandmother. Not cause she was scary but she loves horror movies (all kinds). Grandma is only about 66 years old now. Growing up I remember her house having so many scary movies and watching one called Slumber Party Massacres (spoiler: it's a slasher movie where the guy killed people using a guitar with a drill on the end  of it). So, when I think about horror movies in general, Grandma comes to mind.

And I also am one who umm fell asleep while watching the Exorcist. I wasn't exhausted or anything, just fell asleep when I tried to watch that movie. I get bored easily with horror movies when I try to watch them and I'm not sure why. I did like Rose Red, but not many other horror movies. I have only seen Thinner of the Stephen King based ones, and that brings me to the books.

I haven't read any of King's books either, not the horror ones. I read a fantasy one of his though. In fact I've read very few horror books. Though I used to love reading them. Some of my favorite books as a young teen were the R.L. Stine Fear Street Cheerleaders books. But now, I am not sure how I feel about horror reading and haven't read many at all.

And I will never be a horror writer, but  I still try sometimes.

Do you like horror?
What is horror to you?

F is for Fanfiction

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I will admit that I am fairly new to fanfiction. Not that I had never heard the term before, but it wasn't something I ever delved into myself. I heard about it in passing and thought that could be interesting for some but never had the desire to try and write fanfiction. I had enough ideas and characters of my own and that was where I started with my writing. Not that I had anything against those who wrote fanficiton, it just wasn't for me. But I have now tried a tiny bit of fanfiction and while I still prefer my own stories, I did have fun.

Fanfiction can have helpful writing qualities too. Not every story written needs to be done in the name of publication. Since writing is a craft and requires sets of skills that can be developed forever and writing different stories can help with just. I know if I plan to continue writing this one fanfiction story based off Monochrome Factor, it will help me work on writing fight scenes because let's face it, that story requires lots of fighting. And fights are something I am not good at because I rarely write them.

Some stories garner more fanfiction than others. I know Harry Potter fanfiction was rather popular, along with Twilight, Hunger Games, Dr Who, Star Trek and many others. And some even use the opportunity of opening their story world to the readers by going with a creative commons license and straight out inviting others to write stories in the world they created. There are also web sites dedicated entirely to fanfiction.

However, I don't read much fanfiction. The few that I've read have often been for tv shows or books that I know nothing about, which helps in that I can accept whatever the writer has done with the story but on the other hand I don't have the basic knowledge of the world or the characters they didn't create. The ones I have read and did know suffered in quality, especially compared to the book it had gotten the story idea from, which ended up making things worse. And that's a hard part about putting out fanfiction for others to see, having it compared to the original source.

Then there is the whole should fanfiction be published (as in sold for profit type of published), especially after the popularity of 50 Shades of Grey but I won't go into that much. Do a google search on the book title and fanfiction and you'll see a number of people's opinions on that topic.

It's an interesting topic and one I may research more about in the future.

What do you think of Fanfiction?
Do you write Fanfiction or read it?

D is for Dystopia

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 Yep, I am going with Dystopia for the D. May not be the most original but it wasn't one of the three I'd done in past years of taking part in A to Z, and it happens to be something I like to read. So, here it is, my post for D.

What is Dystopia?
Definition says, a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease and overcrowding.
Or from Wikipedia - "A dystopia is a community or society, usually fictional, that is in some important way undesirable or frightening. It is the opposite of a utopia. Such societies appear in many works of fiction, particularly in stories set in a speculative future. Dystopias are often characterized by dehumanization, totalitarian governments, environmental disaster, or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society. Elements of dystopias may vary from environmental to political and social issues. Dystopian societies have culminated in a broad series of sub-genres of fiction and are often used to raise real-world issues regarding society, environment, politics, religion, psychology, spirituality, or technology that may become present in the future. For this reason, dystopias have taken the form of a multitude of speculations, such as pollution, poverty, societal collapse, political repression, or totalitarianism."


I have always been drawn to dystopian stories, ever since reading one of the more notorious books of the genre: The Giver.  They may not have had environmental disasters but there was definitely some total control by upper management in that story, alone with delusional realities provided to he people, so I'm fairly certain it's dystopian. Aside from it, however, I've also been fans of books like Wither and The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I even liked Hunger Games, though I haven't read the other books in the series yet.

Why does dystopia work well in fiction?
Well compared to Utopia, there is a key factor that makes it work for fiction writing... Conflict. It's easy to increase the troubles in an already troubled world, much more so than in a perfect ideal one. Sure, one can be delusioned to think they are in a utopian type world only to have someone, the main character usually, discover that it's a lie. However, what draws people in part to the dystopian set story is the depth of conflict it creates. Just look over the explanation from wikipedia. Societal collapse, poverty, political repression, technology struggles, spiritual loss, many factors can be woven in creating a dystopian world. Then throw in a character and watch them struggle to survive and grow despite the chains bearing down on their world.

I am working on a few somewhat dystopian stories now. I have a world with cities struggling to survive and fight off monsters. Another involves environment decaying and struggling to survive along with cloud walking. Then there is the science based society with the musician main character. And there are probably more, if I go through my list of 70+ ideas. Not every story needs to be dystopian by any means and some are far more dystopian than others, but it can make for an interesting story.


Do you like dystopian stories?
What makes a good dystopian tale?

Mayhem by Genre

Okay, there hasn't been much Mayhem this month, work distracted me a bit. But here is another post dedicated to the topic.


Each genre has its own levels and type of mayhem that become popular. Some can even use that lesser known definition of the word given the right genre. What works for certain genres won't always work in others, however, which is why it's good to know the genre that you are writing in, just saying.

Now to the genres.

Action/Adventure - yeah the easy one

Bombs exploding, fast car chases, tense sounds of clocks to indicate time is running out... Okay, that last one doesn't work as well in novels as it does on tv or in movies but you get the picture. It's basically a genre that requires a storyline where there is an exciting undertaking that involves risk. If mayhem doesn't happen then something went wrong in the writing. And there better be dire consequences if the main character fails in their quest. Can also be parts of other genres like some of the following.

Fantasy - my favorite

All different kinds of mayhem can happen in fantasy novels. Magical mayhem could ensue, at times the rendering ones opponent unable to fight would work in this case, but also many others. War, destruction, death, glitter all over the place, and much more. This could include a group going out on an adventure to save a the world. Dire consequences ensue including possible end of all time depending on the series. Mayhem can increase the tension in a fantasy story, though still has to make sense within the story, of course.

Science Fiction - similar to the last two

Battle ships, aliens, military explosions, big blue creatures... all kinds of fun mayhem in science fiction. I don't read too much sci-fi reading but I do know it's a great outlet for mayhem. It may not be the magical elven type mayhem in a couple fantasy novels, but they have their own versions. But the tension creating crazy situations are useful.

Romance - bit different

Yes, romance can have chaos but it's a little different. Unless it's an action/romance there probably aren't going to be random bombs going off or sword fights (though depends on the story). What is keeping the couple from getting together? That can involve a little mayhem. Won't find much malicious injuring of people cause lets face it, that's not romantic. But through in a little chaos in the story, keep things interesting and things should work out in some way or another.


Finally, check out this. Allstate found an amusing use for mayhem, so apparently that dude is what mayhem would look like personified. Wonder if he'll be stereotyped as the mayhem man. lol
http://www.allstate.com/mayhem-is-everywhere.aspx

The real Mayhem starts in April. A to Z challenge and I'm doing 2 blogs. Woot!

What is your favorite genre and how do you think it uses mayhem?