How To Write Science Fiction

by Paul Di Filippo

A THOUGHTFUL TRAVEL INTO THE SCIENCE FICTION

How to write wild-eyed, overstuffed, multiplex, maximalist, recomplicated, high-bandwidth Science Fiction, or, “realize I don’t wanna be a miser/how come everybody wanna keep it like the Kaiser?”

Don’t expect this book to be a traditional “How To”. It’s a travel into the Science Fiction.

“Science fiction is the literature of ideas?
Sure it is—on a tightly rationed basis!
The truth is, most writers of science fiction and fantasy are naturally stingy.
We tend to hoard ideas, like the dragon Smaug lying on his treasure. We parcel them out in dribs and drabs. One notion per story. Maybe two High Concepts per novel.
Why do we do this?”

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2011

About the author

Paul Di Filippo is the author of hundreds of short stories, some of which have been collected in these widely-praised collections: The Steampunk Trilogy, Ribofunk, Fractal Paisleys, Lost Pages, Little Doors, Strange Trades, Babylon Sisters, and his multiple-award-nominated novella, A Year in the Linear City. Another earlier collection, Destroy All Brains, was published by Pirate Writings, but is quite rare because of the extremely short print run (if you see one, buy it!).

The popularity of Di Filippo’s short stories sometimes distracts from the impact of his mindbending, utterly unclassifiable novels: Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. Paul’s offbeat sensibility, soulful characterizations, exquisite-yet-compact prose, and laugh-out-loud dialogue give his work a charmingly unique voice that is both compelling and addictive. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards.

Despite his dilatory ways, Paul affirms that the sequel to A Year in the Linear City, to be titled A Princess of the Linear Jungle, will get written in 2008. He has two books forthcoming from PS Publications: the collection entitled Harsh Oases and the novel titled Roadside Bodhisattva. His 2008 novel Cosmocopia is graced by Jim Woodring illustrations.

Paul lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Emanuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi sono avvicinata a questo 40k non perché voglio scrivere SciFi ma perché li leggo tutti. [non si sa mai che debba partecipare ancora a concorsi a premio :)].

Però l'ho trovato interessante, così come i racconti che ho letto finora di Di Filippo, perché svela la sua natura eclettica raccontata dal percorso autobiografico come autore, ricco di riferimenti specifici del genere narrativo ma anche di esperienze culturali diverse che egli, con sapienza ed ironia, mescola ottenendo il suo caro mashup.

E comunque la lezione che ci lascia è: l'improvvisazione non si improvvisa.

Vorrei segnalare questa frase: As many authors have said, if the writer is not surprised by events, then chances are that the reader will not be either, and grow bored.
Nel mio piccolo mi racconto battute che mi fanno sganasciare; forse avrò un futuro come autrice ironica (?) :D

[Letizia Sechi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"[...] forse potrei partire dalla famosa definizione di fantascienza di Damon Knight: «Fantascienza è ciò che intendo quando indico qualcosa e la chiamo fantascienza»".

Credetemi, Paul Di Filippo sa come definire la fantascienza. Ma questo saggio breve e preciso non è solo un tentativo di tracciare i confini del genere. È un quadro dettagliato e ricco lungo i periodi e i libri, nel tentativo di capire come migliorare il genere a partire dalle sue pietre miliari. Più precisamente partendo da un tipo di scrittura: quello che porta scrittori e lettori a divertirsi decodificando la storia. Di quale scrittura si tratta? Non posso certo dirvi tutto!

"Ero ben consapevole di pretendere molto dai miei lettori, ma stavo anche cercando di scrivere il tipo di romanzo che io stesso avrei trovato più divertente decifrare."

[Giuseppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Full post)

Se hai letto Smart Magma, Wikiworld o Ritorno al XX Secolo (o magari Un anno nella città lineare), forse hai già un'idea.
La scrittura di Paul Di Filippo è ricca di invenzioni, spesso spiazzante, molte volte umoristica, espressionista. Non è la fantascienza che ti aspetti, di certo.
Piuttosto è un continuo mashup (parola a lui cara) di riferimenti alla musica pop, al cinema, alla tradizione letteraria. Il tutto condito da un'immaginazione potente e -per definizione- mai frenata.

Il risultato è che ogni storia è un'avventura, soprattutto per il lettore. Un'avventura a diversi livelli, alcuni dei quali (per usare un'altra parola cara a Paul) da decifrare.
In Scrivere Fantascienza, saggio che raccoglie tutta la teoria che lo ha ispirato, Di Filippo inizia proprio spiegandoci perché essere tirchi e usare una sola idea per opera, al massimo due, non è necessariamente la soluzione migliore.
Anzi, dice, «La fantascienza degna di questo nome dovrebbe essere folle e pericolosa, non moderata e innocua».

Non a caso il titolo vero del saggio (che però non ci sarebbe mai stato su una copertina sola) è: “Come scrivere fantascienza sbalorditiva, stracolma, multiplex, massimalista, ricomplicata, a banda larga”.
E non è nemmeno tutto il titolo, perché l'originale del manoscritto conteneva anche una citazione dalla canzone “Give It Away” dei Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Realize I don’t want to be a miser / How come everyone else wanna keep it like the kaiser?”). Ma in fondo è inutile stupirsi: Paul -dai un'occhiata alla gallery perché merita- è anche l'uomo capace di spedire con grande costanza fantastici esempi di mail art (o di discutere con me, la mattina di Pasqua, la ricetta delle lasagne in un lungo scambio di email).

In ogni caso, la continua ricchezza di temi e di inventiva fa di Di Filippo uno degli autori di science-fiction più difficili da classificare.
Ma se ti interessa esplorarne il metodo creativo, se non ti spaventa un approccio radicale e caleidoscopico alla creazione di storie, anche fuori dall'idea di genere, Scrivere Fantascienza potrebbe appassionarti.
E se vuoi, puoi anche discuterne con Paul su Facebook.

[Erin Hartshorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably would have gotten more from this book if I had actually read CIPHERS. I give it four stars rather than three, however, because it is not a typical "how to write" book, and his advocacy of being more outrageous, of doing more, of using more than just one big idea, of showing that the weirdness of the world goes beyond this singular tale appeals to my sense of story and wonder and world.

[Letizia Sechi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Still, perhaps I might take my lead from Damon Knight's famous definition of science fiction: "Science fiction is what I mean when I point to something and call it science fiction".

Believe me, Paul Di Filippo truly knows how to define science fiction, but this short and focused essay is not just an attempt to find its boudaries. It's a detailed and rich view through decades and books, trying to understand how to improve a literary genre starting from its milestones; more precisely starting from a specific kind of writing, the one that brings both writers and readers to enjoy the story. Which one? I can't tell you everything!

"That was asking a lot of my readers, I realized, but I was trying to write the novel I would most enjoy decoding."

[Eric Rosenfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should be called "how to write a Pynchonesque Systems Novel which you won't be able to sell anyway" which Di Filippo did exactly once, writing a book he couldn't get published for more than 10 years. He makes some stabs at more general writing techniques, but in a confusing mess of a way that leaves you with more questions than answers. Less of a how to and more of a long meander into Di Filippo's interest in a certain kind of book embodied by Pynchon.

[Tom Spokane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Autobiographical or a Thesis Paper

Not much how to in How to Write Science Fiction. It basically reads like a cited thesis on Thomas Pynchon. The rest is a bio of the author. Very disappointed. I do not recommend this book for insight on how to write science fiction .

[Lorraine A. Cartine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting, descriptive, inspirational and insightful book

This book is not a step-by-step how to book, however I found it to be quite intriguing. A more appropriate title would have been, "The Making of a Science Fiction Book." But as we know, "how to" books sell quite well and therefore in reality it does describe the construction of a Science fiction work of art and how it develops from a contextual point of view.
There are many examples of science fiction books given with an extensive vocabulary to describe and analyze them. The science fiction genre is examined from a maximalist point of view meaning that a complex science fiction book is a compelling read according to the author. Various things influence a book of this nature including music. This book is an interesting and creative analysis of the various science fiction information available. The book implies and rightfully so from a common sense viewpoint that the author's imagination is important. It implies in so many words that science fiction has changed throughout the years and that there really are no steadfast rules except the imagination of the author.
The book does not dictate rules of how a Science fiction book should be written. It "primes the well" of the science fiction author's plan for a plot in science fiction writing.
Information for a more step-by-step, methodical how-to book can easily be found on the Internet. This book, on the other hand, gives a very descriptive, analytical and illustrative presentation about the ideas presented in science fiction books.
The author implies gingerly that the boundaries or guidelines for science fiction writing can be analyzed from an open-minded point of view whereby the genre has been defined by the successful science fiction authors.
As with any type of writing or genre, strict guidelines have not been the case for the evolution of science fiction writing whether "complex" or not. Fiction is just that entity that is defined by the imagination of the author and the history of the genre even though there is a dose of reality presented in science fiction books.
The book is somewhat autobiographical to the extent that the author describes how he wrote books and from where he received inspiration. Altogether, I really enjoyed the book and learned from it.




There are many examples

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading, even though you may not agree with everything he writes. I wrote about it in my SF Signal column: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011...