The alien science-fiction world is full of adventure and fantastic views, but both the fauna and the inhabitants can be a deadly threat! Your best bet is to learn everything you can, to improve your chances of survival.
Building a science-fiction world
When I started writing the book Red Twin, I didn’t really know what the world would look like. So I pulled a proper R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire) and started worldbuilding as if it would create the plot. Sure, you need some of that to write science fiction or fantasy, but generally it’s a good idea to only build as much as you need.
Star Wars is a major inspiration when it comes to worldbuilding, but Lucas really understood the power of leaving information out.
“I fought in the Clone Wars”
Obi-Wan Kenobi
That was all we knew about the Clone Wars for roughly 30 years, until the prequel trilogy arrived (Star Wars Episode I–III). Considering what a big Star Wars nerd I am, I didn’t exactly follow that guideline. Because of that, it took forever before I actually started writing Red Twin. I had to learn the craft of being an author and focus on the right things: story and character development. Incidentally, those were Lucas’s weak points.
That’s where I took more lessons from George R.R. Martin. Like so many others, I discovered the books when HBO’s Game of Thrones hit, and then devoured everything Martin had to offer. He’s done a lot, even though he’s also very good at procrastinating! Martin focuses on the characters living in the world, and the fantastic vistas, dragons, and magic are just a backdrop. If I could transfer that to science fiction, I knew I had something!
Eventually I started writing daily (1,000 words on a good day) and got through the story from beginning to end. I built my world as I went, as much as I needed, and avoided editing like the plague. It has a cost, sure, but the point is the first draft got finished and there was finally something to work with.
In the editing process I could pick up the puzzle pieces and expand the world as much as needed. AI was on the rise, and it was incredibly helpful to talk about Rovian society with ChatGPT, or let Midjourney create awesome concepts like you see above. AI as a creative partner is truly an author’s dream. Letting it write text, though, is probably less great and not something I do. But I’m positive toward technology—why else would I write sci-fi—and I use every tool I can find to turn my vision into reality.
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