My novel and possible novel series....

Post Reply New Topic

I have finally made a concerted effort to start writing a novel, one which hopefully become part of a structured series.

I am admittedly paranoid about people stealing ideas, so the details I am revealing here are minimal. The series will be called Future Tense. It is science fiction, and cyberpunk (but only mildly so, in terms of the grottiness involved). It is set in neither a utopia or dystopia, but a middle of the road future some 75 years from now. As with many cyberpunk stories, it deals with the nature of life, both natural and artificial, death, and memory. It will also be set around Brisbane. Having been inspired by Dune, Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner and Neuromancer, I am putting some effort into not only constructing a history for this series, but also seeding things in the first books that will pay off later on.

good lux!

How exciting!

My sons will be old men in 75 years time .... they live in Brisbane .....

I think they should be the main characters!! !

Helen

Nah. Already got main characters in mind.

Sounds exciting and ambitous! I love science-fiction so much.

Yeah, sounds very interesting.

The main inspirations are from Neuromancer, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Yea! Hope it goes well for you, Quatermass

I'm writing a science-fiction screenplay called Life with Robots and has similiar themes and ambitions.

Good luck, by the way!

Please accept my pre-order for book, Audio book, Graphic novel and DVD

Sounds real good.

You say novel. So is it being published? Do you have any publisher interest? Are you planning on putting this on the net? Because if you do put it on the net, no-one will buy it to publish it.

Onya, Quatermass.

An excellent source of online goodies for the SF writer is Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. The SFWA was founded in 1965 by über-colossus of the genre Damon Knight. This is the organisation which presents the annual Nebula Awards for best fiction in several categories.

The SFWA site provides news and press releases about events in the SF publishing field; links to resources and information for writers; and best and funniest of all, a specialist guide for workshopping SF writing.

Another good site is TV Tropes.org. A sample:

My adivse would be to try and do in some ways distance yourself from your inspirations. if your work borrows too much from Other cyberpunk work it will critisised as nothing more than a pastiche. Also, how much do you know about Creative writing? I'm hopefully doing a English literary course in January and then try to get a BA before I try to publish anything. there's a hell of a lot of things that many writers nowadays know nothing about, like literary devices and such, which can prove a vital part of the success of a novel. I'm in the serious belief that anyone who wants to be an author should learn as much about the craft as possible before they try to do anything professional.

Well, unlike most cyberpunk works, it takes place in a less grotty future. I am trying to learn how to write as best as possible, especially considering I'll have to write up a thesis. Also, most cyberpunk takes place only a few decades into the future. I've decided to set mine just over 75 years (the opening scene takes place 100 years after I was born).

However, -Vorzac-, I realise your concern. I am not trying to make this a pastiche. If you noticed, I said I was inspired by Dune. Now, why is that? Dune struck me as a novel with a lot of cultural and historical background created for that novel. While I would not be able to approach that same level that Frank Herbert did, I am compiling a dictionary and a timeline of events, both real life ones and ones as part of my attempt to make it, well, a realistic history.

For example, at first glance, October 4th, 1951 does not seem significant, does it? But is a fairly important date regarding parts of my planned storylines. So does October 30th, 1938, a much easier date to know about, although knowing what it is in the context of my storyline is what gives it its significance. These two dates may seem disparate, but have some small significance in my story. And we are talking real-life events.

I do not want to do a pastiche, -Vorzac-, not consciously. Although I do mildly pastiche the opening paragraph of Casino Royale at one point.