Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy
edited by Gardner Dozois, Tina Lee, Stanley Schmidt, Ian Randal Strock, Sheila Williams
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St. Martin's Press (New York): 1991. Trade paperback: viii, 264 pages. ISBN-10: 0-312-08926-0 ISBN-13: 978-0312089269 Suggested retail price: $9.95 (US) Tag: Writing Tactical strength: [7/10] |
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Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy gives fairly standard how-to-write advice but makes several unique points. Several articles on creating fictional worlds give more detail on generating a fictional universe than I have ever seen in any other resource. Poul Anderson gives a scientific explanation (including tables and graphs) of how to build a feasible planetary system. John Barnes also uses current scientific understanding of socio-economics as a tool for building a world in the future. Stanley Schmidt wrote a humorous and informative list of the (bad) stories that wouldn't die -- and if you've ever read fiction from the slushpile, you've probably seen them all.
Dozois has collected all the standard advice too: show don't tell, formatting a manuscript, submission guidelines, agents and contracts. Overall, I wouldn't put this on a must read list unless you haven't read more than three other how-to-write books. (And if you have, you should spend more time writing and not reading about writing.)
