Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy (Writing Series) [Paperback]

This book, published by Self-Counsel Press, now comes with a CD-ROM (second edition, 2007; original publication 1998). It promises to be a one-stop shop for writing and selling speculative fiction. It does show a pretty good breadth, from the basic elements of fiction writing (such as characters, plot, dialog) to genre-specific issues (creating fictional worlds, handling magic, understanding the conventions of the various subgenres, etc.)

Most of what appears here will be of some help to novice writers in the field. Kilian is especially forceful in pointing out the dangers of using cliches or producing formula fiction, which is something many new writers will need to hear (people often start writing by imitating fiction they have enjoyed). An early chapter on the history of the genre is an interesting read, and may be especially helpful for young writers to get a sense of context. The book is easy to read, and his explanations of good writing practice are clear enough.

Nevertheless, I found the book rather unsatisfying. The problem, I think, is that it is just too short a book for all it tries to cover: genre conventions, the art and craft of writing fiction, and the publishing business, all in a paperback of about 200 pages. So we end up with things like 10 pages on plot, which is really just enough to let us know that plot events should come from character motivations, and to share a storyboarding approach to plotting using index cards. No time to get into the differences between plots in literary and commercial fiction, how to handle subplots, or any of the ways of analyzing plot structure (three-act plot, hero's journey), or any practical advice on how to regain control of a drifting or dragging plot, and so on. The chapter on characters is an even more cursory 5 pages, half of which is a "character resume" form for recording your characters' details (including such puzzlers as the character's address and phone number)! There are just two short paragraphs on character motivation, one on character change - you get the picture.

This is what most of the book feels like - breezily introducing concepts, but not giving much of concrete value if you are already writing and struggling with certain aspects of the craft.

I also have some reservations about the way he approaches the publishing business. The very first chapter of the book is titled "Hard Facts for First-Time Novelists". You might expect this to be a sober look at the arduous process of getting your work read and into print in a highly competitive field. Strangely, though, this chapter serves only to make one point: even if everything goes perfectly, there is a time lag between writing a book and seeing it in print. He makes this point by using a rather ridiculous "best case scenario", where a writer's first novel is instantly pulled from the slush pile by a senior editor, who offers to buy it immediately, with the book becoming popular and having a good run in paperback and other markets. Toward the end of the book, we get a quick section on the importance of having an agent for book publishing, but no advice on how to find one or what to look for (another victim of the need for brevity, I presume).

The CD-ROM had a few good things on it, including some of Kilian's articles and book reviews, and a checklist for editing your work, which I think should have been in the book itself. Unfortunately, the CD-ROM is also padded with a lot of stuff we hardly need: links to the Amazon.com page for every science fiction and fantasy book he could think of, and links to Wikipedia entries for famous authors. I give this book credit for trying to move out of the typewriter age; there are sections on using word processors effectively and doing research on the internet. But once again, it's pretty scant fare. If you are reading this review, you probably already know more sf/fantasy writing internet resources than are included in the CD-ROM.

The best audience for this book may be young sf/fantasy fans who want to try their hand at writing, but know little or nothing about what is even involved in crafting a readable story. Those who already know the basic terminology and concepts of fiction writing and are seeking ways to improve their skills will probably want to turn to a more substantive volume or class instead.

When I started researching the craft of writing SF, I bought Card's book. I have yet to read its equal. That said, this book reawakened the concepts and advice I thought I knew and used.

This book offered no insights I did not know - nothing new, nothing profound. If you are even remotely versed in the topic, it won't likely reveal anything new to you, either. There probably isn't that much left that can be expressed in a book. It will remind you of what you're supposed to be doing.

I sponsor a high school sci-fi club and find this book's chapters to be perfect outlines for group discussions and lessons for budding writers. Every writer should know this stuff and be reminded often. I am going to leave the book by my toilet - not as a commentary on its quality, but so I can read pieces of it periodically and unendingly.

The disk included with the book I found largely worthless. No new exercises that weren't in the book, nothing extra but a few essays. Don't be afraid to buy this used without the disk.

I have been reading a lot of books about writing, specially fantasy and science fiction. I have found this one to be the most objective and helpful among all. Actually, it will be useful for general fiction writing, as a whole. I strongly recommend this good work from Mr.Kilian.