Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Archive for August, 2011

Giraffes, Refrigerators, and Worldbuilding

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

by Kelly Swails

A few weeks ago a friend sent me a long-winded joke complete with goofy font and cutesy pictures. It went something like this:
Q: How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?
A: Open the door, put in the giraffe, and close the door.
Q: How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
A: Open the door, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.
Q: The Lion King is hosting and animal conference. All the animals attend … except one. Which animal misses the conference?
A: The elephant. He’s in the refrigerator.
Q: there is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles and you don’t have a boat. How do you manage it?
A: You jump into the river and swim across. All the crocodiles are at the Animal Conference.

After I groaned, I chided myself for not seeing it coming. Why? Because this is a lesson in worldbuilding dressed as a joke.

Building a unique world for characters to live in is complex, even more so when an author is writing fantasy and science fiction. An author must juggle hundreds of details and facts, only a fraction of which may end up in the final manuscript. Those details include—but are certainly not limited to—dates of historical events, geography, languages, government, economics and currency, and dietary habits of imaginary or long-forgotten tribes. It’s the author’s job to give the world enough depth and nuance that readers will suspend their disbelief. But a thousand years of back-story or a genealogy of the protagonist’s sex partners won’t do a bit of good if story details change in midstream. If Sally’s favorite ice cream is peppermint in chapter two but chocolate in chapter twenty–the reader can be jolted out of the story. Writers have to remember to take the giraffe out of the refrigerator so they can put the elephant in.

While a few writers may be able to keep everything straight in their head, the rest of us need organizational tools. Some systems are better than others, but the most perfect system in the world for another writer will fail if it doesn’t click with your own work style.
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Tags: Kelly Swails
Posted in SFWA Blog | 1 Comment »

Guest Post: Writers and Pellets

Monday, August 29th, 2011

by Tobias Buckell

A good friend asked me to write about my pigeons and pellets story I’ve been telling friends for the past year.

It goes something like this…

When I talk to writers I often reinforce the importance of milestones versus goals.

Milestones are things you’d like to have happen to you. Selling a story. Selling a novel. Getting nominated for an award. Winning an award.

Goals are things you can actually achieve. Finishing writing a story. Writing a certain number of words. Writing a certain kind of story.

Too many people, when they create lists of goals they’d like to achieve in their year, choose to list milestones over which they have little control. Saying you’d like to sell a novel as a ‘goal’ is possibly not in your control. The market may not be right. You may not have written a good novel. But you can certainly somewhat control writing a novel and submitting it.
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Tags: Tobias Buckell
Posted in Advice for New Writers, Building a Career, Information Center, SFWA Blog, The Business of Writing, Tips for Beginners | 1 Comment »

Video Pick of the Week: Ira Glass on Storytelling

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life, gave a presentation at the GEL Conference.  If you’re looking for insights from a master storyteller, check it out.

Tags: Ira Glass, video pick of the week
Posted in SFWA Blog | 1 Comment »

Andre Norton Project

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Scott Brown, documentary film producer, will be at DragonCon in Atlanta from Thursday through Monday. He aims to collect interviews from authors who knew or worked with Andre Norton. These will be gathered into a film about the life of Andre Norton. Please contact Scott if you will be in attendance at DragonCon and could contribute to this project.

Scott Brown e-mail: contact@pushingthepen.com

Tags: Andre Norton
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off

How to Satisfy Your Reader without Being Predictable

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Posted by Ann C. Crispin for Writer Beware

How many times have you tuned into a murder mystery television show, such as Murder, She Wrote, and within the first 10 minutes, been able to ID whodunit…sometimes even before the murder occurs? I bet a lot of you are like me – you can spot the murderer right from the beginning, and your only interest in the show from then on is in watching how Jessica Fletcher figures out his/her identity.

That’s because Murder, She Wrote is predictable.

While I’m sure some viewers never guess who the murderer is, and are genuinely surprised when Jessica Fletcher accuses the guilty party, I’ll bet most writers spot him/her early on. If you have a storytelling mind, it’s easy to spot such a predictable outcome – which is why you really want to avoid being this transparent in your own writing. On the other hand, you know you have to provide the reader with enough information and clues so you don’t just drop the resolution to your conflict on the reader at the end of the story totally unheralded. If solutions to problems, and resolutions to dilemmas, come out of left field, readers feel - rightfully - cheated. It’s like watching Bobby Ewing step out of the shower. (Does anyone remember that “great” moment in network television? Clumsy, contrived, and extremely annoying to the fans doesn’t even begin to cover it!)

Before we get to some practical suggestions on ways to avoid predictability, let’s discuss “satisfying the reader.” We’re talking about genre novels. Literary novels aren’t written to fulfill the same expectations as genre novels. In literary novels, you do have endings where everyone winds up dead, or miserable, or failing utterly. Not always, but sometimes. (more...)

Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 3 Comments »

Tiptree Motherboard honored by the Science Fiction Research Association

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

In belated news, the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) presented the Clareson Award for outstanding service to the Tiptree Motherboard (Karen Joy Fowler, Debbie Notkin, Ellen Klages, Jeanne Gomoll, Jeff Smith, and Pat Murphy).

From a press release:

In a ceremony in Lublin, Poland, on July 9, the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) presented the Motherboard of the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award with the 2011 Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service. Motherboard members Karen Joy Fowler and Pat Murphy traveled to Poland to accept the award.

Named for noted science fiction scholar Thomas D. Clareson, The Clareson Award has been presented annually since 1996. Past winners have included Frederik Pohl, James Gunn, David Harwell, and Paul Kincaid.

At the ceremony, Karen Fowler expressed the Motherboard’s appreciation, saying, “As everyone in this room knows full well, when you join a volunteer organization you’d best expect virtue to be its own reward. That’s not meant as a complaint. Pat and I have loved every minute of running the Tiptree Award. We’ve met amazing people and read amazing work and it’s all been a very good time. But we did start the award with a specific mission, to support and encourage a kind of speculative literature we worried was not being recognized, a literature very important to us. And it’s hard to see from the inside whether an impact has been made. So we are enormously surprised, gratified, and grateful that you’ve chosen to honor us with this award. It makes us hope that we are, perhaps, achieving those initial, fundamental goals.”
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Tags: Debbie Notkin, ellen klages, Jeanne Gomoll, Jeff Smith, Karen Joy Fowler, Pat Murphy, SFRA
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LoneStarCon 3 wins 2013 Worldcon bid for San Antonio

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

LoneStarCon3 has announced:

The World Science Fiction Convention will return to Texas for the first time since 1997 after voting results announced Aug. 20 at Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon, awarded the right to host the international conference to the Texas in 2013 bid.

LoneStarCon 3–the 71st World Science Fiction Convention–will be held Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 2013, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. The Mariott Rivercenter and Mariott Riverwalk will serve as the host hotels.

The guests of honor list for LoneStarCon 3 includes Ellen Datlow, James Gunn, Norman Spinrad, Darrel K. Sweet and Willie Siros, with Paul Cornell serving as toastmaster and featuring special guests Leslie Fish and Joe R. Lansdale.

Founded in 1939, the World Science Fiction Convention is one of the largest international gatherings of authors, artists, editors, publishers and fans of science fiction and fantasy entertainment. The annual Hugo Awards, the leading award for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy, are voted on by Worldcon membership and presented during the convention.
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Tags: LoneStarCon, Worldcon
Posted in SFWA Blog | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2011-08-23

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

Member News

• SFWA member Kari Sperring has signed a two book deal with DAW for a pair of linked fantasy novels.
• SFWA member Jennifer Brozek won the silver ENnie for best electronic RPG book for SHANGHAI VAMPOCALYPSE.
• Analog’s first Kindle anthology, INTO THE NEW MILLENNIUM: TRAILBLAZING TALES FROM ANALOG 2000-2010 includes SFWA member David D. Levine‘s “Pupa.”
• SFWA member Ferrett Steinmetz‘s woman-heals-an-insane-father story, “My Father’s Wounds,” is up at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• SFWA member Genevieve Valentine‘s touch-telepath story “Souvenir” is up now Strange Horizons.
• NET IMPACT, a new spy thriller from SFWA member Donald J. Bingle, now available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, & trade paperback.
• SFWA member Eugie Foster‘s story “The Wish of the Demon Achtromagk” was published in ep. 214 of the Drabblecast Podcast.
• SFWA member Ferrett Steinmetz sold his gay-lovers-infected-by-military-virus story “Devour” to Escape Pod.

Tags: David D. Levine, Donald J. Bingle, Eugie Foster, Ferrett Steinmetz, genevieve valentine, Jennifer Brozek, Kari Sperring, twitter
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off

Quick Updates for 2011-08-22

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

• SFWA member @eugiefoster's story "The Wish of the Demon Achtromagk" was published in ep. 214 of the Drabblecast Podcast. http://t.co/LQ0v748 #

Tags: twitter
Posted in Excluded Categories | Comments Off

And the Hugo goes to…

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

The Hugo Awards, presented annually since 1955, are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. This year’s awards were presented in Reno, Nevada at Renovation, the 69th annual Worldcon. Works that were published in English in 2010 were eligible for the award.

 

 
Best Novel

Winner: Blackout/All Clear, Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)

Nominees:

• Cryoburn, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• The Dervish House, Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
• Feed, Mira Grant (Orbit)
• The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

Best Novella

Winner: The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang (Subterranean)

Nominees:

• “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window”, Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)
• “The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon”, Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow)
• “The Sultan of the Clouds”, Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s, September 2010)
• “Troika”, Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club)

Best Novelette

Winner: “The Emperor of Mars”, Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)

Nominees:

• “Eight Miles”, Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010)
• “The Jaguar House, in Shadow”, Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s, July 2010)
• “Plus or Minus”, James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, December 2010)
• “That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made”, Eric James Stone (Analog, September 2010)

Best Short Story

Winner: “For Want of a Nail”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)

Nominees:

• “Amaryllis”, Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)
• “Ponies”, Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)
• “The Things”, Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)

Note: there are only four nominees in this category per the requirement that nominees receive a minimum percentage of nominations.
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Tags: hugo awards, Worldcon
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | 2 Comments »

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