sci-fi writer ISO co-writer/editor

[Fizzbangboom]

Hi all, Fizz here again!

Ok... I have an idea, or the startings of one, that I'd like to partner up with someone for a the creation of a long term Sci-Fi epic.

I have some notes, lots of ideas, a short cast list...

there are a few things that any potential partner should know...
I write in 3rd person past tense. I've tried other ways and it just makes my brian hurt.
Everything starts to play in my head. Every word, sound, action, etc. gets writen down.
I put things down in a format that's more along the lines of script copy than, as I think of it, 'book format', if that makes any sense. Hopefully you can edit that into something more readable by the masses while editing dialog and filling in some of the blanks?

ok on now to the basic idea(s)...

themes: Md, Mf, Mff, ff, MC,

Far future, several hundreds of years. Better is just another univesre altogether. Very high tech, space ships and travel are common place. Multiple planets and alien races, albiet the over whelming majority are human of one breed or another.

Two empires (The Syrthian Empire and the Achillian Republic) with space bordering each other have been at war for eons, no one's entirely sure why it even started in the first place. It's just the way that it is, hate for the other side is bread into the next generation from birth.
The space that each controll is... HUGE to say the least.
Space that neither side controls is also vast. Some some of those planets are self governing (much like a city state in the real world) while others have banded here and there as small con-federations.
Slavery is common place. (I'll be using some of John Norman's Gor books as a reference).
The world is very male dominate, although the great war has taken most of thier numbers from both sides.
I have more detailed notes, not a lot, on all this. What I've been thinking was that the story would actually be focused on a small ship and it's crew as they make thier way amongst the stars. Crossing from one empire into the other and free space, making ends meet, dealing with the war and so forth.

If you have an interest, I look forward to hearing form you.

FBB

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Sounds fascinating. I might help IF I have the time.

 

[Fizzbangboom]

SEVERUSMAX

I'll send you a PM with my e'mail addy... not that hard to figure out at yahoo! LOL

anyways, I'll send you the rude notes that I have together and see what you think of them.

 

[Sean Renaud]

So you want to to Gor meets Serenity? Not terribly original but its not bad. Bred is not bread and confederation is a single word. I wouldn't want to write it but I'm a big fan of Gor and have read several of the novels so if you need some advice feel free.

 

[THE_TRUE_GOD]

- I've tried other ways and it just makes my brian hurt. -

My henry doesn't like it either.

 

[Fizzbangboom]

So you want to to Gor meets Serenity?

uhh... not exactly. Winchester lever action rifles in a time of FTL travel makes as much sense as taking a cheese grater to my balls. Not a big fan of Serenity. Not a bad story, but some things like that

I'll take you up on your offer tho for pickign your brain later.

 

[3113]

uhh... not exactly. Winchester lever action rifles in a time of FTL travel makes as much sense as taking a cheese grater to my balls.

But Gorish whips, chains, brands and male dominance does? Especially with a multi-species empire?

I'm a science fiction writer, and I was fine with what you were going for until you made the above objection. You can have both retro-Gorish stuff and FTL travel if you want to go for cheezy sci-fi (also known as pulp or space opera)--as with this very fun "Buck Rogers" like series on Literotica ("Menace of the Red Planet"):
http://english.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=162494

But you can't if you're want REAL science fiction that makes some kind of logical sense.

I'm no fan of Firefly/Serenity myself, but if you're going to take it to task for problems in logic and consistency (sci-fi wise) then you have to do the same with your own concept. How is it, for example, that your warring empires can be male dominant if they're multi species--meaning that there might be aliens who have no sex, or three sexes or only female sexes? I can perhaps see each empire enslaving folk from the enemy empire, but why just or primarily women (a-la Gor?). Why in such a primitive manner?

In a Gor situation, males have the advantage; it's a primitive planet (physical strength matters) and Gor was pulp sci-fi (not concerned with making sense). But in, as you put it, a FTL technological situation, men and women are pretty much equal. They can both push buttons or give verbal commands to a machine. And in a war, you want the best people pushing those buttons so you can win. To relegate leadership to just one sex is absurd as you're cutting out 50% of the population from the war effort.

Watch Starship Troopers--equally pulpy and fun, but very logical when it comes to the fact that EVERYONE, male and female, gets drafted because the war must be won!. Or, for that matter, check out Farscape (which I assume was more what you were going for)--once again, sex doesn't matter in who is dominant or submissive, who is a commander or a slave.

And we already CAN switch genders on people, more or less. Imagine what a FTL society could do. If they don't like women, they can get rid of them and use artifical wombs and cloning to create more people. If they like women and want them just as slaves they can create an entire slave race--which, frankly, would be, IMHO, really boring story-wise, but whatever turns you on. Men might be able to become women entirely--up to having a womb and providing the babies they birth with milk--and women could become men, able to engender children.

What I'm saying to you--as a science fiction writer--is that if you want is to jerk off to pulpy, male domiant, sci-fi SM, have at it. But if you actually want your story to make sense as science fiction, to be logical and consistent, then you're really going to have to think out this concept. You're going to have to puzzle out very carefully a way for it to make logical sense that there's any part of either of these empires that's "Gor-like" (can be done)--let alone that both of them are entirely Gor-like (almost impossible. Empires are big and unwieldy, and these two are at war, meaning they don't have time to impose such cultural restrictions, nor can they waste any resource--see WWII when women worked men's jobs).

Real sci-fi is demanding. You can't be sloppy about it. Otherwise, you get people wondering why there are Winchester lever action rifles in a time of FTL travel.

So which is it that you really want to write? Pulp (space opera)...or Science Fiction? If you're talking Space Opera, fine--but that means you don't get to call the kettle black.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I have a series where there is a semi-feudal society, called the Dekerins, which are rather patriarchal in their system. Their technology is somewhat advanced, but they rely more on a warrior code and initiative to gain military advantages than simple numbers. Naturally, this can present problems, as the story shows early enough. It puts them at a logistical disadvantage at times.

 

[Fizzbangboom]

But Gorish whips, chains, brands and male dominance does? Especially with a multi-species empire?

I'm a science fiction writer, and I was fine with what you were going for until you made the above objection. You can have both retro-Gorish stuff and FTL travel if you want to go for cheezy sci-fi (also known as pulp or space opera)--as with this very fun "Buck Rogers" like series on Literotica ("Menace of the Red Planet"):
http://english.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=162494

But you can't if you're want REAL science fiction that makes some kind of logical sense.

I'm no fan of Firefly/Serenity myself, but if you're going to take it to task for problems in logic and consistency (sci-fi wise) then you have to do the same with your own concept. How is it, for example, that your warring empires can be male dominant if they're multi species--meaning that there might be aliens who have no sex, or three sexes or only female sexes? I can perhaps see each empire enslaving folk from the enemy empire, but why just or primarily women (a-la Gor?). Why in such a primitive manner?

In a Gor situation, males have the advantage; it's a primitive planet (physical strength matters) and Gor was pulp sci-fi (not concerned with making sense). But in, as you put it, a FTL technological situation, men and women are pretty much equal. They can both push buttons or give verbal commands to a machine. And in a war, you want the best people pushing those buttons so you can win. To relegate leadership to just one sex is absurd as you're cutting out 50% of the population from the war effort.

Watch Starship Troopers--equally pulpy and fun, but very logical when it comes to the fact that EVERYONE, male and female, gets drafted because the war must be won!. Or, for that matter, check out Farscape (which I assume was more what you were going for)--once again, sex doesn't matter in who is dominant or submissive, who is a commander or a slave.

And we already CAN switch genders on people, more or less. Imagine what a FTL society could do. If they don't like women, they can get rid of them and use artifical wombs and cloning to create more people. If they like women and want them just as slaves they can create an entire slave race--which, frankly, would be, IMHO, really boring story-wise, but whatever turns you on. Men might be able to become women entirely--up to having a womb and providing the babies they birth with milk--and women could become men, able to engender children.

What I'm saying to you--as a science fiction writer--is that if you want is to jerk off to pulpy, male domiant, sci-fi SM, have at it. But if you actually want your story to make sense as science fiction, to be logical and consistent, then you're really going to have to think out this concept. You're going to have to puzzle out very carefully a way for it to make logical sense that there's any part of either of these empires that's "Gor-like" (can be done)--let alone that both of them are entirely Gor-like (almost impossible. Empires are big and unwieldy, and these two are at war, meaning they don't have time to impose such cultural restrictions, nor can they waste any resource--see WWII when women worked men's jobs).

Real sci-fi is demanding. You can't be sloppy about it. Otherwise, you get people wondering why there are Winchester lever action rifles in a time of FTL travel.

So which is it that you really want to write? Pulp (space opera)...or Science Fiction? If you're talking Space Opera, fine--but that means you don't get to call the kettle black.

I wasn't putting down Firefly/Serenity. It just didn't work for me. It doenst have to. that's the beauty of it. For me, in my own personal taste, it just didn't click. 1 thing out of all else it had/has going for it is not, or wasn't intended to be, a slam. More than likely the reason, and this has been pointed out to me by so many people I'm about convienced that it's true, is that I've never seen it in the proper order. Catching an episode here and there that was released in the wrong order to begin with.... As I said before, other than that it's not bad at all.

While on that note, Farscape was... in a word, 'WOW' works best for me.
I should also note that as far as TV goes I'm also a big fan of Stargate SG1 (more so than the movie actually) and Atlantis.

The movie version of Starship Troopers was pretty to look at. I'll give it that much. That red head makes me freakin nuts.

Moving on...

It has never been my intent to try and plagerize Norman or Gor. There are some aspects that I found appealing and thought they might find a fit within a far future environment. Those elements were that anyone could be made slave at any time, but that outside of raids, war and the like it wasn't that common. Walking down the street you didn't see people jumping out of the shadows to slap a collar on a woman. The caste system worked out ok I think for the story but was stretched out into every little thing to a point where I, imho, found it a bit over done. At times I felt that he had 'class' and 'caste' mixed up. *shrug*
In the first book the leader of a rival city's daughter (does that even read right?!) submits herself into slavery willingly in order to solicite his protection.

In the universe that I'm visualizing I do, in fact, see both men and women fighting along side each other. That would not preclude either from being caputured and enslaved.

I forgot the friggin thumb drive with my brife, and rather scatter brained, notes that I've started so far. I'm just gonna go ahead and post that and hope that might clarify some of my thoughts better...

 

[3113]

I wasn't putting down Firefly/Serenity. It just didn't work for me.

And I wasn't trying to make it work for you. Whether it worked or didn't, wasn't my point. My point was that you couldn't criticize Firefly/Serenity for being illogical if you idea was equally so. And as you presented that idea, it was equally illogical.

Your adjustments and addendums make it less so, but my point still stands. Know what it is you want to write and will enjoy writing. In Science Fiction, the larger and more multi-alien your empire, the more you have to consider if you want to make it "real."

I loved Farscape, but reality and sense didn't often enter into it. It was often brilliant, inventive, creative, unique--but also, in it's way, as much space opera as Star Wars. Decide for yourself how "pulp" your Sci-fi is going to be. The more "real" you want it to be, the more thought you have to give it.