Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy

While both science fiction and fantasy evoke "a sense of wonder in the audience," says David Gerrold in Worlds of Wonder, science fiction "is about what's possible," while "fantasy is about what's not." Writing for both these genres is a lot like "playing with a set of Lego bricks," Gerrold says: you're creating your own world, but you have to work within a logical framework. Like other forms of storytelling, says Gerrold (best known for his "Trouble with Tribbles" Star Trek episode), science fiction and fantasy rely on mysterious first sentences, effective exits, and surprises in every sentence in between. The difference is that your characters inhabit whole worlds of your own making, worlds that may be "marvelous and surprising to the reader," but must remain ordinary to the story's characters. To carry this off, says Gerrold, "you have to write each moment"--no matter how improbable--"as if you lived it yourself."