S1E9A8N5

When your dealing with technology, how do you explain to the reader all the changes you would like to address in the time you are writing about? I think writing in "the future" gives you more freedom to explore and make up ideas (at least ones that are realistic) to write about. But how do you generally reveal everything you want to show the reader? Do you explain and show the reader in the beginning of the story? Through out the story? The story I am writing is going to take place within the years 2020-2050. A lot of area to explore. Do you know what I mean?

Sean

Fantasy of You

Erm, it's generally a bad idea to bog a reader down immediately with information they don't need until later and will probably forget- and that's only if they continue reading, because the opening is the hook for the story.

An easy and simple way to do it is to reveal what the readers need to know, as they need to know them. Don't mention the multifunctioning toaster until the character uses the multifunctional toaster. And when you explain a device that hasn't been invented, you don't have to tell the reader specifically how it works. Just that it does. I hope I'm making sense here.

If there is an issue in the future which is of huge importance, or it acts as an antagonists, then a prologue should do the trick. If there is global racism which forces the char to do react (just an example) sometime in the story, but you don't want to have the racism jump out suddenly, or ramble about it in the beginning, have a prologue which sees someone being attacked/abused by racist. Or just have it happen somewere ect..

I hope I've answered your question. If not, just say the word and I'll try again.

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Mike C

Avoid the prologue. It's just an excuse for an infodump and a raamble 9 times out of 10, and many readers skip them.

Leave out unnecessary detail. Let the reader paint in the details. Your story is not - or shouldn't be - about technology and gadgets, it's about people and how they interact with each other. Your setting may be now, ten years from now, or 500 years hence, but your themes should be no different in essence to those Shakespeare pursued.

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cabbageguy

I've noticed this a few times in sci-fi books: technology is so badly worded.

Nobody looks at their Large Artificial-Intelligence Portable Computer - they look at their watch. Their watch with AI.

Nobody goes to see their near death cryogenically stored one degree above absolute zero father who had a stroke, they see their frozen dad.

FrankBlissett

This will also help delay your work becoming "dated". REading golden-age sci-fi, you come across any number of propulsion systems for spacecraft - most of which are now laughable. If the author had simply put the characters on a spaceship without telling us how it is moved around, then this problem wouldn't exist.

Sometimes UNrealistic tech can work too. Let's be honest - a "transporter" is such a critter. Especially so 40 years ago. Some of the stories included in anthologies that Harlan Ellison edited were quite out there, but the stories were fun all the same. Another example is Kurt Vonegut's "Timequake". The premise is completely unbelievable, but the story is good (not his best IMHO, but okay).

-Frank

S1E9A8N5

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I hope I'm making sense here.

Your making sense.

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I hope I've answered your question.

Yes, you have. Thanks

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Avoid the prologue. It's just an excuse for an infodump and a raamble 9 times out of 10, and many readers skip them.

What if the beginning of the story has nothing to do with the protagonist? But the story itself?

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Sometimes UNrealistic tech can work too.

Yea, I know. But the story I'm writing, I dont want to be to advanced. I dont think we will be having teleportation in 20-50 years from now. You know? Could be wrong though. lol.

Thanks

Sean

Flexbile Garphite

Just describe the technology as it appears in the story. Don't go into too much depth though. If they are anything like me, the reader will be intrigued by the technology and its inner workings and want to read on to lean more about it. I also think most readers see character development and storyline as more important than the description of technology.

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