Sunday, September 30, 2018

World building in Science Fiction part 1


There are 2 major questions that I get as a science fiction author:
  1. Where do you get your ideas?
  2. How do you create such a vivid world?
Now the first question is one that authors have been asked for as long as there has been publishing.
“Every artist gets asked the question, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ The honest artist answers, ‘I steal them.’” – Austin Kleon
"From the Idea-of-the-Month Club"  - Neil Gaiman 
"Poughkeepsie.- Harlan Ellison 
 Now for me the where and how do I build my world are intertwined.

So I will try to explain. I looked at current communications technology and the sudden push into wearables. This got me to thinking about what is possible in a wearable and then what impact it could have on society. So from my concept notes:
Personal comms/ net  
Most people have built-in small personal communicator that allows them to communicate and surf the internet with data coming up on retinal implants can provide “heads up display as well as video feed and recording. They also can get full data net access the same way. Wrist pads offer external recording option for when you want to be seen when talking to someone and for holographic displays of data etc. Wrist pads are personalized to look like bracelets, sports bands, old style smart watches, gauntlets etc. Most have basic AI / personal assistant (Siri grown up) 

Ok, so that is the tech, but unless you are into communications technology this will leave you feeling something is missing. So rather than tell it this way in the story, I got to thinking how it would affect society (think about what the car did to society).

             Social side effects:
An always connected intelligence has led to a reduction of personal attacks and reduced problems like rape due to the ability of the semi intelligent devices recording and broadcasting full 3d holograms in real-time to the police, but also the medical state of the victim – preventing the claims of the person asking for it or liking it. The recordings with GPS locations lead to an almost 100% conviction rate that led to a steady decline in violent crimes. It also had the side effect of increasing the legal establishments for those who prefer violent or non-standard behaviors (not just sex) where the employees are either personally enjoying it or good actors who have “signed up” for these acts for quite a high pay.
Some of these effects are suddenly being debated in terms of the auto-call feature in the new iWatch and the rights of police responding to enter without an warrant.

So now I have an interesting future tech, an idea about how it will affect people and how they will interact with it. This leaves the rest of the world.

I chose our Solar System, but you can choose any world or place you want.

In my next installment, I will explain how I build it from the "ground up."

If you want to read about how other authors build their worlds, I do a weekly blog interview at https://www.ericlklein.com/feature-friday-futures/  where you can find many authors discussing the worlds in their novels.


Photos of 2 works by  Lissanne Lake that are hanging on my wall.

Click to read more posts in our Blog post Gallery


COMMENTS

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Toi Thomas

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Great post Eric. I like how you explain the practicality of technology, including all the difficulties that may arise from its use. Your work sounds interesting and complex. Thanks for sharing.
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Toi Thomas via Google+

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Today, Eric Klein discusses science fiction world building an technology over at #OurAuthorGang.
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P. J. Mann

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
What an interesting post! Although I am pretty much an old school person (can be the age) I find it very fascinating topic, and I can't see the time to read your next post.
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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Today on #OurAuthorGang, one of our newest members, author Eric Klein, brings us World-Building in Science Fiction.
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Joe Bonadonna

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Great post, Eric!  I've done a LOT of world-building for my fantasy stories. I've always found building worlds for science fiction to be a more daunting task. I had to do a little for my space opera, but that story didn't require a lot.  When I set out to write my sword and planet adventure, however, I had no choice but to build a complete world. There was no way around it. If I was going to write about a planet's ecosystem and endangered species, I needed to plot it all out. I borrow, too: my Questron instantaneous, sub-space communications transmitter is actually Ursula K. LeGuin's "Ansible." Look forward to more of your posts. Welcome to the blog! 
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Ruth de Jauregui

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Great post Eric! I love speculative fiction in all its forms. This is fascinating!
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Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Author Eric Klein shares his world building process on #OurAuthorGang today. Fascinating -- he starts with technology and how it affects people and society.
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Nikki McDonagh

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Interesting post Eric. As a fellow sci-fi writer, world building is something I really enjoy as you can let your imagination fly.
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Lorraine Carey

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Great post, Eric. I really think those who write SciFi have quite a sophisticated imagination. I admire that. Your works sounds most intriguing.Thank you for sharing.
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Erika M Szabo

4 months ago  -  Shared publicly
Interesting post Eric! When you write sci-fi you have to build a complete, believable world with technical details while in fantasy stories, which I write, I can let my imagination fly. I'm looking forward to your series.

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