geb sff workshop

8/6/2019 GEB SFF Workshop

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Science Fiction & FantasyWriting Workshop

GEB Literature Seminar

Wednesday, August 17, 2011


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Contents

Tropes and ThemesWorldbuilding

Grounding in Reality

Synthesis of PremiseStory Opening

Turkey City Lexicon



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Who Am I?

WriterRed Dot IrrealThe Time Travelers SonFour Seasons in One Day

(with Janet Chui)

Editor & PublisherScattered, Covered, SmotheredA Field Guide to Surreal Botany

Teacher



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From n00b topublished author



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Red Dot Irreal(Oct 2011)

"Stories exotic, spicy, and redolent as a four-star curry. A fine meal for the mind awaits in Lundberg's collection."

Jonathan Carroll, author ofOutside the Dog M

"Lundberg's writing is that of an Old Soul who views the world through Young Eyes; hiswork isjamais vu of the highest order: these stories are memories encountered for the

time, but never to be forgotten once they've been experienced."James A. Owen, author and illustrator ofHere, There Be D

"Red Dot Irrealis a box made of the finest equatorial wood, containing a collection ofgenuine gems of the early 21st century noble art of fantastika."

Zoran ivkovi, author ofThe Las

"Red Dot Irrealteems with imagination, location, originality, and fine writing."Jeffrey Ford, author ofThe Empire of Ice



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Tropes

def.: Common pattern, theme, or motif in literature.

The furniture that defines a science fiction or fantasy storye.g.: Spaceships, robots; goblins, dragons; etc.



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Themes

def.: A broad idea, message, or lesson that is conveyed by awork. The message may be about life, society, or humannature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideasand may be implied rather than stated explicitly.

e.g.: Humanitys compassionate/barbaric nature, profoundimpacts of technology, triumph of the human spirit, etc.



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Writing Exercise

Brainstorm for 5 min.

Make one column of tropes & one column of themesCircle the 1 or 2 most compelling tropes AND themes toyou as a writer



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Worldbuilding

def.: Process of constructing an imaginary world, usuallyassociated with a fictional universe. It describes a key role inthe task of a SFF writer: that of developing an imaginary

setting that is coherent and possesses a history, geography,ecology, and so forth.

e.g.: Middle-earth, Lord of the Rings; Ankh-Morpork, Discworld;Coruscant, Star Wars; Bellerophon, Firefly; Bas-Lag, Perdido

Street Station



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Worldbuilding

Setting does not have to be realistic, but must be believableClimate, physics, geology must be consistent with what we

know of the universe

Easiest type: The Real World (mimetic)Next-easiest type: The Real World But Slightly Different

(magical realism, near-future SF)

Harder type: Invented World (secondary)



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Spectrum of the Real



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Fantasy



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Fantasy

Reali



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Fantasy

RealiScience

Fiction



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Fantasy

RealiMyth/Legend Science

Fiction



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Fantasy


FictionSlipstream



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Fantasy


FictionSlipstream

ScienceFantasy



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Fantasy

RealiMyth/Legend

Slice ofLife

Science

FictionSlipstream

ScienceFantasy



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Fantasy

RealiMyth/Legend

Slice ofLife

Science

FictionSlipstream

ScienceFantasy

NearFuture SF

Steampunk



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Writing Exercise


Based on the trope & theme you circled earlier, decide onthe setting for your story: near-future, far future, secondaryworld, our-world-but-different, etc.



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No matter the setting or premise, the reader must havesomethingor someone to identify with.

Too much weirdness yanks the reader out of the story;disbelief is no longer suspended.

Can have a strange/alien setting or strange/alien characters,but not both.

Why? Gives the reader context to enter the world of yourstory.



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Grounding Characters: should have recognizable qualities,some essential humanity for the reader to empathize with

Grounding Setting: should be analogous to the real world; ifurban, should emulate big cities; if rural, should resemble realfarmland, fields, etc.



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Writing Exercise


Write down qualities that your characters will have, and/orWrite down real-world analogies to your setting



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Synthesis of Premise

def.: The fundamental underlying concept that drives the plot.e.g. Joss Whedons series Firefly:

"Five hundred years in the future, there is a whole new frontier, and thecrew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenityis eager to stake a claim on the

action. They'll take any job, legal or illegal, to keep fuel in the tanks and foodon the table. But things get a bit more complicated after they take on apassenger wanted by the totalitarian Alliance regime. Now they findthemselves on the run, desperate to steer clear of Alliance ships and theflesh-eating Reavers who live on the fringes of space."

Background for understanding the story, but is not yet thestory itselfWednesday, August 17, 2011


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Writing Exercise

Write for 10 min.Look at your chosen tropes, themes, setting, character traits,

and real-world groundings.

Combine all these ideas into the premise for your story.Does not have to be elaborate or even fully thought out yet.



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Story Opening

Start your story with a strong, interesting hook thatintroduces the protagonist.

Should include hints of scenery, conflict, genre, tension.Does NOT necessarily mean explosions or high drama/

action.

Does NOT give away everything right at the start.



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Story Opening

Your opening hook is a promise to the reader of whats tocome; if you cant fulfill that promise, you lose the reader.

The rest of your story must be the payoff that the openingsets up.

Set up questions in the readers mind that will be answeredlater in the text.



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Great Opening Lines

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were strikingthirteen. George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

An hour before he shot himself, my best friend PhilipStrayhorn called to talk about thumbs. Jonathan Carroll,AChild Across the Sky

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned toa dead channel." William Gibson, Neuromancer



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Writing Exercise

Write for 15 min.Look at your premise and all the previous exercises

Create a solid opening to your short story that introducesyour main character, the setting, potential conflict, mood,tone, etc.



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Turkey City Lexicon

Mistakes to avoid, and techniques definedBased on workshop terms, with more added on later

(attribution in parentheses)

Helpful shorthand for story critiquee.g.: Call a Rabbit a Smeerp, Hand Waving, Dennis Hopper

Syndrome, The Jar of Tang, The Slipstream Story, Idiot Plot,Used Furniture



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Final Thoughts

Finish your story; with a solid beginning, flesh out your ideasinto a complete narrative.

Keep writing; its easy to get discouraged, but if its somethingyou love, you must persevere.

Read widely, both in and out of the SFF genres;Recommended Reading.

http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/p/live-wires-recommended-reads.htmlhttp://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/p/live-wires-recommended-reads.htmlhttp://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/p/live-wires-recommended-reads.htmlhttp://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/p/live-wires-recommended-reads.html


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Final Thoughts

Website: http://www.jasonlundberg.netAlso on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, GoodReads, Flickr, etc.

Copies ofSurreal Botanyare $10 today only for attendees ofthis workshop.

http://www.jasonlundberg.net/http://www.jasonlundberg.net/


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Best of Luck to You All


geb sff workshop

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