Ideas, or characters, first?

[Richard]

Something I've been thinking about recently: does science fiction differ from other genres in being ideas-led, rather than character-led?

I know a lot of people would find that absurd—all fiction, by definition, is always about character and story and that's that. To me though SF exists, and always has, as a way of introducing and exploring new (or weird) ideas.

[Manuel]

The book I wrote, The Nominal Echo Chronicles, I thought was definitely about ideas first. I still think it is, but the importance of the characters grew immensely as the writing process unfolded. I could not have exposed the ideas if the characters didn't go along with it. I thought about the ideas, then immediately about the characters that would be related to them. And only then I could start writing.

[Khira]

I think that exploring an idea is central to science fiction, but there are different ways to do so. Never Let Me Go brings home the impact of its idea through very strong character development, making the novel's conclusion incredibly heart wrenching. Beggars in Spain follows the social and political upheavals after asking the question 'what if'. Other novels focus mostly on the action (aka Harry Harrison's Deathworld Trilogy). Whereas The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August captures the reader through very intricate plot development.

The preferred style of a sci-fi narrative is really a personal choice for both the reader and the writer. In my writing, I like exploring impacts of technologies through personal stories because I don't think that technology can ever be treated as being separate to humanity.

[Northern One]

Idea, the exploration of "what if", does certainly appear to come before character in the majority of science fiction novels, at least traditionally. I do however believe this is changing, as we see sci-fi developing from a narrow niche genre to a broader one, including a greater variety of writers with a greater variety of style and preference. My guess is we'll look at a more balanced ratio of idea/character moving forward.

Personally, I consider that a welcome change. Not because I necessarily dislike idea-driven novels (though I admit I do prefer character-driven ones) but because hopefully that will improve the possibilities for non-traditional sci-fi writers to publish their work, and the variety will benefit all.

Also, hello! Thank you for allowing me into this group. x)

[Peter]

Hello, Northern One, and welcome to our group.

I agree with you that character led sci-fi is a welcome addition to the genre. It will enrich it but not replace plot led 'what if' novels - there's plenty of room for both.

I like the idea of changing one aspect of reality and setting a strong storyline and characters in that world.

[Richard]

One thing which does annoy me about all this, though, is the question of ‘info-dumps’. What I don’t understand is why, while info-dumps are the ultimate crime, character-dumps are just fine apparently (and by ‘character-dump’ I mean those cringe-inducing little potted descriptions you have to plough through every time a new character appears—eye colour, hair colour, shoe size, you name it). If committing info-dumps is punishable by being boiled alive in oil, why not character-dumps as well?

Personally (and I’m finally going to come out of the closet here and just admit it to the whole world) I like info-dumps. In fact, I love info-dumps (can we have more please?)—it’s the character-dumps that have me flinging the book across the room!

[Peter]

Richard wrote: "One thing which does annoy me about all this, though, is the question of ‘info-dumps’. What I don’t understand is why, while info-dumps are the ultimate crime, character-dumps are just fine apparen..."

With just a handful of pages to go before finishing 'The Everything', your comment doesn't surprise me. ;)

Story telling is about painting pictures inside the reader's head. 'Dumps' can work, whether character or info, it all depends upon the execution and the predilection of the reader.

[Khira]

Northern One wrote: "Idea, the exploration of "what if", does certainly appear to come before character in the majority of science fiction novels, at least traditionally. I do however believe this is changing, as we se..."

Hi Northern One,

I like your comment about bringing in more variety into the science fiction genre. I think it can only enrich the reader experience to have different approaches and writing styles. I too have a preference for character-driven novels, but I draw the line at the point where it overtakes plot logic and creates massive loopholes that make the whole story a lot less believable.

What are some of your favourite sci-fi books?

[Khira]

Richard wrote: "One thing which does annoy me about all this, though, is the question of ‘info-dumps’. What I don’t understand is why, while info-dumps are the ultimate crime, character-dumps are just fine apparen..."

I read a lot of Jules Verne as a kid, and he was the ultimate master of 'info-dumps'. When I was little, I was more interested in the adventures of the characters than in the physics of flight or details of flora and fauna, so I found myself skipping entire pages of the books. I went back to these books to read them properly when I was a bit older, so I think my perspective on this changed as I grew up and became more interested in science.

Later, when trying my own hand at writing, I came to appreciate the balancing act that a lot of writers try to achieve in weaving technical information, character development and back-stories through the plot without losing momentum. I tend to agree about 'character-dumps' too. They can be very frustrating, and why do we need to know the shoe size? We can fill in those details in our own imagination.

[Richard]

Khira wrote: “When I was little, I was more interested in the adventures of the characters…”

Ha!—so liking info-dumps is a sign of maturity!

One novel I enjoyed while growing up was Dune—and particularly all the extra stuff (maps, a section about the ecology of Arrakis, etc) at the back. If only they'd put all the character-dumps there as well!

[Northern One]

Khira wrote: "Northern One wrote: "Idea, the exploration of "what if", does certainly appear to come before character in the majority of science fiction novels, at least traditionally. I do however believe this ..."

I am so glad you asked for some of my favourites, rather than THE favourite, as I simply cannot pick. :D But to mention a couple... I am a big fan of Hamilton's Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained, which I re-read just recently. Abnett's Eisenhorn/Ravenor novels are also long time faves. Currently reading Tchaikovsky's The Doors of Eden, which turned out to be quite different from what I expected it to be, yet as I am enjoying his style of writing I'll surely be checking out his more 'traditional' sci-fi.

[Khira]

Northern One wrote: "Khira wrote: "Northern One wrote: "Idea, the exploration of "what if", does certainly appear to come before character in the majority of science fiction novels, at least traditionally. I do however..."

I haven't read some of these books - will have to check them out. I loved 'The Doors of Eden', though. It got me reading more of Tchaikovsky's books. I'm currently reading 'Children of Time' - I love the theme of communication across different civilisations and evolutionary branches in his books.

[Khira]

Something else I thought about while listening to a book review podcast was how often sci-fi is used as a setting rather than a specific genre. The podcast in question was actually about romance novels and the idea was that romance novels can be set in anywhere: in dystopian wasteland, in space, in any given historical era, etc.

It's not the way I personally think about sci-fi, because I think that sci-fi as a genre is about exploring ideas and possibilities and future scenarios. But there are certainly plenty of sci-fi books that simply import an established narrative formula like romance or adventure into a sci-fi setting.

But then again, who is to say whether there is a right and a wrong way to go about writing sci-fi?

[Richard]

That's definitely true—SF is wide open to that sort of thing. I mentioned Dune earlier in this thread, but a few years after reading that I suddenly realised that it's actually just the Lawrence of Arabia story set in outer space!

[Khira]

That's interesting - I've never thought of it that way

[Khira]

The other one I thought of along the same lines is 'Avatar' - the Pocahontas story set on another planet.

[Oleksandr]

Richard wrote: "Dune earlier in this thread, but a few years after reading that I suddenly realised that it's actually just the Lawrence of Arabia story set in outer space!"

It was definitely a source (one of several) but after reading non-fic Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East I cannot say it was a major one

[Richard]

Probably right—I was just thinking of Lean’s film: you’ve got a desert country/planet (Arabia/Arrakis); then, in a place where water is more precious than gold, an outsider appears who comes from a sort of mythical paradise where the stuff flows in rivers and even falls from the sky (England/Caladan); he goes native, and ultimately leads a downtrodden people (the Arabs/Fremen) to glory, overthrowing their colonial oppressors (Ottoman Turks/Harkonnen) in a pivotal and tactically brilliant battle (at Aqaba/the Shield Wall). It must be one of the oldest stories in the world.

[Richard]

I haven't seen Avatar, but I know a lot of people read Bradbury's Martian Chronicles as his version of the colonisation of the American West. I bet there are loads of these.