Science fable and fantasy are genres where almost anything can bechance — as long as the author can make it seem plausible , and as long as it ’s part of a good story . But that does n’t think of there are no rules . If anything , the fact that these genres are so wide unfastened intend that there are slews of rules out there , some unspoken and some written in fatal and snowy .
And sometimes , breaking the principle is the only means to tell a really gripping taradiddle . Here are 10 rules of SF and fantasy that more authors should consider breaking from sentence to clip . [ jump ]
Note : We ’re not saying you must offend any of the rules below . you’re able to craft a glorious oeuvre of fiction while still postdate all of the rules below . And most of these principle exist for a cause — because if you breach them without knowing what you ’re doing , you could have a go at it up horrendously . Some of the rules below exemplify thing that may have been done to death in the past , so it ’s good to ensure you have a fresh spin . But at the same time , too many prescript can be a creativity - killer , and sometimes it ’s good to bust out some illegal moves .
Third - person omniscient used to be the default option modality for a tidy sum of novelists — a great deal of the classic of literary fabrication as well as scientific discipline fabrication are write in third person omniscient . This stand for , in a nutshell , that the storyteller can see what ’s lead through any lineament ’s nous , and can flutter around as the story requires . But in late years , fiction author have opted for first person or confine third — in which only one person at a time gets to be a viewpoint type . The thing is , though , when you have compressed third person with multiple vantage point characters , it often feels like an omniscient storyteller who ’s opt to play plot .
And factual third - person omniscient can be fantastic — you call for take care no further than Douglas Adams ’ Hitchhiker ’s Guide to the Galaxy , which freely lets you know what Arthur Dent , Ford Prefect and assorted other character are remember at any given moment . Or countless classic SF writer , for that matter . But I also need to put in a supplication : anyone who ’s serious about writing literary genre fabrication should read Henry Fielding , who make third - person omniscient into an prowess kind . In novel like Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones , Fielding draws these smart as a whip tableaux where he pause to show what everyone ’s intellection , and how much at cross - purpose everyone is . It aid him be a nifty percipient of people , and also creates these beautifully rummy set pieces .
This is one I ’ve been hearing for years — some agents and editors say they stop take like a shot if they see that a Koran has a prologue . But prologues have their utilisation , especially if you want to set a modality or institute some important backstory before you lead off introducing your principal characters . Like most of the other thing on this list , prologues can be done well , or they can be done horrendously . fortunately , we do n’t have to reach far to suppose of an illustration of prologues done well — George R.R. Martin starts every one of the Song of Ice and Fire book with one , and it ’s clear why these prologues are there . They help set up the conflicts of each Christian Bible , via the experiences of a bedevil - away character . ( Literally , in fact . )
Like its full cousin , “ show do n’t order , ” this injunction can be a great estimate but can also get you into worry . Sometimes an infodump can be a horrendous load of backstory or proficient schematics , rammed down your pitiful reviewer ’s throat . But at other times , author can go to Brobdingnagian , insane length to avoid having to come out and excuse something . Like having forge conversations , or unearthly “ teachable moments ” to convey a canonic bit of worldbuilding to the lecturer , with the result that the story grinds to a halt . We posteda assemblage of 20 well - done infodumpsa while back , just to turn up it can be done well . Perdido Street Station fine art byLes Daniels .
And you may have observe that whenever literary writers tackle science fabrication or fancy , they include tons of infodumps ? perchance this is one of those instances where they ’re not as familiar with the literary genre convention , and thus fall into habit that many “ literal ” SF and fantasy authors would avoid — but in this representative , they may just be right . Sometimes you just have to explicate something , as painlessly as you’re able to .
We love a proficient epic trilogy ( or decalogy ) as much as the next fantasy addict . But sometimes a nice done - in - one tale is also extremely welcome . And this is one country where science fable seems to have a slight vantage over fantasy — both genres have tons of sprawling series , but skill fiction at least sometimes spawns one - off novels . And there ’s something to be said for begin a satisfying story in one volume , without a cliffhanger or any loose ends afterwards . And sometimes , grapheme can actually be developed more in full if the author does n’t have to hold anything back for future ledger . A character who gets a full electric discharge in one Word of God can be a richer character .
The “ portal fantasy ” is a backbone in both skill fiction and illusion , even though it ’s mostly used in the latter . ( You could fence that Hitchhiker ’s Guide is a “ portal fantasy . ” ) In this type of book , someone from our world come across a nerve tract to another populace , where he or she is our relatable everyhuman explorer , and we identify this new world through his or her eyes . It ’s a tried and true notion , and Lev Grossman get a passel of mileage out of it in The Magicians — both Brakebills and Fillory , in different ways , are strange universe that Quentin visits from the “ real ” world , and there ’s a band of portaling . But we ’ve hear many masses say that “ portal phantasy ” is over , and so is the neophyte who learns about the magical populace over the course of a book . Now , everybody require write up where the primary character is already steeped in the magical ( or science - fictional ) world as the story begin .
Butas we argued a while back , there ’s still a sight of awesomeness lurking in the conception of an ordinary somebody traveling to a strange world . There are so many ways to tell that story , and so many metaphor buried in the whimsy of someone being thrust into a eldritch novel world . Is n’t that what we all do when we initiate exploring writing style fabrication ? I think to some extent , this is something that pass away - heavy literary genre fans have seen too much of , but these variety of stories could still have a lot of appeal to mainstream and newbie reader .
Yes , our current understanding of physics lean to frown upon firm - than - light blank space traveling — no matter what a few weird neutrino may or may not have done . And there ’s definitely a position for totally rigid , scientifically plausible fabrication in which the very real difficulties of research our own solar system of rules are explore . But then again , there ’s something undeniably awful about being able to stick out to hyperspace , or warp speed , or whatever . And maybe a little bit less pragmatism is needed sometimes , to amp up the excitement of space travel . Most of us grew up on big , bold space opera house in which interstellar travel was unrealistically , thrillingly dissipated — and that ’s still the portrayal of space that resonates with many citizenry . Plus , FTL take in all sorts of other hooey potential , including place war and fate more first contact .
This is one “ rule ” that most people are at least sensible enough never to say out aloud — but it often seems as though “ punishing SF ” refers to novel and stories write by mostly livid dudes . And women often seem to be shunted more into voiced science fable or fantasy . And then you getthese discussionswhere peopledebatewhether a particular fair sex author really numerate as “ hard science fiction . ” To some extent , this comes from preconceptions about the type of people who take hard SF , and that indirectly influences expected value about who ’s lead to be write in that writing style . But particularly once you diversify your science to include biological science or electronic computer science , you start finding caboodle and lots of strong SF written by adult female authors .
This is one I ’ve heard a lot latterly — credibly because of the winner of George R.R. Martin ’s novel , in which magic starts out as a still hearsay at the fringe of Westeros , something most the great unwashed do n’t really believe in . It ’s only once you get to the late books that magic really starts to become something that most of the part are cognisant of . And this is an absolutely brilliant approaching to illusion written material , and a breathing space of tonic airwave — but it ’s not the elbow room all phantasy novel should be written from here on out . There should n’t be a law saying that magic should be keep to the margins of a fantasy public , any more than you ’d say a space opera house should n’t have too many starship . legerdemain should be limited , trusted — but it can have terminus ad quem and still be key to the characters ’ creation .
At least , I ’ve heard some hoi polloi say this is a big no - no . It can be a bit disconcerting when the narrator is tell you about stuff as though it ’s happening now . But present tense can also really work to make the write up finger more immediate . And it can feel more arty , since a lot of vaguely literary writing is in the present tense . But also , if you want to see present tense working to create a dark , intense mood , check out Richard Kadrey ’s Sandman Slim novel . Image byThe Green Giant .
It ’s certainly true that if you ’re going to have a main character who ’s a total bastard , you ’re travel to have work hard to come through over the reader — a likable case is just obviously easy for proofreader to get on board with . But at the same time , sense stiffen to make your protagonist — or all your major eccentric — as benevolent as potential can put a straitjacket on your piece of writing . You ’re stuck trying to create characters who will seem sympathetic to all your reader , no matter what cultural context or position they bring to the level . And you ’re putting knockout point of accumulation on what sort of actions your characters can take . The bottom blood is that “ kindly ” is n’t the same affair as “ compelling ” — a character can be unsympathetic but absolutely fascinating and grip . Like a lot of the thing on this list , this is all in the execution — if you ’re fail to go with a supporter who ’s fundamentally unsympathetic or unrelatable , you ’re going to have to do an amazing job of making the lector care about him or her in spite of everything . Steel Remains prowess by Vincent Chong , viaPat ’s Fantasy Hotlist .
Thanks to Annalee and Genevieve for the suggestion ! An early version of this article appeared back in 2012 .
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