Writing Speculative Fiction: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror: Teacher's Edition

All educators know that it is much easier to teach a student something the student is interested in. While not all adolescents and pre-adolescents are interested in speculative fiction, the preponderance of them are. I have seen reluctant writers become excited when writing about something they care about.

It is true that not all the students who go through this elective eighteen week course will go on to become professional writers. However, the sincere students will become aware of ways to clarify their writing, will learn how stories may affect them, and will learn how their stories affect the people around them.

Because the fear of receiving a bad grade can be paralyzing for young writers, I urge the teachers who use this course to not grade the practice paragraphs, or the outlines and charts. There are other questions which can be graded along the way. Please let the evaluation of writing be on the final product. Ensuring that practice paragraphs and charts are actually written is good and a pass/fail grade can be issued based on completion of these sections. However, grading the process by correcting grammar or making other changes prior to the final product is counterproductive. This textbook attempts to teach how to write rough drafts freely and then improve them.

In the back of the textbook are a few pop quizzes that can help prove whether or not the student is absorbing the vocabulary. The Answer Key in the back of the textbook should help with evaluating the answers to questions that have definitive answers.

One more caution. I say in the text as well as here that the student should be allowed to opt out of the chapter on horror. There are extra activities on the EXTRA CREDIT ACTIVITIES page that the student can do in place of reading works that may be against his or her conscience or may be too distressing. Of course, during the week that is devoted to horror, the student who opts out of the horror readings still needs to be working on the student’s own original story. The excerpts in this textbook are mild and should not stress the average student, but students vary in their sensitivity to stimuli, and that should be taken into account.

Finally, while not all the stories the excerpts are taken from represent a subset of possible perspectives which are Christian, a great many of them are. Most of the stories adhere to Christian Booksellers Association standards. Some people call those standards clean reading. Cleanliness is not the only, nor even the best way, to judge literature. However, I kept in mind that preteens as well as teens could be reading this textbook.

OVERALL OBJECTIVES:

The student shall demonstrate understanding and competency in literary techniques by writing an original short story in one of the genres of speculative fiction. Additionally, the student shall demonstrate understanding of worldview presentation in provided texts by writing paragraphs with proof and reasoning.

CHAPTER ONE: GENRE

The student shall identify three genres along with many subgenres and understand the characteristics that overlap and the characteristics that differentiate the genres in literary terms. Proof of learning shall be indicated in written paragraphs that include reasoning and proof. The student shall choose the genre within which he or she will write a short story between three and ten thousand words.

CHAPTER TWO: CULTURAL WORLD-BUILDING

The student shall write informative/explanatory texts that examine and convey complex ideas and concepts concerning cohesive societal structures. The student shall demonstrate understanding of how complex societies will constrain the activities of fictional characters by writing about fictional societies.

CHAPTER THREE: MORE CULTURAL WORLD-BUILDING

The student shall introduce a proposed society and organize complex ideas and concepts so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole. The student shall demonstrate a greater understanding of how complex societies will constrain the activities of fictional characters by writing additional information about the proposed society for their stories.

CHAPTER FOUR: PHYSICAL WORLD-BUILDING

The students will write informative/explanatory texts that will introduce a proposed setting that includes understanding how landforms, weather, stellar, and planetary characteristics influence narrative action. They shall continue to write practice paragraphs.

CHAPTER FIVE: PLOT

The student shall gain an understanding of narrative structure and techniques and learn precise words and phrases that characterize effective narrative organization. A variety of techniques for generating plots will be presented. They will demonstrate competency in such structures and techniques by identifying the narrative organization within provided texts and writing practice paragraphs.

CHAPTER SIX: MORE PLOT

The students will gain an understanding of how to sequence events so they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome. Some more techniques for determining plots shall be demonstrated. They shall learn to identify the different parts of a 3 Act plot structure and write practice paragraphs that demonstrate competency in narrative structure.

CHAPTER SEVEN: CHARACTER

The student shall learn how to develop effective literary characters that will engage readers. Writing practice paragraphs will allow the student to demonstrate competency in displaying the characteristics of characters by using dialogue, description, interior narration, and action.

CHAPTER EIGHT: HEROES, VILLAINS, SIDEKICKS, AND BYSTANDERS

The student shall identify the roles of protagonists, antagonist, and contagonists; and intentional, differentiated uses of such roles in genre and other fictional writing. The student shall learn how to emphasize the important elements of a story during characterization, and will demonstrate competency by writing practice paragraphs about characters they have chosen.

CHAPTER NINE: CHARACTER ARC

The student shall gain an understanding of the literary technique identified as character arc by examining the arc in provided texts. He or she shall recognize and utilize narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description to develop an arc that parallels the plot.

CHAPTER TEN: DESCRIPTION

The student shall use precise words and phrases, well-chosen details, and sensory language to convey vivid images of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters in genre literature. This shall be demonstrated in the writing of practice paragraphs describing the characters and setting of the proposed short story.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: CONFLICT AND TENSION

The student shall gain an understanding of the difference between conflict and tension and the use of both in narrative techniques to engage the reader. The student shall consider the effectiveness of the conflict expressed within his or her own original short story.

CHAPTER TWELVE: EDITING, REVISING

The student shall demonstrate the analysis of provided narrative pieces and the editing and revising of such pieces to conform to standard language norms as well as to increase understandability and narrative cohesiveness. The techniques include Point of View, the recognition of homonym errors, and the necessity of a proofreader. They shall learn the use of checklists for macro and micro-editing.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: YOUR FIRST CHAPTER

The student shall demonstrate an understanding of narrative structure by including the literary devices required in the first section of a story to support the rest of the narrative in a cohesive, intelligible manner. If necessary, the student shall edit and revise the first section of their own original story and outline the story.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: VOICE

The student shall determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in provided texts, including connotative meanings; and analyze the impact of specific word choices. The student shall further analyze the voice of a variety of published writers by comparing and contrasting their writing with that of the student’s.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: WORDS AND WORLD VIEWS

The student shall cite textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, on meaning, tone, and aesthetic impact. The student shall determine what worldview a variety of narratives reveal by the word, sentence, description, and action choices of the writer. The student shall continue working on their own story.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: SCIENCE FICTION

The student will focus on the specialized narrative techniques that characterize the genre of science fiction and analyze a variety of published texts in terms of voice and authorial intent. Arguments for and against certain science fictional tropes will be presented. The student will continue writing and editing their own original short story.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: FANTASY

The student will focus on the specialized narrative techniques that characterize the genre of fantasy fiction and analyze a variety of published texts in terms of voice, tone, and authorial intent. Some arguments for and against the use of the fantasy trope of magic will be discussed. The student will continue writing and editing of their own original story to confirm to narrative norms for cohesiveness and effectiveness.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: HORROR

It is suggested that the reluctant student be allowed to skip this chapter and engage in the extra activities presented later in the textbook instead. Some rationales for the writing of horror will be presented. The student will focus on the specialized narrative techniques that characterize the genre of horror fiction and analyze a variety of published texts in terms of voice, tone, and authorial intent.

AFTERWORD:

The student will be instructed on the normal emotional course of writing a story. Then the student shall present the finished original short story for evaluation by the instructor.

STUDENT INTRODUCTION

Out of all the trillions of things to pick up in this world, you picked up this book. I’m glad you did.

When I was a teenager, I tried so hard to become a writer. I read every book on writing I could find.

They did not help.

Either my brain wasn’t developed enough to understand what the books said, or the books did not address what I needed to know. I read thousands of speculative fiction stories, but I could not SEE how the writers did their magic. I flailed through my teens, my twenties, and my thirties trying to learn how to write.

Today, there are so many good books and websites that can tell you how to write, that I finally figured out how to write a story that was good enough to be published. In this book, I have brought together some of the best books and websites for learning how to write and condensed some of their advice. If I had known what is in this book, I would have been published decades before I was.

This is an eighteen-week writing course. During the course, I will introduce you to famous writers and to writers you might otherwise never learn about. My dream is that you will SEE how the magic is done.

I had planned to not use any excerpts from my work because that seemed egotistical and maybe not ethical. But, I reached a chapter where I needed to SHOW a concept and not merely tell you about that concept. The showing would provide spoilers. I know some of the writers in this book. I did not want any of them coming after me with an ax because I put in spoilers. Me, I didn’t care if one of my stories was spoiled by giving away the ending. So I went ahead and showed the concept which also allows you to judge whether or not I learned how to write skillfully.

(Please note that all the excerpts, save three public domain ones, are copyrighted and used with permission. If you want to use the excerpts, you will need to contact the writer or publisher for permission.)

I will give you some of the writing techniques and tropes that will help you write stories in whatever genre you pick with the goal that your writing can be understood by people who enjoy reading in that genre.

Some people write for the same reason that other people journal or dance. They use these methods as a way to express themselves or to imaginatively explore some of the mysteries of the universe. Some people want their writing to bring glory to God. Others want to bring glory to themselves and hope to become famous. Yet other people want to make enough money to pay their bills.

Here’s a hard truth: if you do not learn the techniques of writing compelling stories, you will not achieve any of those goals. Here is another hard truth: to grow as a writer, you will need to be willing to write badly for a long time. Certainly longer than eighteen weeks. (But hopefully less than decades.)

No Olympic ice skater popped out of her mother’s womb wearing skates and leotards, and ready to pirouette. She had to learn to crawl and then to walk. She needed to be willing to fall down a lot. And then she needed to pay attention to a teacher.

No famous quarterback came out of kindergarten able to lob a long pass. He needed to practice running and throwing. He needed to listen to a coach yell at him and then follow his instructions.

This book will be a coach telling you one way to dribble a ball. During this course, you will write a short story of your own.

I will not teach you grammar, spelling, homonyms or homophones. If you do not know how baited differs from bated, or passed from past, please find a book, a website, or a friendly teacher to explain these things to you. I will also not teach you how to write romance or mysteries or treatises on nuclear physics.

I will, however, try to teach you some techniques that apply to nearly all writing as well as some specialized techniques that apply to speculative fiction. I will try to teach you how to write in a manner that other people will consider skillful. I will try to teach you good writing techniques, though I admit that what is considered good will vary from historical age to age, and from one person to another.

Some of you might be thinking, Why should I bother? I’m going to write the way I want to write. After all, many badly-written books are best sellers.

Here’s why you should bother. Every trade has its jargon and its tools. If you want to be a professional anything, you will need to learn the names of the tools and their uses. A reader may not be able to say, This writer is using gerunds and participles wrongly, or These motivation reaction units are jumbled. But the reader will be able to say, This is confusing. If you confuse the reader too many times, he or she will find something else to read unless they are being forced to read the piece by the instructor. As a writer, you need to learn how to write sentences that won’t confuse your target audience.

It is a truth that many bad books as declared by English teachers will be picked up by readers who say the book is good. There are also many great books written with soaring language, deep truths, and rich in symbolism and metaphor that some readers will call bad.

How does that happen?

Now think about the following questions: What do people read when nobody is forcing them to? Why do people read when nobody is forcing them to?

Answers: People read what they like. What they like depends on what emotion they want to feel when they read. People read fiction of any sort to experience feelings. Some readers want to experience awe, some excitement, some wish-fulfillment, and some comfort. A few readers will want to be challenged and yet others to be reassured.

And SOME readers want to read speculative fiction. If that’s what you want to write, let’s talk about how you can do so in a skillful way.

CHAPTER ONE:

GENRE

Day 1  defining

So what is speculative fiction? Speculative fiction is 1. Fiction (surprise!) 2. A literature that speculates or asks What if? questions about a great many things 3. A zoo of genres, subgenres, subsubgenres, and mingled creatures that defy easy categorization. I am dividing speculative fiction into three broad categories: science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Science fiction and fantasy are genre designations which focus on setting, a setting that for them is always speculative. Horror is a genre designation based on the effect it has on the reader. The effect exists whether horror is speculative or not. Some horror in fact is not speculative fiction, but we will confine our discussion of horror to that which is speculative.

Each of the three genres can be further divided. Just as bears can be divided into grizzly, black, sun, panda, and teddy bears, so can each genre be divided into subgenres. What all the genres and subgenres have in common is that at least one element of the work involves something that does not exist. The something may exist in some future, or the something might never exist or be unknowable.

Orson Scott Card in his excellent book, How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, said:

… If the story is set in a universe that follows the same rules as ours, it’s science fiction. If it’s set in a universe that doesn’t follow our rules, it’s fantasy.

Or in other words, science fiction is about what could be but isn’t, fantasy is about what couldn’t be.

Science fiction will generally have lots of science-type words in it or have concepts that come from the physical or sociological sciences. Logic based on and rooted in these sciences is expected. Problem solving is prized.

Fantasy will often have magic and magical creatures and will have its own internal logic based on the world-building within the novel.

Horror may or may not have magic, but will often have words with spiritual, psychological, and perhaps ecological connotations. One of its common themes is facing the unknown, especially if that unknown is uncontrollable, terrifying, and somehow hidden or occultic.

In case you’re wondering, here’s why we care how to categorize a story: Librarians want to know where to put the book, as do bookstores. Catalogs need some way to sort the books. Teachers making assignments want to know what they’re telling their students to read. And READERS want to know. People who liked one steampunk talking-teddy bear book will often go to bookstores and libraries to find more steampunk talking-teddybear books. If that’s what you write, you want your book to sit on the science fiction and fantasy shelves. Unless your teddybear kills everyone in horrible ways, and then you want the thing in the horror section.

Here are some science-fiction subgenres:

AFROFUTURISM: Stories imbued with African sensibilities set in the future. An example is Binti by Nnedi Okorafor.

ALTERNATE HISTORY: Stories in which one or more historical events differ from reality, such as Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle where Germany won WWII. STEAMPUNK falls under this as a subsubgenre.

ALTERNATE REALITY: also known as ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: Stories in which different laws of physics apply or Earth is different from the Earth we know. PARALLEL UNIVERSE: Stories with a self-contained separate world, universe, or reality coexisting with the real world.

APOCALYPTIC: Stories about the end of the world or civilization. An example is The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever by Daniel H. Wilson.

POST-APOCALYPTIC: Stories about the surviving remnant from an apocalypse. Examples include: A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes, Black Tiger by Sara Baysinger, and Thunder by Bonnie S. Calhoun

CYBERPUNK: Stories that are usually dystopic futures where daily life is impacted by rapid technological change, a ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body. Examples include: A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Nietz, Flashpoint by Frank Creed, and Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Most cyberpunk stories can also be called cyberthrillers, such as Eternity Falls by Kirk Outerbridge

DIESELPUNK: Stories similar to its more well-known cousin steampunk that combines the aesthetics of the diesel-based technology of the time between the two world wars through to the 1950s with retro-futuristic technology and postmodern sensibilities. The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfield is an example, as is Storming by K. M. Weiland.

DYSTOPIA: Stories where an oppressive government uses technology to oppress people. Examples include Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Captives (The Safe Lands) by Jill Williamson

UTOPIA: Stories where a benign government solves all the problems of the world. I think few are worth reading unless you are studying worldviews. You might try Dinotopia by James Gurney.

HARD SCIENCE FICTION: Stories where the science is accurate as far as is known by the current level of science. There are bonus points for having a science fact, such as the melting point of molybdenum, be a plot point in the novel. Examples include nearly all books by Hal Clement, Isaac Asimov, and Poul Anderson. A more recent example is Thunderwell by Doug Beason.

SOFT SCIENCE FICTION: Stories in which physical laws are sometimes paid attention to and sometimes not, and the setting of a space station or new planet is only a backdrop to a traditional romance, murder mystery, or revenge story. A story might also be labeled soft when the science that is speculated about is one that is harder to measure, such as sociology and psychology. When the story gets too soft, it can be scooted over to fantasy. Any of the subgenres of science fiction have soft versions. Most of the subgenres of science fiction have hard versions.

HUMOROUS SCIENCE FICTION: Stories where the tropes of science fiction are used, sometimes inappropriately for the purposes of humor. Examples include There Goes The Galaxy by Jenn Thorson and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

MILITARY SCIENCE FICTION: Stories where the focus is on war, strategy, and the experiences of soldiers. Examples include Knox’s Irregulars by J Wesley Bush and The Chaplain’s War by Brad R Torgersen

SPACE OPERA: Substitute a space ship for a horse and a ray gun for a six-shooter. Adventure in space where a single hero can make a difference. When there is some deference to physical laws, this can go under science fiction. When the writer doesn’t even pretend to follow a single physical law of the universe, the book will be slotted under fantasy. Examples include Edge of Oblivion by Joshua A. Johnston, Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers, The Worker Prince by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, and A New Threat by Aaron DeMott.

STEAMPUNK: This is nearly more of a fashion, an aesthetic choice. These are alternate reality stories with gears, goggles, and steam reigning as a motive power. Usually the characters will dress and speak in a Victorian style. Often there is magic which makes steampunk straddle a fence between science fiction and fantasy. Examples include Curio by Evangeline Denmark, Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina, Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors by H. L. Burke, The Clockwork Golem by LeAnna Shields, and Steampunk Fairy Tales by several authors, including Angela Castillo.

SUPERHERO: This goes under science fiction despite all the fantasy elements because the genesis of the superhero nearly always has a bafflegab or technobabble explanation. A human gains one or more superpowers and excitement ensues. Examples include Failstate by John W. Otte and Hero by Jim Miles. My favorite superheroes are Spiderman and Nightcrawler.

TIME TRAVEL: Time travel stories can involve moving forward or backward on the arrow of time. They can also involve characters moving from a given timeline to an alternate timeline. If there is machinery involved, it is considered science fiction. If magic is the mechanism, the subgenre will slide over to fantasy. Examples are Saving Lucas Biggs by Marisa De los Santos and David Teague, and The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma.

VIRTUAL REALITY: Stories where most of the action takes place inside a computer simulation. Examples include the Disney movie TRON and the book The Hidden Level by A. J. Bakke.

WEIRD: Stories that contain tropes of science fiction but the story is so odd because of the style in which it is written, or the concepts defy human comprehension such that it defies classification. Some people think Cordwainer Smith’s stories belong here.

MASHUP: Any of the genres and subgenres and subsubgenres can be combined in a mashup. Isaac Asimov combined science fiction with mystery in The Caves of Steel. Terri Main combined cozy mystery with science fiction in the Dark Side of the Moon Mysteries. Steampunk romance is common. Paranormal is most commonly combined with romance, though horror is also common. A movie that represents a mashup is Cowboys versus Aliens.

Here are some fantasy subgenres:

ALLEGORY:A story or novel in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events with the purpose of teaching an idea and a principle or explaining an idea or a principle. The main characters are likely to be symbols. Examples include Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and Flatland by Edwin Abbott.

ANIMAL: What separates this from Fable, is that the story could fit under one or another of the other subgenres except the actors are animals. Owls of Ga’Hoole, Watership Down, Warrior Cats, Redwall, Plague Dogs, and Wings of Fire might be examples of this.

FABLE: Very short stories that utilize talking objects (usually animals) to make a comment on the human condition or make a political point. Examples include Aesop and his tales, and the prophecy of Jotham in Judges 9 speaking to Abimelech. There are also some novel-length fables such as Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr.

FAIRYTALE: Stories about magical or imaginary beings and lands that were told at one time by adults to adults and slowly slid into being classified as children’s literature, and now are regaining adult status, especially as reimagined with elements and worldview changes.

HIGH or EPIC FANTASY: Fantasy that is obviously set on an alternate earth or magical land. It will usually involve royalty and mythical people such as elves and fairies, and whatever happens in the story will change the entire land. The theme is often summed up as A boy (or girl) goes on a journey. It will generally follow the basic tropes of the Hero’s Journey. In most cases, the prince or princess is in a battle to earn or keep the throne or land to which he is entitled. One classic example is Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

HUMOROUS FANTASY: A story where the tropes of fantasy are used for a humorous effect. Examples are the Dragonspell (The Fairy Godmother Dilemma Book 0) by Danyelle Leafty, Of Mice and Momphibraks by Lia London, Even a Stone by Jane Lebak, Live and Let Fly by Karina Fabian, and A Twist of Fae by Rebekah Shafer.

LOW FANTASY: There is so much disagreement about this that I will only state what some of those who consider themselves experts in fantasy say: If the fantasy is set in the supposed real world, then it is low fantasy. An example is Mary Poppins by Dr. P. L. Travers and nearly all urban fantasy.

MAGIC REALISM: Stories with a style associated especially with Latin American writers that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction —called also magical realism. They tend to be literary. Many are subversive. The Lost Mission and The Cure by Athol Dickson, and Memory’s Door by James L. Rubart represent North American magical realism

MYTHPUNK: Stories that use traditional myths and fairytales and reconstruct them using postmodern literary techniques. They are meant to be subversive. One example is Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

MYTHOPOEIA: Stories that use religious mythology, traditional myths, folklores and history and then recast them into a re-imagined realm created by the author. They tend to uphold traditional values. An example is Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.

PARABLE: Parables are a type of allegory and can be as short as a sentence or several paragraphs long. They are told to make one point. The parable of the prodigal son may be the most famous one. Longer literary parables include The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery, The Trial by Franz Kafka, and The Alchemist by Paul Coelho.

PARANORMAL: Stories set in the everyday world with lots of fantasy elements added. Often synonymous with urban fantasy. Paranormal is the most likely to include romance. An example is The Mermaid’s Sister by Carrie Anne Noble.

PORTAL FANTASY: Stories that involve people of this world entering a magic world through a portal. Examples include The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, Finding Angel by Kat Heckenbach. And The Tethered World by Heather L. L. FitzGerald.

SUPERNATURAL: Opinions of how supernatural and paranormal differ are both confusing and contradictory. Many say that supernatural is more likely to be about spiritual things such as angels, demons, and ghosts, while paranormal is more likely to be about creatures such as vampires, shape-shifters, and dragons. One writer says a story with a ghost in it is supernatural. If the main character falls in love with the ghost, it is a paranormal. Another writer says that in supernatural stories, the general population knows about the fantasy elements of the story, but in paranormal stories the population either does not know of or is skeptical of the fantasy elements. You may argue about this among yourselves.

SWORD AND SORCERY: Stories in which the main weapon is a sword and there are lots of spells cast. It is closely akin the high fantasy in that the hero usually exists in a world filled with hierarchy, and intrigue. However, the hero of a sword and sorcery story is primarily a warrior on a quest and not a prince or princess attempting to keep the throne. One example is Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard.

TALL TALES: Folklore about heroes that exaggerates one or more of their traits. Examples include Paul Bunyan, Slue-foot Sue, and Pecos Bill.

URBAN FANTASY: Stories that deal with magical or paranormal elements in a real world, contemporary (or urban) setting. Synonymous with Paranormal. The movie Twilight and the book Girls Can’t be Knights by Lee French exemplify this.

WEIRD: Stories that are so odd or so oddly told, such as slipstream, that they are difficult to classify end up here. One example is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Stories by Cordwainer Smith are sometimes slotted here.

Here are some horror subgenres:

HUMOROUS HORROR: Stories that use the tropes of horror to elicit laughter. The most important aspects of these stories, as in all jokes, is the buildup to the laugh. Humorous horror works best when the reader can commiserate with the protagonist’s fears at a safe distance. This subgenre may or may not be speculative depending on whether or not there are speculative elements. One example is The Ghost of Briardale by Grace Mullins.

GHOST STORIES: Ghosts in these stories are usually haunted by an unfulfilled desire, regret, or mission. Often there is a need for justice towards a particular person, family, or region. Whether they are aware that they are dead or not, they are either powerless and lost or, alternately, quite powerful. The ghost can either be the protagonist or the antagonist. They are often bound to a certain place. Good ghost stories elicit feeling of terror and loss. Ghost stories are as old as the Bible (the story of Samuel) and the Odyssey. They are the most common way in which popular culture discusses the afterlife and death. This subgenre is always speculative.

GORE/SPLATTER/SPLATTERPUNK: The focus of these stories are on crimes, bloodletting, and violation. Usually the violation is based on a casting-off of societal and moral rules. In gore, the protagonist is at the mercy of one or more antagonists whose only joy and power is the ability to destroy another. Think serial killer, clown killers, and emotionally-damaged bullies. Unless this subgenre is mixed with other speculative subgenres, this is not speculative fiction.

GOTHIC: Stories with a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, with very high emotion. These emotions can include fear and suspense and can include romance. The term Gothic actually originated as a term belittling the architecture and art of the 1700s and 1800s, which was dark, decaying, and dismal. This is where genre of horror began. Examples include the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Not all Gothic is speculative.

MONSTER STORIES: Stories that involve a monster and sometimes a Big Boss Battle with said monster. Examples include Beowulf, many Greek myths, and the movie The Thing. The monsters can be creatures—either an ancient evil awakening or a modern monster created through mankind’s tampering with nature and biology. The monster can also be a human who has changed somehow, perhaps through self-experimentation, insanity, or some disturbance in the natural state of things. This is always speculative.

PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR: While most horror focuses on our communal fears—of disease, stranger, death, abandoned houses, dead bodies etc,—psychological horror often focuses on the fears of one particular character or group. Sometimes the reader may understand the main character in the beginning, but after a while, the reader and protagonist must part ways because the protagonist has proven to be unreliable, unlikable, or psychologically abnormal. Sometimes the stories can be understood on two levels. Classical stories that fall into this category include The Turn of a Screw by Henry James, Tell-tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, and Lord Dunsany’s Ghosts. Modern examples with a likable and reliable protagonist include Intensity by Dean Koontz. Again, this may or may not be speculative depending on whether or not there are speculative elements in the story.

Activities:

A. Read:

After the stranded biologist cut Mr. Reese down from her rope trap on an alien planet.

Her fingers plucked at the hem of her tunic. Why’d SARC send you now?

Nervous. She doesn’t like that I showed up.

He spread his hands. Who can understand the bureaucratic mind?

Now that he was on his feet, confidence grew. The training locked in place. Observe. Assess. Prepare.

Her jaw flexed. Find anything while you were snooping around?

He managed a disarming smile. No use lying. She was not stupid. Doesn’t hurt to know who you’re working for.

Good thing she had no idea who he actually worked for.

Nothing piqued your curiosity?

Nope. He shrugged. That had to be the biggest lie so far. But what’s with the trap? He sought the name of the planet’s most dangerous predator. Tereph?

They’re for marauders.

They? More than one trap?

Yes. There’s another behind the shed.

Interesting that she would volunteer the information. You expect pirates? Empusa III is so far off shipping routes that few know it exists.

She tilted her head. Still pays to be cautious. We’ve all heard stories of murdered scientists.

Murder…intriguing choice of words. Hadn’t she murdered her last assistant?

He indicated base camp in a sweeping gesture. From what I’ve seen, you don’t have much anyone would want.

"Let’s hope they believe that. She motioned toward the cabin. Thirsty?"

Yes. It was quite a trek from the landing site.

I didn’t hear the drop-off ship.

Newer technology. Much quieter.

She appeared to buy the lie. Good. His arrival two days prior had given him time to stash extra supplies and do some scouting. Though he hadn’t located Geoffrey’s body, Sean prided himself on his determination. He would find it.

I have some juice you might like. She turned.

He followed. Her dark brown braid, bobbing against the knife’s handle, drew his attention. Swaying with every step, the weapon reminded him why he was there.

Not for one second could he forget his secret orders to assassinate her.

Anna Zogg    The Paradise Protocol

B. Read:

The fever returned to Northern Marst in the spring of my eighteenth year and rocked the capital city of Kaeson to its foundations.

After several years with only the odd case or two, new cases cropped up every day, keeping me and my fifteen-year-old apprentice, Princess Renelan, frantically busy. Most of our patients responded to a regimen of rest, gruel, and fluids, but for the serious cases, I needed to use my gift of healing.

El had called me to be a healer at age twelve, but these days I hesitated to use the gift. People gave me doubtful, sidelong looks as if to say, Lady Elilan couldn’t even heal her own husband. Less charitable people whispered, I heard Elilan caused Lord Jayson’s death.

Kathrese McKee    Healer’s Curse

C. Read:

Unreal!—Even while I breathed there came to my nostrils the breath of the vapor of heated iron! A suffocating odor pervaded the prison! A deeper glow settled each moment in the eyes that glared at my agonies! A richer tint of crimson diffused itself over the pictured horrors of blood. I panted! I gasped for breath! There could be no doubt of the design of my tormentors—oh! most unrelenting! Oh! most demoniac of men! I shrank from the glowing metal to the centre of the cell.

Edgar Allan Poe    The Pit and the Pendulum

Day 2  fanfic

To fanfic or not to fanfic. Fanfic is short for fan fiction, works that are set in a universe already created by someone else. If you write a story using, say, Star Trek or Nintendo characters, you are writing fanfic.

Writing fanfic can be a lot of fun. If you write fanfic for your own amusement or to share with other fanfic writers, there is no harm done. BUT (Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!) if you try to make money by selling your stories set in a famous franchise, lawyers will drop on you like a ton of octopuses faster than gravity would call for. Just don’t. You can’t afford the grief you would bring upon yourself.

Some people use fanfic as practice and a springboard for their own writing. Some people think fanfic is cheating. Why? Because most of the work has been done for you. The characters are premade. You don’t need to put any thought into the attributes and motivations of the people in your story. The world (universe) has already been built. You don’t need to do the hard work of world building such as figuring out the society and its rules, laws, and customs. You don’t need to describe the clothing or the appearance of the spaceship corridors. Writing fanfic can let you develop lazy habits.

The short story you will write for this course cannot be fanfic. Cannot. You will need to invent your own story with your own universe and your own characters. The length should be between 3,000 and 10,000 words. I picked those lengths because I want your short story to be long enough to include all or most of the elements of writing I will discuss, and yet short enough to finish before your time is up. Also, many of us find out we need to redo the beginning once we reach the end of our story. I do.

Activities:

A. Read:

Good morning, the small, quavering voice comes from the medical bed. Is that you, Paul?

Today I am Paul. I activate my chassis extender, giving myself 3.5 centimeters additional height so as to approximate Paul’s size. I change my eye color to R60, G200, B180, the average shade of Paul’s eyes in interior lighting. I adjust my skin tone as well. When I had first emulated Paul, I had regretted that I could not quickly emulate his beard; but Mildred never seems to notice its absence. The Paul in her memory has no beard.

The house is quiet now that the morning staff have left. Mildred’s room is clean but dark this morning with the drapes concealing the big picture window. Paul wouldn’t notice the darkness (he never does when he visits in person), but my empathy net knows that Mildred’s garden outside will cheer her up. I set a reminder to open the drapes after I greet her.

Martin L. Shoemaker    Today I Am Paul

B. Read:

You think this is bad? You should see what he did to a whole village back that way. The tugolith handler pointed back across the road and into the trees. As Pelmen turned to look, he could easily see the path the beast had made for himself through the underbrush. Fallen trees and broken shrubs marked it clearly.

What had the village done to cause your beast to go on such a rampage?

The man shrugged. It got in his way. It’s hard to teach a tug to go around something he could just as easily go through. Pelmen raised his eyebrow in response. By the way, the man went on, if you will, call him by his name—Evanlitha. He’s sensitive, and if he hears someone call him a beast he gets offended.

Pelmen nodded thankfully and filed that bit of information for future reference. There was no creature he knew of that was larger or more powerful than a tugolith, save the dragon himself. It didn’t seem healthy to offend something that big.

Robert Don Hughes    Pursuit of a Lost Tugolith  A Tale of Pelmen Before the Dragon Was Divided.

C. Read:

Silvery cascades leafed the bronze woods, burnishing bark and bough with sterling highlights.

An unusual mineral content in the rain might have lent it this slight phosphorescence.

Or . . . having come in from the west, through the soiled air above Los Angeles and surrounding cities, perhaps the storm had washed from the atmosphere a witch’s brew of pollutants that in combination gave rise to