How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy

Orson Scott Card (well known to sf circles as the author of Ender's Game) presents his advice on writing science fiction and fantasy. The book has a specific and limited scope: rather than trying to teach everything one needs to know to write fiction, Card addresses only those areas where speculative fiction differs from other types. Consequently, this is not a stand-alone writing book. If you are unacquainted with the craft of plotting, character development, dialog, etc., you will need to fill those gaps in some other way. Within the scope the book sets for itself, however, it is top notch. Card really knows his stuff, and has a knack for articulating what he knows in a helpful and memorable way. Particularly valuable is the section on exposition. While most books on fiction writing preach minimizing exposition, Card understands that speculative fiction requires it. The imaginative worlds of speculative fiction are not familiar to readers; they need explaining, and readers expect satisfying explanations. Card explains the conventions of the genre that are used to present exposition without stalling the story. He uses Wild Seed by Octavia Butler to illustrate the ideas, so the reader can see tangible examples of the principles he describes. I also enjoyed his breakdown of stories into four categories (MICE, for milieu, idea, character, and event). He deftly summarizes how each type of story needs to work, and the problems that can result if you don't know what type of story you are writing. This was illuminating and refreshing, since most books on writing do not even acknowledge that fiction can be driven by anything other than character development. In speculative fiction, however, milieu and idea driven stories are part of the landscape, and the aspiring writer needs to understand how they work. Card also offers excellent advice about the business of writing, covering subjects beyond manuscript preparation and agents, such as writer's workshops and classes, sf conventions, and so on. Once again, his familiarity with the world of sf writing comes through strong and clear; he's not merely repeating standard bits of advice, but is writing from experience. A few words of caution: The book was published in 1990, and so is a bit dated in places (there is a bigger market for fantasy short stories than when Card was writing, for example), and the book emphasizes sf more than fantasy. (One notable disappointment in this regard: In one section, there is a discussion of the mechanics of interstellar travel, time travel, and magic. The first two topics receive well-thought-out lists of the different approaches used in sf, and their story implications. Magic, instead of receiving a similar treatment, gets a digression riffing off the idea that magicians sacrifice body parts to cast spells. It's an interesting train of thought, but something less narrow and idiosyncratic would have been appreciated.) On balance, this is the very best book I have found on the special issues that arise when writing science fiction and fantasy. Paired with something like The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, it will answer most questions an aspiring writer in these genres is likely to face.

This book is a great complement to Stephen King's On Writing book for any aspiring writer, especially sci fi and fantasy writers. Both books are upbeat, useful, and entertaining reads with lots of gems from two great writers. Card's book is more straightforward about the steps to take when writing any book and covers more ground on the topic of how to write, whereas King's book is half autobiography (about becoming a writer, himself), funnier, and more specific to King's personal experience (Card, probably because he teaches, does a better job of synthesizing and drawing upon many references to other authors/books). Both authors agree that it is important to let ideas evolve, let the story tell itself through the characters, be as honest as possible, and to not hold on too tight to the original idea at the expense of ignoring a more interesting story that reveals itself as you follow the characters around in the world you created. There's not much overlap between the two books (making their common themes all the more powerful), so I think together they are a great package for the aspiring writer. I also do not see much reason to spend time reading more than a couple "how to write" books when every successful author says the two most important things are 1) Write a lot and 2) Read a lot (not "how to" books, but in your genre of interest, the Classics, and whatever lights your fire beyond that). Read these two books, be highly entertained and motivated, and get out there and make the magic happen!

Well written, with lots of great insights and real confidence builder. Card also give a lot of resources for further study. At one point (from memory) he says that you must simultaneously believe that the story you are working on today is the greatest story ever written ... so that you have the confidence to move forward. And that the current story you are working on is drivel (my word), so you can take the criticisms and rejection and move on. The advice he gives on how to query magazines and publishers is worth it's weight in gold, and the section on being careful not to get "pegged" in a specific genre is pretty good too. The only reason this book doesn't currently rate 5 stars is because some of the information is outdated. I simply have to wonder if, other than certain magazines being out of print, if anything else in the Sci Fi & Fantasy realms have changed since the book was written? Maybe it's time to spend a day or two updating the content, and releasing a new edition.

bien planteado y sencillo de seguir. algunos comentarios realmente muy útiles. gracias

How publishing of Science Fiction and Fantasy developed is very interesting to read. Besides it tells how to write in these genres and how to decide what type of story you wrote.

『エンダーのゲーム』で有名なオースン・スコット・カードが書いた所謂“SFの書き方”です。内容は、SFとファンタジー特有のジャンルの境界,世界設定の作り方,物語の構成方法,SFならではの書き方,作家になる方法についてです。それぞれについて具体的な例を挙げて分かりやすく書かれていて、特に『エンダーのゲーム』が出来上がるまでのエピソードはファンならずとも興味深い話です。和書でSFの書き方についての本はほとんどないので、英語能力が心もとないにもかかわらず、この本を購入してみましたが、英語も分かりやすく、内容も面白く、なんとか無事読み終えました。作者のファンは勿論のこと、SFについて詳しく知りたい人、SFを書いてみたい人には、この本は必読だと思います。

At last I found something useful in this 'helping yourself to write' category, after several ununseful books that promise one thing and deliver 'copy & paste' wikipedia material. Anyway, Orson Scott Card is quite an opinionated guy, and therefore you will find some useful things here, different from other 'how-to' books.

Really, very, very informative. A few mentions of his own works that might be accused of product placement, but levelled out by mentions of other books by other authors, to make examples of points. Really, Really advise that if your unsure what to do or what your doing, buy this.