Rehan Ali

Rehan Ali asked Andy Weir:

Can you give any advice to any authors looking to research and write an authentic "hard-science" sci-fi story? Is it possible to pull it off if you're not already a domain expert with a strong educational background in the area you're writing about?

Andy Weir Hmm... that would be a pretty tall order. I started out with a pretty good base of knowledge on the space industry and math/physics. If you're starting from scratch you'd have to be very motivated to see it through.

The old adage holds true: Write what you know.

More Answered Questions

Ami

Ami asked Andy Weir:

I've heard that The Martian had a very interesting path to publication--can you tell us the story?

Jake

Jake asked Andy Weir:

Hey Andy, great book. How much of the science did you have to figure out before the novel really started coming together? What was that process like? Were you researching and revising previous material with new info?

Nikiverse

Nikiverse asked Andy Weir:

Hi, what's your science background??

All answers from Andy Weir…

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