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.
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.
• How to build a story from a SF novum
• Prompts 1-5
• Prompts 6-10
• Prompts 11-15
• Prompts 16-20
• Prompts 21-25
• BONUS: “Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.” - Terry Pratchett
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.
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.
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:
Augmented reality
What if we wore glasses and an earpiece that overlaid computer-generated images and audio over what we see and hear in reality? For example, if trying to find a building on a city street, arrows projected onto our field of vision shows which way to go?
Contextual commerce
What if your appliances could make purchases for you based on an analysis of your likes and habits? For example, when your milk is about to expire, your refrigerator orders new milk for you – using the specific brand and fat percentage you prefer.
Epigenetics
What if a class of jobs that turns targeted genes on or off were common? Such drugs could be used to treat cancer and various genetic diseases.
Snagging space junk
What if robotic spacecraft were launched to remove space junk from Earth orbit? What would be the best “capture mechanisms” to pick up the debris – harpoons, nets, robotic arms or tentacles?
Solar surfing
What if a super-reflective material were developed that allowed our spacecraft to get extremely close to the sun’s surface? How would this change our understanding of the sun and allow for colonization of Mercury?
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.
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.
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.
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:
Disassembling houses
What if when you moved utility clouds of microscopic robots that make up your house simply disassembled, moved with you, and reassembled where you relocated? What if entire buildings – even skyscrapers – do the same?
Electronet space debris remover
What if several nanosatellites, connected by electrically conducting tape were used to knock space debris into the atmosphere for burn up? The conducting tape would become electrically charged as it passed through the Earth’s magnetic field.
Heat shields made from asteroids
What if heat shields for spacecraft re-entry could be manufactured at a low cost from asteroid material while in space? What would be the benefits of having heat shields constructed on their way to a destination, even while in low Earth orbit?
Smart windows
What if windows could self-regulate themselves? That is they adjust as the temperature changes outside or inside to maintain comfort, they close when rain falls, they become soundproof when the teenager next door plays his music loud.
Spray-in power generation
What if we developed nano solar cells so sensitive that they can turn even infrared light into power – and these nano solar cells could be sprayed or painted on to a surface, like a wall? How does this change the way we power our electronic devices and appliances, and what will be the broader effect on society?
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.
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:
Human pheromone trails
What if each morning when children washed up, the soap included synthetic pheromones that left a trail of where they’d gone, so in case of kidnapping, a child could be more easily found? What other applications are there for this technology, such as espionage or monitoring parolees?
Mach-powered interstellar spacecraft
What if mach effects – described by NASA as “the transient variations in the rest masses of objects that are accelerating and undergoing internal energy changes” – could power interstellar spacecraft? How would this propulsion system work?
Nanobot toothpaste
What if nanobots were placed in toothpaste to fight plaque and prevent cavities? What other toiletries might nanobots appear in to keep us healthy?
Smartflower
What if flower-shaped solar “petals” could follow the sun through the day, providing energy to homes and buildings. How does the widespread use of solar energy change our energy infrastructure?
Zillionics
What if a new science, called zillionics, was invented to deal with finding patterns flowing from the unrelenting torrents of data arising out of always-in sensors? Philosophies, theories and practical applications will be needed to distill, index, archive and find meaningful signals in data coming from zillions of sources.
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.
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:
Lie detection glasses
What if police officers, teachers and juries wore glasses that analyzed micro-gestures to determine if a person is lying or not? What happens in a world where even white lies can be detected?
Rearranging rooms
What if compartments in the walls, floors and ceilings of a room could fold out various pieces of furniture and appliances so that it could one moment be a living room then the next a home office and then a workout gym, and so on? How does the change the size of apartments and homes that we need?
Smartbed
What if your hospital bed could read your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and more? How does this affect health care, especially if the smartbed can be purchased for home use?
Solar roof tiles
What if efficient solar roof tiles looked like and were the same cost as the standard roof tiles we use today? How does solar energy incorporated into millions of homes change our economy?
Vacuum airships
What if airships that maintained an air-displacing interior vacuum were used to explore planets with low atmospheric pressure, such as Mars.
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.