See, I take this as a challenge. Theres no reason why a scientifically accurate story cant also be entertaining. From a writing standpoint its just a matter of getting the procedural right, which is important since readers and audiences are all procedural geeks...witness the huge, enduring popularity of professional shows which have legal or medical settings. In fact, I often think that basic human monkey curiosity about what the other monkeys are doing and how they go about it means that all drama, to some extent (and certainly documentaries and even celebrity tabloid news) revolve around procedural. Of course, in terms of Science Fiction books, movies and telly shows, sometimes theyre set so far in the future that the technology is, as old Arthur C. Clarke put it, sufficiently advanced to be indistinguishable from magic. Star Trek and Doctor Who often being good examples of this trope. Writers should be wary that magic tech isnt necessarily a free pass as other criteria often get pushed to the fore. Science Fiction buffs are constitutionally committed to ask What if?, Why? and How come? and WILL call inconsistently applied tech when they see it used, or indeed, not used. We were like this BEFORE we invented the internet and the Google Oracle and have subsequently upgraded our nit-picking to whatever speed the local Broadband network facilitates. We are a little more tolerant of said technology being conjured out of thin air, and will often demand no more than an a pacey montage of earnestly concentrating boffins banging computer keyboards and/or test tubes together. Speaking of conjuring things out of thin air, in the wobbly new alternate universe Star Trek reboot theyve introduced intership transporter beaming while the vessels are moving at warp speed and also interplanetary beaming over vast distances, thereby rendering said starships arguably redundant. Audiences will loudly wonder, why the Federation doesnt use this new tech for all its travel needs, and why it isnt available to solve many plot problems thereafter. Were going to want, oh, at least a throwaway line about it being offline, too expensive given the current fiscal crisis, or even, its too classified to use under any circumstances, now report to the Brig, Mister, for even mentioning it.. Its your corner, now go write yourself out of it. bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24518305
Posted on: Mon, 14 Oct 2013 22:28:40 +0000
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