Science Fiction Story Characteristics – Encompassing the Scope of SF Plot-Lines

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Science Fiction Story Characteristics or How to Craft A Great Sci-Fi Plot

Science fiction story characteristics are defined by a process wherein SF authors seek to extend scientific principles into a scientifically acceptable fictional plot-line. This means that the author must examine past, present and future scientific concepts with regards to a simple question: What If? Great science fiction stories craft the “what if” concept into a believable story-line that enables sci-fi readers an enjoyable journey into a world wherein new science fiction possibilities are depicted as practical science fact. It’s a journey of exploration as well as excitement, experimentation as well sensory experience and educational as well as entertaining. By effectively incorporating believable science fiction story characteristics into a SF “what if” plot-line, a great sci-fi plot expands scientific research and discovery without compromising the fundamentals of great storytelling. How well the science fiction writer integrates sci-fi characteristics into the SF plot-line defines the quality of the story.

Great science fiction stories introduce new concepts and possibilities to known concepts and realities. They examine possibilities not yet considered in the likes of unusual side effects that may be encountered due to an expansion of any form of known science. So the writer introduces a new idea, peeks the reader’s curiosity, and then uses that curiosity as a pathway into a complex and exciting new adventure. If you become excited about the underpinnings of the science that supports the story then that is truly great in every sense of the word. The science fiction principles are doing their job.

Science Fiction Story Characteristics, Character Development

As the consumer you want to be invested in the characters. As an author you want your audience to love your people, to crave more of their stories. It isn’t enough to have a great theme or an interesting new idea, if all the characters are vague throw away pieces then who cares about the outcome. No one is invested. A rich and colorful background never hurts. Let’s compare some ideas to illustrate this

Sci-Fi Story Characteristics, Character Development Option 1

In a poorly crafted and uneventful story, the author writes a tale about an all-powerful cube that in transit across the universe via starship. The central character, a trained freighter captain, diligently chugs from star to star until at last he delivers his freight per the general orders of the Galactic Space

Authority. Yeah…that sounds like a fun read.

Sci-Fi Story Characteristics, Character Development Option 2

In an alternative to the above lackluster SF plot-line, let us imagine a less than reputable two-bit smuggler with a guilty conscious, a con-game and some very vicious enemies. He has a great plan and a money-driven purpose, but he also tends to skirt the rules. And that skirting nearly always ends him up with his back against the wall. Thus this little delivery run encounters trouble from the front and trouble from the rear, not to mention the general dangers released by the “cube” itself. Thus even as tension mounts from all sides, a greater more explosive tension is linked to the concept of an all powerful cube that has a mind of its own.

One story reads like an OSHA manual of how to fly the stars. The other reads like an epic science fictional device pressing down on the already troubled shoulders of a morally ambiguous smuggler with a conscious.

Set the Stage Core to Story Characteristics

Great science fiction is based somewhere great, somewhere you can escape. It can be a far off land or somewhere the average person dare not dwell.

A great story may be a planet hopping whirlwind that keeps the reader guessing what can possibly top this next?! Far off lands are common for a reason, they are fantastic and fun. Who doesn’t want to be the first person to visit planet X95107 across the universe in unknown space.

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But it doesn’t have to be a foreign planet. Imagine exploring the depths of the great blue sea. Discovering that the aliens we seek have been here all along. I would rad that book and I would bet many of you would as well. Even a garbage dump could be a fun setting with plenty of options for characters to explore.

A character needs a stage, no one wants to read about a star captain that sits in his seat for 3 years as he hauls his gray plain cargo.

Science Fiction Story Characteristics — Speculative Fiction

One of the most important element of science fiction is speculation. Speculation is key to audience engagement and investment. The main reason someone starts their love affair with sci-fi is the dare to dream atmosphere.

If you are writing a story and you haven’t invented new technology or at least expanded greatly on something that currently exists…then you likely aren’t writing science fiction. The allure of this genre is the fact anything is possible, nothing is too outrageous.

The important question to keep asking is always “what might happen if”. What might happen if a wormhole opened that connected us to Evil Earth or let us meet our ancestors from 300 years prior, or 1000 years down the road? What might happen if Einstein decided to be a baker? What might happen if all weapons disappeared from the Earth tomorrow? “What might happen” is a gold mine of limitless potential, stories as far as the mind’s eye. Sci-fi elements lend themselves to this mentality with great success.

Science Fiction Story Characteristics – In Closing

In the final run, the art behind science fiction story characteristics is about daring to dream and then crafting daring characters who take part in that dream. It’s about setting the eye of your mind upon strange and new possibilities and then inviting your readers to participate in the journey. And remember, the key is participation, not observation. Great SF plot-lines transport readers into a place of new ideas saturated with a unique group of people facing captivating problems.