Well hmm. It's been a couple of days since I've written anything here. I've been working away, both reading for this process and writing on other things, but not writing them here.

I wrote a short short titled "The Fine Print" recently. It is a hard science fiction piece, built entirely around the pleasure in one idea about junk DNA, and the differences between chimps and humans in these sequences. One thing I noticed was that my storytelling becomes a little talky as I try to integrate the science. I can't assume everyone knows the details of transposons, and so I must insert the information some how. This means finding ways to do so. At the same time, it means striking a balance, and finding ways to deliver the information that still move the story forward.

It's a challenge.

Greg

Well, education continues apace.

One of my plans for painlessly expanding my education in the sciences is to check out science education videos from the library and watch them in the gap times--when eating breakfast, putting on my shoes, etc.

I started today with a documentary on the planets, and found myself both hypnotized, by the story of the discovery of Pluto, and by an involuntary tendency to count scientific errors as they were repeated.

Greg

One of my goals in having this blog is using it as a discipline. Every day I will have someone/some place to report to, so every day I will (I hope), take steps towards my goal.

While I hope my plan towards this goal will come into more formal shape, right now that plan is to read science materials, read those science fiction writers who are known to write hard SF, read critics or historians of the field, to see what they have to say about this area, try to abstract a set of criteria, and come up with a method of writing hard science fiction. And, of course, writing hard science fiction.

To this end, I read some articles in Discover today, and read another chunk of James Gunn's Inside Science Fiction.

Two points gleaned from Gunn contribute here. First, as he was writing about what science fiction used to be, he mentioned an attitude of optimism. Second, as he was discussing stories like "The Cold Equations," he referred to what he called pragmatism (which overlapped with the formal philosophy of pragmatism, but was not the same as it).

An observation: these two attitudes don't rest easily together. The belief that we'll always be able to find a solution to things, and the idea that what works works can be harnessed together, but they will pull in slightly different directions. The first pulls towards Romantic idealism and utopian societies; the second can be sort of brutal.

Still getting used to blogging--the nuts and bolts, and how it goes.

Expect the appearance of this site to change over the next few weeks, as I figure out what I'm doing.

Welcome!

I write speculative fiction--science fiction, fantasy, and horror-- and have come to the conclusion that something is missing from my work. To be specific, I've decided to work on becoming a writer of hard science fiction. This blog is a public record of what I try to create this transformation, and my reflections on its meaning.

Greg