Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Horror for Dummies - Rick Dakan

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Résumé :
Take your shot at becoming the next Tolkien, Asimov, or King with this simple roadmap to transforming your fiction into works of art

Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Horror For Dummies is your skeleton key to creating the kind of fiction that grips readers and compels them to keep turning pages (even if it's well past their bedtime!)

You'll start with the basics of creative writing-including character, plot, and scene-and strategies for creating engaging stories in different forms, such as novels, short stories, scripts, and video games. After that, get beginner-friendly and straightforward advice on worldbuilding, before diving headfirst into genre-specific guidance for science fiction, horror, and fantasy writing.

This book also offers:

• Strategies for editing and revising your next work to get it into tip-top shape for your audience
• Ways to seek out second opinions from editors, experts, and even sensitivity readers
• Techniques for marketing and publication, working with agents, and advice for writers going the self-publishing route

The perfect beginner's guide for aspiring writers with an interest in horror, fantasy, or science fiction, Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Horror For Dummies is the first and last resource you need before you start building your next story about faraway lands, aliens, and fantastic adventures....

Biographie:
Rick Dakan and Ryan G. Van Cleave, PhD are professors at the prestigious Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, where they teach such courses as Writing Science Fiction, Writing for Video Games, and Writing for Shared Worlds. Both of them have ended a D&D campaign with a single well-placed fireball.

Sommaire:

Introduction?1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started: The Basics of Story?5

Chapter 1: Taking Journeys into the Imagination?7

Looking Closer at the Big Three Genres 8

Imagining possible worlds - Sci-fi 8

Imagining wondrous worlds - Fantasy 9

Imagining fearful worlds - Horror 10

Creating Characters 11

Pursuing Writerly Success 12

Revising your words 12

Turning to pros for help 12

Focusing on the three Ps 13

Setting the right goals for you 14

Making the Most of This Book 15

Chapter 2: Creating Characters?19

Focusing on Your Characters' Wants 20

Looking outside - External goals 21

Reflecting inward - Internal needs 21

Looking a bit deeper - Hidden desires 22

Introducing the Cast of Characters 22

Leading the way - Protagonists 23

Standing in the way - Antagonists 25

Introducing supporting characters 26

Managing your supporting cast - Tips and tricks 29

From Whose Eyes? Choosing Point of View 29

First person 30

Third-person limited 31

Third-person omniscient 31

Third-person objective 32

Telling Telling Details 33

Zeroing in on appearance 34

Digging into a character's psychology 34

Trusting an inner circle 35

You Don't Say? Using Dialogue 36

Recognizing the types of dialogue 36

Keeping track of dialogue tags 38

Writing script dialogue 39

Chapter 3: Laying the Foundation - The Power of Plot?41

Engineering Great Drama 42

Examining values 44

Creating compelling conflict 44

Starting with Freytag 46

Finding the tension 48

Considering character arcs 51

Keeping up the pace 52

Building Story Structure 54

Understanding scenes 54

Using scene sequels - Action/reaction 56

Adding variety to your scenes 57

Thinking bigger - Sequences 59

Examining Key Elements of Plot 60

Beginning with a bang 60

Maintaining audience interest - Magical middles 62

Fulfilling story promises - Knockout climaxes 63

Finishing strong - Satisfying endings 64

Chapter 4: Crafting Many Worlds, Many Media?65

Writing Prose - An Oldie But a Goodie 65

Novels 66

Novellas 67

Short stories 68

Writing for Screens Both Big and Small - Scripts 69

Film 69

TV 71

Podcasts 72

Plays 73

Comics 74

Inviting Audiences to Co-create - Interactive Stories 74

Video games 75

Tabletop games 75

Immersive experiences 76

Part 2: Worldbuilding: Journeys to Other Worlds?79

Chapter 5: Building a World Like No Other?81

Creating Worlds Worth Exploring 82

Making your place interesting 82

Knowing how your world works 83

This place is awesome! - Your pitch 84

Building Worlds for Conflict 87

Finding a problem around every corner 87

Creating characters from conflict 89

Focusing on What's Important - The Iceberg Rule 89

Show the characters and conflicts 89

Don't show everything 90

Chapter 6: Letting Your Research and Imagination Run Wild?93

Start with Earth: Inspiration and Adaptation 94

Tapping into the power of piggybacking 94

Controlling cognitive dissonance 97

Using Research to Balance Science and Fiction 98

Striving for accuracy 99

Casting a wide net when researching 100

Heading straight to the sources 102