Science Fiction – Dead in the Past or Alive in the Future?

Genre fiction always seems to generate strong debate and, at time, strong words, between its fans and detractors alike and science fiction is no different. Just a few days ago, I was taking a break from writing ‘Neon Lights’ with a bit of, well, writing – but this time on-line in one of the many forums I’m a member of. An old debate had risen its head above the parapet and had immediately signalled the firing of a barrage of impassioned pleas, desperate cries and many a strong personality. So I’ve decided to mark the occasion, its barbed words and heated exchanges still ringing in my ears, with an entry on my blog and give my two (or three…) cents on the topic which is never seems to go away – Is Science Fiction a dying genre?

One thing is certain, as much as many of us writers hate to admit it, writing is a business and by all accounts SF sales are falling. It you talk to most agents today they will tell you – ‘We’re not taking in any Science Fiction’, a quick look at the Amazon best sellers list and we find books such as ‘Girl on a Train’ by Paula Hawkins or Diane Chamberlain’s ‘The Silent Sister’ – not a SF title in sight! So does this prove that all is lost? Should writers of SF throw their hands up in the air and move onto other forms of fiction?

There are a number of reasons for this possible decline. Perhaps it originates from when and how the genre was created – it emerged during the late Nineteenth Century making it a relative baby in English Languages literary heritage – possibly growing from the industrial revolution in tales such as that of Robert Louis Stevenson – before putting roots down in the Twentieth Century. Critics have said that because it does  not have the pedigree of romance, thrillers, historical fiction or crime, it is just a flash in the pan genre – products of a time when science exploded onto the scene providing a sudden ‘age of wonder’ for readers eager to immerse themselves in. The moon landings are a prime example of a time when SF peaked. Is our modern society now de-sensitised to this ‘wonder’, are we numb to thinking ‘what if?’ Or now so used to technological and scientific advancement that we don’t care? The very thought scares me and the fact that some suggest this makes me want to scream from the rooftops…

NO! WE JUST NEED GOOD WRITERS TO INSPIRE US!

Excuse my use of caps and exclamation marks (shudder…) but I did warn you about the emotion such a debate generates…

Anyway, where was I…..oh yes – It is obvious that times have changed since the era when the genre peaked – both socially and culturally – from the late 50s, 60s and 70s when SF was used as a tool to get the youth interested in science – today teaching has evolved and uses other methods to motivate.

However – back to my rant – I personally disagree fundamentally with this outlook. As a reader, writer, having been an English Literature teacher for a number of years, as a human being – I believe that language and literature are a fluid force constantly evolving over time to incorporate new ideas and new methods. Yes, I understand that SF is a relatively new genre but it has incorporated classic techniques and story elements – especially in off shoots such as SF romance, SF noir, dystopian fiction – not all SF has to be the stereotyped high tech of ‘pure SF’ or space opera – it is not a genre shackled to technology or science where ‘fringe groups’ (nerds we are commonly called) obsess about the cold hard use of ‘tech talk’ and its relevance to reality which are understandably a turn off for the mainstream who see high tech stories lacking humanity and empathy. So I’ll go back to my solid belief that all SF needs is good writers producing great stories that are well written. If this happens the genre will always shine – it will not need other roles like furthering science or a reliance on ‘a moment of wonder’ in human history – all it needs are beautifully crafted words to sell it to the public.

“Good literature?” I hear the masses shout out with a fair amount of disbelief. Yes, OK, I understand that SF is packed full of authors of varying ability and it can be tough to look beyond the old guard of Gibson, Dick, Priest and Hamilton but look beyond them we must. We as aspiring writer’s need to step up to the mantle and continue their great work, all be it in a constant state of change and evolution. If would-be authors need a carrot to chase all we need to do is look at cinema where Andy Wier’s ‘The Martian’ is making the journey from book to screen. Ridley Scott is also producing Prometheus 2 next year proving the genre remains a fan favourite.

I accept that without doubt SF as a genre can be its own worst enemy. It is male dominated in a time when the mainstream readers are 70% female and frustratingly still predominately projects a white world – it needs to diversify and reflect our cosmopolitan society, for sure.

To finish – I need to take a breath and correct the many grammatical errors and spelling mistakes my hammering of the keys has no doubt created – I just want to emphasise that over two thousand titles are still being published each year so this does not tell me that the genre is in decline. I believe that Science Fiction is very much alive in the future – like I have already said – all we need are good writers and the books will sell themselves!

A quick update on my second novel – Neon Lights – the second in the Kessler series –  now 70,000 words complete.

Check out the 4 and 5 star reviews of City of Darkness at www.amazon.co.uk

You can catch me on my website – www.dpwrightauthor.co.uk

Or on twitter – @DPWright79

Laptop or Pen? Choose Your Weapon…..

Writers are strange creatures. Each approaches the act of plying their trade differently and each have their own tools/resources to navigate their way through the minefield of obstacles and challenges that is the physical and psychological battle of getting their manuscript published. The search for the scribe’s Holy Grail, that solution, that golden ticket which would make the impossible seem possible, make the over saturated, highly competitive, publishing industry open its doors to that next book and make it a best seller, is discussed every day in social media, forums, book clubs and writing seminars the world over. Last week was no different. I was on Twitter with a group of writers all doing what we do best – giving our two cents about the state of the business – when the conversation turned to the most basic – how do you do battle? What medium do you use?

Doesn’t everyone use the same? Desktop, laptop, note book and pen….most use a combination of all three but not me, not any more. Don’t get me wrong – for the first book I certainly did – I had a routine like so many writers. The notebook was for my musings, those spontaneous thoughts that I had on a daily basis – whilst at work, watching TV, with family – you get the idea – a jumble of thoughts, some useful some not so, scrawled across the page. It was then that the laptop came into play. Knowing how long I spend at the top of the house locked away in the study, I’m constantly aware that I must spend some time (more time…) with Lilly (otherwise with my other job I could quite easily never see her…) hence downstairs I could kill two birds with one stone and copy up notes onto my laptop to satisfy my writing needs and be reasonably social with my better half. It was only when the serious editing and more complex scribing took place after the first draft that I would sit in my study at my desktop and lock myself away for the peace and quiet needed to finish the manuscript to the desired level of quality.

This all changed when writing Neon Lights – my second book. Those challenges mentioned above that lay in wait for any a frustrated writer – procrastination, the dreaded writer’s block, life getting in the way of writing – I have danced with all these challenges over the last six months. So how did I get beat them? How have I finished writing (well it’s very nearly finished) Neon Lights? Well, by doing what any soldier would do to win a battle – I changed my weapon of choice to better my enemy. I ditched the laptop – it just doesn’t work for me. I found the creativity dried up when I sat there looking at the cold plastic and metal that made up the machine. I found that the internet –  social media and all the rest – were a distraction. Instead I embraced the trusty notebook and pen to fulfil all my writing needs all the way up to the final editing stage. Take a look at the below image….

Notebooks are practical – easier to carry around than a laptop and can be taken out whenever, wherever, when that idea is screaming to be noted before it disappears into the ether. Immediately when I started solely using the notebook the creative juices suddenly flowed – and not just for a short while, they have been flowing ever since. I find that I take ownership of my words, my language, much more by writing them with a pen instead of typing on my laptop. I only have to look at any page in one of my now many notebooks all crammed with words and I am inspired to write more – see the passion in every scribble, every image (despite being a very poor artist!), every side note and hastily scribed plot idea – its all the motivation I need. I even, and I understand that this is a bit sad, look forward to buying new notebooks – leather backed, hard backed, themed – I admit that I’m a notebook geek but I love it – it’s an extension of my love of writing….

Once you have finished a book/story/manuscript your notebooks packed full of words, emotions, coffee and tea stains, are something to be proud of, something to keep as a memory – they tell a story in their own right about how your novel came to be….

Writers have to do whatever works for them and going ‘old school’ and going back to the trusty notebook and pen has done wonders for my creative out-put – try it, it may work for you! As Shakespeare said, ‘I’ll call for pen and ink and write my mind……’

www.dpwrightauthor.o.uk

Twitter: @dpwright79

Catch my dark future crime thriller ‘City of Darkness’ – paperback and ebook –  and the many 4 and 5 star reviews at www.amazon.co.uk

The Light as a Descriptive Force

The life of a writer trying to make it in this busy world can be described as a blur of intense activity where time management, stubborn self motivation and the necessity to multi task (I admit I struggle with this one) are needed as we navigate our way through deadlines, work to pay the bills, family life, marketing our own material, researching and of course, that time set aside for a good (or not so good) dose of procrastination. However, just recently, a calm was brought to this tempest of activity when I got asked a question on twitter about my use of light within the text of City of Darkness. The person wanted to know if they should put so much work into describing their settings when all they wanted to do was develop their characters. After clicking that mouse button and reading the tweet I slumped back in my chair and took time to take a breath. It was one of those moments (queue the clichés…) which made me take a step back and remember why I have always wanted to be a writer, made me think about what I enjoyed about the old art of scribing.

A memory I had not recalled in a long time dusted itself down and appeared in my mind. An English lesson in grammar school – I must have been about thirteen or fourteen, or maybe a bit older, anyway a teacher, a Mr Caernduff, was getting the class to act out a scene from R.C Sheriff’s Journey’s End – a play set in World War 1 that takes place entirely in the officer’s ‘dugout’ in the trenches in France. A couple of students, some volunteers, some conscripted, stood at the front of the class, books in hand, acting out a scene. Of course I was there, standing with a confidence I had no right to have whilst trying to project my voice across the classroom as Captain Stanhope. However it was not the bad acting that I remember but the actual words that R C Sheriff used to forever imprint on my mind the fear, anticipation and claustrophobic intensity of life the characters experienced in that bunker.

Throughout the four days covered by the play, Sheriff subtly turns the mood darker as the characters wait to go ‘over the top’ and the enemy. One of the ways he does this is by using the only glimpse of the outside world the audience have – the entrance from the dug out to the trenches – to tell us of the impending doom that awaits the characters. From it light streams in to their small world in scene 1 but as the play progresses ‘the faint rosy glow of the dawn is deepening to an angry red’. The stark image of the candle which illuminates the dugout with ‘a steady flame’ over the course of the drama suddenly going out at the play’s explosive ending has always stayed with me.

My love of the use of the light and the dark to expose my characters’ traits and vulnerabilities can be seen throughout City of Darkness – even in the title – and it is a theme that I have carried on to my second book – Neon Lights. So, my response to the question – should I put so much work into describing my setting when all I want to do was to develop my characters – was a completely biased one. My use of a setting that is alive as much as my characters is an extension of why I write. Others write for different reasons, have different memories.

Catch me at www.dpwrightauthor.co.uk

Twitter: @dpwright79