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5 Great Science Fiction Novum Writing Prompts

Science fiction stories typically arise from a novum, a scientifically plausible concept that is a “reality” in the tale. The novum might be an mechanical device like robot servants, artificial intelligence, or faster-than-light spacecraft; it also can be a hypothetical idea such as “The Earth is a scientific experiment run by aliens to determine the meaning of life” or “The government outlaws books.” The author then asks “What if?” exploring how the world with this novum is different than ours.

Among the problems of many novice science fiction writers is instead of introducing a new novum they rely on used furniture – that is, they borrow novums from popular SF series. After all, how many novels have you read that use starships exploring the galaxy for the Earth-based Federation? Barely changing names to appear as if you are not appropriating – a starcraft seeking M-class worlds for the Earth-centered Alliance – still doesn’t cut it as original or fully using the potential that science fiction offers to examine our culture or humanity.

To help SF writers, here are some novums of potential near-future inventions from which stories could be built:

Artificial wombs
What if embryos could be brought to term in man-made devices? Infertile women might have an artificial womb transplanted; some mothers might choose to have their pregnancy done outside of their bodies.

Ads while you sleep
What if to pay for information and the cost of an intelligent infrastructure, you could watch ads in your sleep? What opportunities might this offer criminals?

Sling-sat to remove space debris
What if a satellite swung space junk into the atmosphere (where it burns up) and then uses that momentum to move to the next piece of junk? Could this satellite be used to help in a space rescue during an emergency?

Solar gravity lens
What if the sun’s gravity were used as a magnifying lens to image exoworlds? What will we discover if this technique works?

Space debris cleanup
What if to get rid of space junk in low Earth orbit we used electrodynamic tethers that slow the debris’ speed? A lower speed will cause it to fall closer to Earth to eventually burn up in the atmosphere.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

6 Tips for Creating Your Writing Style

• How do you create a unique writing ‘style’?
• How to establish your own writer’s voice
• Avoid violating chronology
• Avoid clever-author syndrome
• Vary syntax to give writing flavor, texture
• Make your writing more palatable via its texture
• BONUS: "It is the writer's fault, not the reader's, if the reader puts down the book." - David Halberstam 

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

5 Great Quotations about ‘Why write?'

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” - Joan Didion

“Writers write while dreamers procrastinate.” - Besa Kosova

“If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.” - Kingsley Amis

“Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted.” - Jules Renard

“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” - Albert Camus

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

Every success story begins with a dream. If you dream of being a professional, published author, that success story requires believing in yourself and in knowing that your efforts will lead to triumph. Read the motivational blog entry this quotation came from by clicking on the quote card.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

4 Ways Authors Can Sell More Books on Facebook

• Promote your book by using Facebook
• How to promote your book via Facebook
• Use hashtags to sell your book on Facebook
• Leverage Facebook pictures to sell books 
• BONUS: “Thoughts fly and words go on foot. Therein lies all the drama of a writer.” 

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

Learn More About Self-Publishing: Whether writing a novel or nonfiction, whether planning to print a paperback or an ebook, 7 Minutes a Day to a Self-Published Book guides you through the self-publishing process, from the title page to the index, from designing a cover to formatting your text.

Tinker, Tailor, Sneaked vs. Snuck

These two words have been playing cloak-and-dagger with American writers for some time now. But which one is the good guy?

Both words come from the verb sneak, which means to move in a stealthy way. Sneak is used in the present tense, as in Sneak up on them from behind! The problem arises when switching to past tense when writers and speakers use either sneaked or snuck.

Sneaked follows the verb’s regular construction: sneak > sneaked > (have) sneaked. Because of this, it is the traditional and more common past tense form of sneak, as in He sneaked out the backdoor.

Snuck began as a regional American variant of sneaked during the 1800s. Though long considered nonstandard, its use has spread and become more widely accepted down the decades. Today, some people might say He snuck out the backdoor.

Which past tense version to use largely depends on what you’re writing. In most cases, I’d recommend the traditional sneaked, especially for formal and academic manuscripts. Indeed, The AP Stylebook, Garner’s Modern American, and British stylebooks prefer sneaked. A character or a first-person narrator in a work of fiction, though, might use snuck, if it fits his personality.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

5 Novum-Based Science Fiction Writing Prompts

Science fiction stories typically arise from a novum, a scientifically plausible concept that is a “reality” in the tale. The novum might be an mechanical device like robot servants, artificial intelligence, or faster-than-light spacecraft; it also can be a hypothetical idea such as “The Earth is a scientific experiment run by aliens to determine the meaning of life” or “The government outlaws books.” The author then asks “What if?” exploring how the world with this novum is different than ours.

Among the problems of many novice science fiction writers is instead of introducing a new novum they rely on used furniture – that is, they borrow novums from popular SF series. After all, how many novels have you read that use starships exploring the galaxy for the Earth-based Federation? Barely changing names to appear as if you are not appropriating – a starcraft seeking M-class worlds for the Earth-centered Alliance – still doesn’t cut it as original or fully using the potential that science fiction offers to examine our culture or humanity.

To help SF writers, here are some novums of potential near-future inventions from which stories could be built:

Asteroid survey mission
What if we launched a trio of cubesats that orbit the sun where they charted and tracked asteroids? Cubesats would be an extremely small payload while the sun provides power.

Artificial skin
What if we could grow artificial skin, that actually could send pressure information to the brain, and that could be transplanted onto humans who suffered severe burns? What other applications might artificial skin have?

Huffing and puffing space debris removal
What if air bursts, sent out of high-altitude balloons or airplanes, could push space debris into the lower atmosphere, where they would burn up?

Soft-bot asteroid mining
What if spacecraft that mined rubble asteroids for water, minerals and other resources were flat, pancake-shaped soft-bots? The soft-bots would launch the extracted rubble into space where it would be collected by an orbiting processing spacecraft.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

Top 8 Tips For Plotting Your Story

• Questions to ask yourself when plotting a story
• Establish stakes 
• Utilize Chekhov’s gun
• Avoid card tricks in the dark 
• Watch consistency errors 
• Avoid handwaving to cover a story flaw
• Delete bogus alternatives
• Eliminate ambiguities
• BONUS: "I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose." - Stephen King 

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

5 Great Quotes: Writing – Talent or Hard Work?

“Discipline and constant work are the whetstones upon which the dull knife of talent is honed until it becomes sharp enough, hopefully, to cut through even the toughest meat and gristle.” - Stephen King

“Your experiences are the foundation for your story; your imagination takes it from there.” - J.R. Young

“However great a man’s natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once.” - Rousseau

“Writing doesn’t get easier with experience. The more you know, the harder it is to write.” - Tim O’Brien

“Talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.” - Stephen King

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.