How to write a young adult speculative fiction short story
Intro
There are many different facets to writing a successful young adult speculative short story. There are lots of different problems that can be faced when trying to write these stories such as not understanding the genre completely, not being able to write interesting characterisation, figuring out how to properly structure the story, putting just the right amount of detail into the setting, working out an exciting plot line, getting the proper editing and drafting done, and finding inspiration to begin writing and figure out where the story will go from there.
The world of speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is a broad term that encompasses science fiction and fantasy. Science fiction tells stories relating to science and technology and has a basis in the principles of science. These stories are often set in space, the future, in a different world, or in a different dimension of universe. Fantasy, however, is not necessarily based on science but more on imagination and often includes fantasy worlds and elements of the supernatural. Different people have varying ideas about the parameters of genres and how many there are. For example some sub-genres of science fiction/ fantasy are apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, first contact, humorous and time travel. Science fiction and Fantasy both ask the question, ‘What if?’ An example of a speculative fiction is The Hunger Games trilogy.
Characteristics/Genre: Historical fiction is a literary genre in which past events are formulated from genuine, factual history, but the plot of the story and characters are merely fictional. Postcolonial fiction is a literary genre in which appropriation of colonial language thus African is integrated and colonialism subtly attributed. Also, valorization, cultural identity, and racism is often found.
depicts the unreal. Even though he talks about science in most of his stories, they are
Star War, Star Trek, those are probably the names that pops into your head when you think of science fiction. However, for over a hundred years, artists and philosophers from all around the world, has never been certain of the true definition of Science Fiction. Although, individual definition of science fiction has erupted in the few decades, especially during the 19th century, when the idea of extraterrestrial surged the media. Today, there are numerous definition of science fiction, each different from one another in its own element. For example, science fiction stories, according to Ray Bradbury are a possibility that has happened in the past or will happen in time. This means that science fiction is the past, the present and the
Science fiction is based on technological or the future. For example, if someone wanted to avoid something they would want to go the future to past it. Another example, technology can change your everyday life activities. Bradbury’s overall goal in each story was to prove that technology can change your life. For example, In Marionettes, Braling 2 was the technology in the story and Braling 2 fell in love with Braling’s wife and Braling was put in the tool box.
Genre Theory is used in the categorization of films. Genres are dependent on various factors such as story line, whom the director is, and what are the audience expectations In using genre theory we create a short cut in how we describe films. Genres are categorized into and then sub categorized depending on the story and plot. Fantasy is a genre described as, “Any film with obviously unreal, magical, or impossible situations, characters, or settings, often overlapping with various other genres, especially science fiction, but sometimes historical dramas.” (Goodykoontz, 2014) Fantasy is a genre that typically includes a crossover genre, sci-fi,
GENRE: The genre of Distant Waves is science fiction because it is something that didn't happen that has futuristic thing in it such as earthquake machines, time travel, and other advanced devices that we don't have today. It also gave scientific explanations for everything.
Dictionary.com lists science fiction as “a form of fiction that draws imaginatively on scientific knowledge in its plot, setting, theme, etc.” goodreads.com lists science fiction as, “a broad genre of fiction that often invgolves speculation based on current or future science or technology.” Harrison Bergeron is science fiction for several reasons. First, it assumes that humans will develop extraordinary abilities that force the government to “handicap” them, so that all have the same ability level in this society. Merriam-Webster defines satire as, “a way of using humour to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc.”
Modern teens tend to use shortened texts, to communicate and get to the point as fast as possible. Looking at all the short stories given, teens would approach and choose the shorter text to read. The reason is, that the teens are used to seeing short paragraphs, and try to put all the ideas into a small simple text. If the text is too long, the teenage brain will start to wonder around, because it does not grab their attention. The longer the text, the more boring it gets. When seeing a 55 word story, teens will take the 50 seconds to read it. If modern teenagers are told to pick a short story, the shorter one would most likely be their first option.
Fiction is a term used to classify a story that focuses on the imagination of the writer instead of history or fact. Many people are able to express their form of creativity through writing because of the different genres included in fiction. A famous fictional story is the “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis and is a part of the Chronicles of Narnia series. The book followed four children, Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter, they travel to a Land called Narnia and with the help of powerful allies they plan to defeat the evil White Witch. Ursula, K. Le Gain, a science fiction writer stated, “While we read a novel, we are insane—bonkers.
In literature, there are genres. Two main genres are fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is a work of art that is not real or based on the facts. “‘Fiction’ refers to literature created from the imagination” (“What is the difference…?”). It can explain a story in a different point of view, maybe in a way that is out of the norm. Fiction is basically just nonfiction in an exaggerated way. Though fiction may not be based on the facts, it can still resemblance a sense of real life events. “Fiction may base on stories on actual historical events. Although fictitious characters are presented in a fictitious setting in stories and novels, yet they may have some resemblance with real life events and characters” (“Fiction”). Literature is meant to
Ray Bradbury tells a lot of stories and poems which is a science fiction.because he has the story called there will come soft rains and this story is a science fiction it takes about a hole home with nature.And if you read the story well you will notice that everything in the house represents everything in earth.And the house represents earth.The story is about the universe been burned and we the people that burned the universe.
“Oh my God! He was right over there! Closer than I’d been to him when Paul laid into him. Much closer. And Rashad was looking at me, too. I locked eyes with a kid I didn’t know, but felt like I did” (309).
Much of the appeal surrounding science fiction is the fact that a lot of the genre exists far from what we experience in our own world, and far from what exists within our own imagination. The phrase, “cognitive estrangement” has been used to describe the way that a lot of science fiction makes us feel. In his essay, “Estrangement and Cognition,” Darko Suvin describes cognitive estrangement and its relationship with Science fiction as a genre. He writes, “Thus it is not only the basic human and humanizing curiosity that gives birth to SF. Beyond an indirect inquisitiveness, which makes for a semantic game without clear referent, this genre has always been wedded to a hope of finding in the unknown the ideal environment, tribe, state, intelligence, or other aspect of the Supreme Good (or to a fear of and revulsion from its contrary). At all events, the possibility of other strange, covariant coordinate systems and semantic fields is assumed,” which explains that the strange is what drives interest in Science Fiction. He emphasizes that it’s the weird that sets science fiction apart from other genres, including fantasy. This sentiment has been echoed by many other writers. In the same essay, Suvin writes, “The effect of such factual reporting of fictions is one of confronting a set normative system—a Ptolemaic-type closed world picture—with a point of view or look implying a new set of norms; in literary theory this is known as the attitude of estrangement.” This statement
Science fiction is a genre that has characteristics such as a futuristic setting and a human element. It is based on controversial areas of science or specific theories that have not yet been proven to be true. Science fiction works depict what may happen in the future as an effect of what technology and events exist presently. The genre of the short story There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury is identifiable as science fiction through the setting, character and plot.
Characteristics of the genre adventure, consist of a heroic protagonist, a journey or quest, unusual locations, and action and danger. Characteristics of the genre realistic fiction consist of events that could happen in real life, and the themes represent human experiences.