How to write science fiction & fantasy

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Title:

How to write science fiction & fantasy

Author:

Card, Orson Scott.

ISBN:

9781582971032

Edition:

1st pbk. ed.

Publication Information:

Cincinnati, Ohio : Writer's Digest Books, 2001.

Physical Description:

140 p. ; 23 cm.

Contents:

Infinite boundary -- World creation -- Story construction -- Writing well -- Life and business of writing.

Subject Term:

Science fiction -- Authorship.

Science fiction -- Technique.

Fantasy literature -- Authorship.

Fantasy literature -- Technique.

Creative writing.

Summary:

You've always dreamed of writing science fiction and fantasy. Orson Scott Card shows you how it's done, distilling years of writing experience and publishing success into concise, no-nonsense advice. You'll learn how to: wield story elements that "define" the science fiction and fantasy genres; build, populate and dramatize a credible, inviting world your readers will want to explore; develop the "rules" of time, space and magic that affect your world and its inhabitants; construct a compelling story by developing ideas, characters and events that keep readers turning pages; find the markets for speculative fiction, reach them and get published; submit queries, write cover letters, find an agent and live the life of a writer.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	808.3876 CAR	Searching... Unknown
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Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	808.3876 CAR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	808.3876 CAR	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Learn to write science fiction and fantasy from a master

You've always dreamed of writing science fiction and fantasy tales that pull readers into extraordinary new worlds and fantastic conflicts. Best-selling author Orson Scott Card shows you how it's done, distilling years of writing experience and publishing success into concise, no-nonsense advice. You'll learn how to-

.utilize story elements that define the science fiction and fantasy genres
.build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world your readers will want to explore
.develop the "rules" of time, space and magic that affect your world and its inhabitants
.construct a compelling story by developing ideas, characters, and events that keep readers turning pages
.find the markets for speculative fiction, reach them, and get published
.submit queries, write cover letters, find an agent, and live the life of a writer

The boundaries of your imagination are infinite. Explore them with Orson Scott Card and create fiction that casts a spell over agents, publishers, and readers from every world.

Author Notes

Orson Scott Byron Walley Card, was born in 1951 and studied theater at Brigham Young University. He received his B.A. in 1975 and his M.A. in English in 1981. He wrote plays during that time, including Stone Tables (1973) and the musical, Father, Mother, Mother and Mom (1974).

A Mormon, Scott served a two-year mission in Brazil before starting work as a journalist in Utah. He also designed games at Lucas Film Games, 1989-92. He is best known for his science fiction novels, including the popular Ender series. Well known titles include A Planet Called Treason (1979), Treasure Box (1996), and Heartfire (1998). He has also written the guide called How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (1990).

His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, both won Hugo and Nebula awards, making Card the only author to win both prizes in consecutive years. His titles Shadows in Flight, Ruins and Ender's Game made The New York Times Best Seller List. He is also the author of The First Formic War Series, which includes the titles Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, and Earth Awakens.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

YA-- Card does not discuss how to write in general, e.g., plotting, style, dialogue, point of view, or characterization, but instead covers creative writing as it relates to the science fiction/fantasy genre. He includes such diverse topics as inventing a world, creating alien societies, the rules of magic, etc. This well-written volume is an excellent resource for beginning writers or a refresher for those already on their journeys to other worlds and other stars. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Basic texts on how to write science fiction and fantasy proliferate, but they are seldom written by one of the acknowledged younger masters in both fields. Card provides considerably more than basic material on ideas, world building, characterization, narrative technique, and style, and he adds notes on marketing and on surviving the science fiction writer's life. Wit, balance, and insight are uniformly present, and the result is a singular, indispensable book for the aspiring science fiction writer. --Roland Green

Introduction	p. 1
1 The Infinite Boundary	p. 3
What is, and isn't, science fiction and fantasy, and by whose standards: publishers', writers', readers'
What basic concepts and approaches qualify a story as true speculative fiction, and how SF and fantasy differ from one another
2 World Creation	p. 26
How to build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world that readers will want to share with you
Dragging ideas through "the idea net" of why, how, and with what result
Developing the rules of your world ... and then abiding by them and making them matter: the rules of Time, Space, and Magic
Working out the history, language, geography, and customs of your invented world
3 Story Construction	p. 63
Finding a character for an idea, or developing ideas for a character to enact
Qualifications for the main character: who hurts the most? Who has power and freedom to act?
Should the viewpoint character be the main character? How do you decide?
Determining where the story should begin and end
The MICE quotient: milieu, idea, character, event--knowing which is most important in your story will help you decide its proper shape
4 Writing Well	p. 88
Keeping exposition in its place
Leading your reader into the strangeness, step by step
Piquing the reader's interest
Keeping the "level of diction" appropriate to the story's imagined world
Using invented jargon sparsely and effectively
5 The Life and Business of Writing	p. 104
The markets for short and long speculative fiction--magazines, anthologies, fanzines--and how to reach them
Classes, workshops, conferences and conventions
Collaboration, adaptation, and shared worlds
Professional writers' organizations
Awards in speculative fiction
Index	p. 138

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Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Booklist Review

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