How to Write What You Know in Fantasy and Science Fiction

By Martin Woods 

Have you ever captained a spaceship, ridden a dragon, or survived a magic attack?

I’m guessing not. Whenever you hear the advice “Write what you know,” you probably laugh and think they’re not talking to me.

I used to think the same. However, as I moved from a plot-driven story to a character-driven one, I found myself drawing more and more on my own experience.

I’m not talking here about the kind of experience some sci-fi authors bring to the field. I’ve never flown in Air Force, like Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek. I don’t have a PhD in Astrophysics like Alastair Reynolds, author of Revelation Space. Nor have I developed radar technology, like Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Though if I had, I would certainly bring that experience to my writing.

         

I’m talking about life experiences – times I succeeded or failed, emotions I’ve felt, friendships I’ve had.

I may not know what’s it like to ride a dragon but I’ve ridden a horse, felt the thrill of excitement as it gallops beneath me. I can recall squeezing tightly to the saddle, ducking tree branches as I raced along, feeling very much that the horse was in control and I wasn’t.

Your fantasy or sci-fi story

Perhaps you have a story in mind as you’re reading this. Perhaps you’re in the middle of writing one and have a new scene you’re about to tackle. If so, pause for a moment, then list:

• What actions are unfolding? This could be dialogue or movement.

• How does your protagonist feel?

• What’s the setting?

Now, reflect on your own life experience and ask yourself:

• What’s the most similar thing you’ve done to what your protagonist’s doing?

• How did you feel when you did it?

• Did you face any obstacles or react in a way that surprised you?

• Where have you been that’s similar? This may well be a completely different location to where you had the above experience.

As you write the next scene, keep these answers in mind. Merge your experience with your character’s experience.

This is what we’re doing unconsciously all the time when we write fantasy or science fiction. Ideas have to come from somewhere and while it’s absolutely normal to draw on books you’ve read or films you’ve seen, the real gems come from within.

What if I’ve not done anything remotely similar?

Some experiences, like riding a horse, or joining a debating society, can be obtained relatively simply for most people. You may also know someone who will be happy to sit down over a drink and share their experiences. Don’t be nervous about asking, most people will find it flattering.

Every author I’ve heard talk at length about their writing mentions the importance of conflict. It’s also likely you will want to include conflict in your story that you and your friends will hopefully never have had to endure yourselves. If a specific conflict is the focus of your manuscript, I recommend reading authors who describe similar real-life experiences.

For example, if you’re writing about living in hiding during an alien invasion or as monsters roam the land, you might want to read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, who lived under Nazi persecution while in hiding.

I’m not recommending you don’t also read, say, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Simply that, if you draw on another science fiction novel too directly, readers are far more likely to recognise it. If you gain inspiration from varied genres with somewhat similar storylines, your writing will be stronger for it. Instead of reading something and thinking, “How can I change that?” you can read a different genre and ask, “How can I apply this to my own manuscript?” This makes it a more enjoyable and more creative process.

A side note

In her diary, Anne Frank wrote:

“Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year old schoolgirl.”

This is one of my favourite quotes. It also shows that the author isn’t always the best judge of what will be interesting to others.

Writing a character-driven vs. a plot-driven novel

When I wrote my first novel, The Visualiser, a space opera, I focused on the plot elements. I knew the general premise from the outset - a star turns dark and an alien race believes they’re being attacked and starts an intergalactic war. The hero, Alex Porath, gets embroiled in the conflict and must figure out what really happened in order to stop the war.

From there, I worked out what planets needed visiting, what history had to be uncovered, who needed meeting when, and so on. It was, in short, a plot-driven science fiction novel, though at the time I didn’t understand the difference between plot-driven and character-driven.

As I was writing it, I sometimes struggled to define what motivated the characters. I understood their goals, for they were the plot elements – get to this planet, save Rosa, survive, stop the war – but what powerful unconscious drives were motivating these goals? While I fixed this issue through multiple drafts, I’d have focused more on this question were I to start again – and chosen motivators I’d had more personal experience of.

After The Visualiser, I paused from writing fiction to create a book of writing exercises and prompts called Prompt Me to Write, using exercises I’d accumulated while running seven years’ worth of writing workshops.

The title of my next novel shall remain nameless, for I’ve changed it so often, I’m not convinced the current one will stick. While writing it, I’ve found myself drawn to a character-driven approach and I must say, I prefer it.

This means, instead of constantly asking, “What happens next?”, my focus is on “What’s happening right now and how does that change the character?”

By building the plot around the intersection between character and events, many events follow inevitably as a result of how the characters and their relationships change.

I’m 30,000 words in and so far, I’m finding it a much easier novel to write. The what happens next question is answered by having a deeper understanding of character.

So, how does this relate to writing what you know? Precisely because the character part of your speculative fiction is the part you are likely to know best.

Just as I can imagine what it’s like to ride a dragon from riding a horse, I can imagine what it would be like to be attacked by a group of savage magicians, as I used to get bullied at school.

I never really solved that issue as a child. My wife, however, who went to boarding school, was beaten up by four bullies simultaneously. Her solution was to pick the bullies off one by one when she met them while they were alone. While revenge isn’t a motive that appeals to me personally, my hero may resort to similar extremes with the evil wizards he faces for the sake of self-preservation and to protect others.

Writing prompt

Spend ten minutes brainstorming all the experiences you’ve had that you might incorporate in your fantasy or science fiction story. Include one-off encounters, relationships, friends who feel they belong in a story, places you’ve visited, or issues that are important to you. This is a brain dump. Don’t worry about quality, just get as many ideas as you can down on the page.

Now, see how these could translate into a work of speculative fiction. For fantasy, do any lend themselves to magic systems, characters, monsters, or fantasy landscapes? For science fiction, could any be transformed into corrupt governments, powerful allies, alien races, or intelligent robots?

Write a few notes about the connections and any ideas this inspires.

Be brave

The bullying was a small event in my life I now barely remember (though my wife certainly remembers hers). There are, however, deeper life experiences I can draw on.

I developed temporal lobe epilepsy as an adult, shortly after I’d moved to a small village in France. Every so often, for no apparent reason, I’d lose the ability to speak, pluck at my top unconsciously, and be generally unresponsive. If those were the only symptoms, except for not being able to drive, it would have been a relatively minor inconvenience.

The problem was, every time I had one, it sent me into an emotional spiral that lasted for days. I’d feel angry, confused, find it difficult to work, and argue constantly. I then had a day of utter depression.

The next day, I’d wake up feeling normal again… until the next time, and the seizures were becoming more frequent.

With epilepsy medication, you need to titrate up over months, then titrate down again, which also takes months. The first two medications I tried made the problem worse, not better. This forced me to find alternative treatment methods, though none fully worked. I improved my diet, meditated, learned to ignore my emotions after I’d had a seizure, and made all kinds of other life adjustments.

The third medication, Tegretol, finally worked and I’ve been seizure-free for over a decade, though I still practice meditation, avoid alcohol and sugar-rich foods and eat a plant-based diet.

When I wrote The Visualiser, I didn’t feel ready to process this and avoided it. I also didn’t see how it would fit with the plot. With my fantasy novel, I was looking for a way to limit magic use and decided to incorporate these experiences as a side effect of spellcasting.

I feel nervous as I write this. If it sounds exploitative, I hope in my final draft that it doesn’t come across that way. I certainly plan on asking a sensitivity reader or two with epilepsy to read my manuscript and give me feedback, as it’s a condition that is very different for everyone who has it.

Nevertheless, I feel my experience will make for a better story. No generic, “I’m too tired to cast another spell,” but real symptoms I know what it’s like to live through. And a desperate search for solutions.

I’m also finding writing down my experiences very cathartic. It builds a bridge between me and the experience, making it feel like it’s happening in a far away land I can visit safely.

As you write your novel, see if you can connect with your own experiences, both the light and the dark ones. If, as you write your story, you feel like it’s happening to you, your reader will feel like it’s happening to them. And this will make for a much richer tale.

About the Author

Martin Woods has run a writing workshop every week for the last seven-years. He’s transformed these into a guidebook called Prompt Me to Write, which helps new and experienced authors master the craft through 100 creative writing exercises and 1,000 writing prompts.

Martin has also published a science fiction novel called The Visualiser, written hundreds of cryptic crosswords for The Big Issue and co-created The Da Vinci Game.