Learn How to Write a Speculative Fiction – Tips and Tricks. Writat.com
Speculative fictions are a perfect and inexpensive way to break away from our chaotic world. And what better way to ride dragons, take a swing at time machines, fall in love with vampires, and resurrect from death than to open a book at the comforts of your bed??
While all fictions offer a beautiful way to escape to a magical world, speculative fictions allow us to wonder about endless possibilities outside the normal scenario and ask ‘what if’ questions.
So, if you are writing fiction for self-book publishing, we suggest including elements of speculation so that the readers find it difficult to keep the book down. And what’s best about it? This particular subgenre can always be spinned-off into sequels and connected stories. If speculative fiction were a TV show, a perfect example would be The Vampire Diaries + The Originals + The Legacies.
In this blog, we have covered some time-tested tips and tricks for writing speculative fiction.
What Qualifies as Speculative Fiction?
Speculative fictions encompass a bigger- genre, and almost any category can fit into it, such as sci-fi, fantasy, horror, supernatural, etc. But what qualifies as ‘Speculative’ is when the story lets us recreate a world that doesn’t exist currently and probes us to contemplate fantasy theories containing magical and supernatural elements.
A classic example would be the ‘what if’ question – What if the protagonist is sent to hell and the soul remains there while the body comes out? What if the female lead finds a way to summon the light bringer who can destroy the devil?
Speculative fiction can also occur in the current world, but with events that are yet to happen – they are far-fetched ideas like the fifth dimension but can help readers understand.
In the next section, we will share tips on how to write speculative fiction like a pro author.
Five Tips that Will Make Your Fiction Hit the Chartbusters
Now that you have understood what speculative fiction is and if you think your potential lies there, the following tips will help you self-publish your fiction without reservations.
Build the Ground
Writing fictions require you to have a very strong ground, logic, or premise. In speculative fiction, you must talk about the outcome of a particular issue that is unsolved. You can take inspiration from real-life, existing issues, such as ‘what if COVID-19 was manmade and is recreated in a lab’. Similarly, you could think of ‘what if a small boy accidentally opens a locked gate of an old mansion which is apparently cursed by a 2000-year-old siren?
If you are taking real-world issues, make sure they are believable despite being over-the-top.
Research Before You Write
It is important you research before writing down issues, particularly when it involves history, physics, science, and even mythology. If you don’t, it can make you look insensitive and amateur. For example, if Jante Friese and Ronny Schalk hadn’t researched time loops and paradoxes, the popular German Television Series would have looked like a child’s play. On the other hand, if Diana Gabaldon hadn’t looked up facts and dates on European and American war histories, the beautiful time-travel Outlander series, set during the Battle of Culloden, would not have been impactful and heartrending.
The research will help you identify the pitfalls and turning points and where you can place them in your story, and then will give you additional tools to take your story exactly where you need it to be.
Make Sure Your Wordbuilding is Thorough
While your story may be based on a real-world issue, you can distort it to fit in an alternative universe since you are writing fiction. In the above Outlander example, everything happens – the Battle of Culloden, the American Revolution, and all that is written, but in a different perception that cannot or did not exist in the real world. For instance, no World War II nurse time-travelled from 1947 to 1765 to warn the scotlanders about the war.
In short, hold on to your premise or ground, and build your story according to your fictional world. But make sure it is consistent and understandable.
Think of the End before You Start Writing
It is important as a writer to know by heart where your story or a particular incident will end, like who wins or what happens if the reality was altered. It is particularly apt for speculative fiction.
In your world, you can twist the rules and make your characters go rogue. If you do so, write the consequences too. But in the end, ensure that you are clear about the rules so that it is clear to the reader when your story concludes.
If you have a beautiful speculative fiction ready, self-publish it today and let us help you reach an eager global reader community.
