Writers of sf/f, unite.
So, who's up for it?
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| jolantru_blackwolf | Want to start a sf/f writing group in Singapore? |
   50,217 / 50,000 Joined: Okt 2, 2009
Location: Singapore Posts:
16
Posted on:
Okt 31, 2009 - 06 08 |
Writers of sf/f, unite. So, who's up for it? |
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52,808 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 06 46
*raises hand*
----------“You’re the ‘god’ here. Why are you worrying about questions?”
http://evilnovel.wordpress.com
http://worldsofmint.wordpress.com
51,998 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 09 30
Sounds interesting. What would the details be?
----------13,187 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 09 37
Hear hear.
10,405 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 17 15
definitely!
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~ 'Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.'
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12,130 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 19 22
Totally in! :)
44,020 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 06 08
Oooh! More details please!
----------Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~ E.L. Doctorow
628 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 22 36
Sure, 'twould be cool ^_^
2,182 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 00 47
Sure. (:
----------Alexis Wen
In Zest we Trust
30,307 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 13 09
Sounds interesting. Wouldn't mind joining.
----------QE2 + lomography + gaming + slacking + daydreaming = avariel
A strawberry is chasing me and my novel has no rationale!
75,020 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 21 26
My subjects inevitably involves sf/f, even if my main genre is never sf/f.
50,217 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 22 14
Great to see the responses. :)
Anymore sf/f writers lurking?
jolantru
(quick, write, write, before baby wakes up)
7,047 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 22 24
Yep. A writing group sounds pretty cool.
120,781 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 00 47
Well, considering I'm writing both SF and Fantasy combined... Sure! xD
123,427 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 03 53
Up for it.
----------Try this facebook app if you have nothing better to do and you like games which don't require your attention: http://apps.facebook.com/ghost-trappers/index.php?si=1225860790
1,050 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 05 56
Details???
----------I'm working on a sci-fi!!!
"And after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but a the truth in masquerade."
~ George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron~
8,167 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 06
Another sci-fi writer here, and definitely. SF/F is underappreciated in Singapore. International markets want exotic tales of Asia, local publishers want realistic works about the Singaporean condition.
But if aliens can land in the US, they can land in Singapore (provided they can find it), and the old retired science teacher at the char kway teow stall has just as much right to create a time machine as the crazy mad scientist in an American garage.
40,035 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 35
But if aliens can land in the US, they can land in Singapore (provided they can find it), and the old retired science teacher at the char kway teow stall has just as much right to create a time machine as the crazy mad scientist in an American garage.
THIS IS SO FREAKING TRUE.
Also, Jolantru, you know I lurk around but I'm totally into this.
----------Co-ML for Singapore
50,217 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 23 07
But if aliens can land in the US, they can land in Singapore (provided they can find it), and the old retired science teacher at the char kway teow stall has just as much right to create a time machine as the crazy mad scientist in an American garage.
Yay! :)
And yes, international markets want the exotic, local publishers the realistic (practical?). I tried submitting to local publishers and they went "Buh?" Guess my stories do not have the "Singaporean condition". What's the Singaporean condition anyway? Oh wait, I was writing steampunk. Ding. And speculative fiction. Ding. :P
I like that storyline! Write it! Retired science teacher creates a time machine, opens up a portal at Sentosa, invites in the tentacle aliens from Mars...
Hehe.
Jolantru
50,217 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 23 09
Also, Jolantru, you know I lurk around but I'm totally into this.
Yay! :)
And the moment we have reached critical mass, we can start forming the group.
Jolantru,
(quick, squeeze in some words, before kid comes back from kindie - darn, she's back!)
10,405 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 00 16
im pretty excited about this! hehe...
----------however, i have to admit writing science fiction is HARD.. countless of times, i can't put the images of fighter planes and distant planets onto paper, no matter how many sci-fi novels i read...there's something about making sf-terms easily understood yet obscure enough to sound futuristic.
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~ 'Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.'
---------------------------------------------
46,507 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 19 57
So, what's the next step? Are any of you meeting up at the write-ins where you can discuss this? November is the best time to get something sorted out because come December the forums go into hibernation for another ten months and the contacts scatter.
----------Former ML for Singapore 2005-2008
Possibly my last NaNoWriMo.
13,187 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 20 08
however, i have to admit writing science fiction is HARD.. countless of times, i can't put the images of fighter planes and distant planets onto paper, no matter how many sci-fi novels i read...there's something about making sf-terms easily understood yet obscure enough to sound futuristic.
Read Orson Scott Card's "How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy" -- it helped me bunches.
Also currently devouring Stephen Gillett's "World Building" and Stanley Schmidt's "Aliens & Alien Societies", since my novel's set in a colony of another world/planet. Both books are not necessarily easy reading, but I like to crack 'em open, pick out a potential plot point and run with it.
But Card's book is a must-read. It's so beautifully informative I could cry.
Other tips & tricks from fellow SF/F writers?
51,998 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 03 21
> if aliens can land in the US, they can land in Singapore...
I just had a mental image of "take me to your leader", I take them to see Lee Hsien Loong, and they say "Don't smoke us boy, where did you hide Lee Kuan Yew?"
----------50,217 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 07 05
Sorry for my late reply. Was busy with my two little girls - one just graduated from K2 this week. :P
I might drop by at the write-in so that I can meet up with folks. Likewise, there is another sf/f group set up on Google. This is the link for the group: http://groups.google.com.sg/group/spec-fiction?hl=en
They are also planning a meet-up with a visiting writer, Lavie Tidhar. He edited the Apex Book Of World SF and he wants to meet up with local writers as well.
Hope to see you guys there (at the Google group and the meet-up,
Jolantru
50,217 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 07 10
Other tips for writing science-fiction?
I would have to say that reading science fiction books might give you the inspiration. Be imaginative. Think outside the box. How do you envision your world(s)? For me, when I write - say - my steampunk stories, I brainstorm first. What kind of steampunk world do I want it to be? Is it steampunk with a dash of AH (alternate history)? Or is it steampunk on a completely different world altogether?
Jolantru
51,998 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 07 23
I would add that the first rule of science fiction (that is, the rule which makes it passable science fiction) is to ask, not only "what if", but "what if what if".
I gave an example here some time back:
http://www.opendiary.com/entryview.asp?authorcode=A434612&entry=23872&mo...
Otherwise you're just indulging yourself by creating a world where everything is what you want, without making it a possible world in the first place.
----------10,405 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 17 10
can't wait to attend a write-in, will be my first time going to one! although im having exams this thursday, so my novel would have to go on a small hiatus... still only at 3k! gosh, hope to really push the writing speed up after exams are over!
hmmm... what are your sci-fi influences?
----------for me, it would be the staple Star Wars novels and Iain M Banks.
does the X-Files count?
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~ 'Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.'
---------------------------------------------
51,998 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 18 41
>does the X-Files count?
I would argue "no", because the purist in me points out that an unspoken and implicit assumption in sci-fi is that rationalism is the correct viewpoint with which to view the world, rather than conspiracy theories.
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