Author: Sophia Hansen

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Pizzanomics and the Economy of Words

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde writes that people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. My friend Eric was not such a person. He assigned value to everything in terms of pizza.

You might price a throw pillow at fifteen dollars—he’d say it cost two pizzas. (This was back in the ‘90s.) He counted the cost in terms of the true value it yielded him, and what Eric valued most was pizza.

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

His friends called this Pizzanomics. Decisions based on whether sacrificing that much pizza was worth the purchase. Talk about Opportunity Cost!

Opportunity costs means “What else could I have done with my money?”

Adem Selita, chief executive officer at The Debt Relief Company in New York, N.Y.

There is an opportunity cost attached to each word a writer uses. We need to draw readers into new realms where they can connect with and vicariously strive alongside our characters. We need to craft our expressions with intention—be it chapter, scene, paragraph, or word—to ensure our writing is concise but not boring. Remember, our readers are also counting their opportunity cost. Don’t let them wriggle off your hook.

What is in a word? Would that rose by any other name really smell as sweet? What else could we have done on the page? With that description?

Word choice matters. I remember a high school reading assignment where the narrator referred to the scent of bruised gardenias. If he had used “stink” instead of “scent,” what sense would that have conveyed?

Color your world… with words

The genre and setting should color our work. Don’t just close a door. If the story is set in space, let it whoosh. A stone castle door could grate or grind as it moves. Wooden village gates and doors might creak. Clues like this give readers a sense of the world’s setting and reflect the character’s unique POV.

Similes, metaphors, imagery, and expletives are prime opportunities to make strategic word choices.

Sandfly, a debugger in A Star Curiously Singing, book 1 of Kerry Nietz’s Dark Trench saga vents his frustration with an exclamation of “Crichton and Clarke,” two historical science fiction authors.

The amphibian dwellers of my water-covered planet mutter shells under their breath and taunt each other with sea creature insults.

And in Hidden Current, Sharon Hinck introduces the dancers of the Order with this beautiful imagery before she reveals they live on a floating world.

We lunged and poured our bodies forward. We moved like channels of water, divided, as if by an unseen boulder into two streams that circled the room, arching, flowing, reaching.

A ripple disturbed the flow.

Sharon Hink

This passage pours beauty and warmth into my soul. She did that with words.

At a Realm Makers workshop, Sharon said words should serve as double-agents, communicating more than their face-value to the reader.

Make each word earn the space it occupies. If it cost five dollars to use, would you still plug it in?

Don’t use the fanciest words to show off vocabulary prowess (or adept use of a thesaurus). Aim to transport readers, rather than impress them. If they think about the author while reading, we’ve missed the mark. But make sure to communicate all we can with that noun, verb, and article—so readers have a deeper sense of our world.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Proverbs 25:11 KJV

If a spoken word carries that much potential, how much more do words inscribed—utterances recorded to outlast the breath that launched them. Invest wisely in your words to compound the impact for your reader. They will be reluctant to emerge from this story and eager to plunge in to your next one.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Strike the Earth

Any gamers in the house? I’m a huge fan of games: the creativity, the challenges, and the competition, of course. I love testing my wits and resolve in unpredictable settings and it’s fun to surprise my kids when I play one of “their” games. I may be a grandma now, but “Grannies are pernownin noobs!”

I started playing Dwarf Fortress after my hubby had been talking it up forever. It’s been around for over twenty years, and was one of the major inspirations for Minecraft, but much more complicated. He watched YouTube tutorials and Twitch streams and conferred with our sons as they all anticipated an upgraded release on Steam. I couldn’t avoid learning about it and was, eventually, hooked.

But Dwarf Fortress is HARD. You are expected to lose your colony several times, regularly even, so much so that one of their mottos is “Losing is Fun.”

Hmph. I didn’t like the thought of that but tried anyway. And I lost. And tried again. And lost again. But with each new try, I started with more experience under my belt, and I developed my own motto: “If at first you don’t succeed, just look how much you learned.”

“I never once failed at making a light bulb.
I just found out 99 ways not to make one.”

Thomas A. Edison

Growing as an author is like playing a new game. Unknown possibilities lie before you, but the path is untraveled. How and where do you start?

Choose Your Game

Do your tastes run more towards a first-person POV solo quest (like first-person shooter,) or an ensemble adventure (mmporp-massively multiplayer online role-playing game)? Are you a minecrafter (world builder,) puzzle solver (mystery,) or do you love Stardew Valley? (Sounds cozy to me.) Whatever you land on, make sure you love your story/world. You’re gonna spend a lot of time there.

Once you’ve chosen your adventure, you need to learn how your game works. Study the craft—query a friend who’s had some experience. Or search out tutorials. Don’t just visit the same old sources, but find out where the players are, whether Twitch, Substack, or Kindle Vella. Check out new sources for fresh takes on familiar obstacles.

When I play a new game, I want to know what the goal is and how do I reach it. In the writing game, this means I consider my goal–is this a first draft? Is it a brainstorm session or contest submission? Self-pub or a traditional publisher? Sometimes I’m competing with the game, and sometimes I’m just trying to improve my personal best.

I adapted some tips from this Wiki Walkthrough that should serve you in the writing game.

  • Stay calm—don’t panic. The challenge may seem overwhelming but if it were easy, you’d be bored already. Try something new, and don’t be discouraged if you falter. Starting over doesn’t set you back to square one. Each restart comes with new understanding and new skills.
  • Configure your controls the way you like them—your desk (standing or curled up on the sofa), keyboard (clicky?) or notebook with special pens. Then throw in some yummy snacks, good lighting, and a supportive chair. I like to have dark chocolate and mixed nuts in easy reach, as well as a supply of lens wipes. The key is, make your setting work for you.
  • Learn the environment—Where are attacks most likely to come from? Pay attention to the feedback that urges you forward or sets you back. What activities distract you, and which renew your resolve?
  • Communicate—Whether you’re playing solo or among strangers, you need a party. Not the balloons, cake, and disco ball kind, but that small contingent of trusted folks who are committed to watching your back and helping you stay on mission.
  • Practice—Gamers rehearse keyboard strokes to build muscle memory, striving to improve their APM (actions per minute.) Word sprints, writing prompts, and flash fiction are fun ways to strengthen your author game. Learn the rules for your genre; the conventions, expectations, and the tropes, so you can bend—and even break them when it serves the story. Havok Publishing is a great place to read and write flash fiction.
  • Develop your style—know your voice. Bob Hostetler’s writing wisdom, “God has given you a story that no one else can tell,” set me on this journey years ago.
  • Join a team—find your tribe. Don’t sequester yourself completely, even if you write in solitude. Find community that challenges and encourages you, the ones that inspire you to start, and start again. Groups like Writers Chat, Realm Makers, and the 540 Writers Community have been a huge encouragement for me.

Strike the earth. No matter how much you prepare, study, and research, you need to commit. To act. To enter the fray.

In Dwarf Fortress, you wield your pickax to break ground. Wield your words. Start your story. Write. This is the first win.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Flash Fiction FUNdamentals

Flash fiction may sound new and alien, but it’s been around longer than you think. The query that inspired the first flash fiction contest was, “How short can a short story be and still be a short story?”

As a result, Short Stories From Life was published in 1916, featured81 stories from the Shortest Story Contest. Further questions raised as the project grew were:

  • When is a story not a story, but only an anecdote?
  • When a story is a story, is it a combination of plot, character, and setting, or is it determined by only one of these three elements?
  • Must it end when you have ended it or must it suggest something beyond the reading?

These are still some of the questions asked about flash fiction, but let’s clarify.

Flash Fiction is a form of short story, usually between 300 to 1,000 words.

Why should you write flash fiction?

  • It’s a good way to get past writer’s block—and writing prompts are a fun way to jumpstart creative juices
  • You get to play with a new story and the rush of finishing
  • You’ll learn to write and edit tighter
  • You’ll have content (aka lead magnets) to offer your readers
  • Getting published is not as arduous or prolonged

Publishing flash fiction is not automatic, but the barrier to entry is not as steep as for a full-length novel.

Getting down to business

Every story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end whether it’s spread over a seven-book series or a 50-word fiction. You need a beginning that will hook the reader, a middle that engages them, and a satisfying ending. And you need to do that in 1,000 words.

For plotters, here’s a basic structure for a 1,000-word flash fiction story. I’m pretty committed to pantsing—but people who plot say this is helpful.

  • Intro: ~150 words – setting and characters–if you can, start in the middle of the crisis
  • Rising action: ~600 words – develop main conflict (try-fails, conflict/crisis)
  • Climax: ~200 words (the turning point/most intense moment)
  • Resolution: ~50 words

Pacing isn’t the only thing acquisitions editors look for in submissions.

Beginning

  • Make your title earn its keep! It’s not included in your word count, so use it to set the stage or foreshadow a twist.
  • Your first line needs to hook the reader.

“There are things they don’t tell you about having green skin.”

Photosynthetic by Cassandra Hamm
  • Pay attention to POV and voice (whether you choose 1st, 2nd, or 3rd)
  • Limit your characters to one or two–but include the conflict of two opposing forces
  • If you introduce a feature, make sure it’s pertinent to the plot

Here’s another wonderful opening:

Commander Tri’eek’s ship was self-destructing.
Bianca muttered Earth English curses under her breath as she ran through the Argo’s gigantic ventilation shafts, holding a gargantuan stolen ring of shiny, black electrical tape around her waist like a life ring. She had spent three precious hours tracing the problem to the engine maintenance room. She couldn’t afford to be wrong.

Brownie Points by Lavender Ellington

It’s not a story until something goes wrong

Steven James

Middle

  • Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue
  • Action beats can reveal more about your characters than dialogue tags
  • Reveal, don’t lecture (aka show, don’t tell)
  • Avoid talking heads. Use the whole body to communicate your character’s state of being—shoulders, fingers, knees, toes
  • What are the stakes? What happens if the MC fails? Will the reader care?

End

  • Your ending needs to be satisfying and the conflict, resolved—whether it’s positive or negative. Leave your readers with a thought to chew on, a twist, or an aha. Does the story convey an idea larger than itself?
  • Your readers want to know what’s going to happen but they also want to be surprised—so plant seeds of the ending in the beginning and throughout the story.

When you’re done:

  • Check for repeated words or concepts, unnecessary details, or cliches,
  • Read it out loud and get someone else to look at it.
  • Recheck the submission requirements before hitting SEND!

Where to submit

Havok Publishing wants stories that hit fast and strike hard––stories that can cut through the day’s troubles and grip distracted readers. They also provide feedback on all submissions, unless requested otherwise.

Spark Flash Fiction looks for romance stories that will grab the reader and put a spark in their day.

NYC Midnight hosts contest for a variety of short fiction stories. For a small entry fee they provide prompt-based challenges, feedback from their judges, and peer feedback forums.

If you’re curious about flash fiction, read some! There are plenty of free sources and don’t take more than a few minutes of your time.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

This Little Light

Sharing your fantastical words and worlds can be terrifying. You feel everyone’s eyes on you, weighing the thoughts you had the audacity to record.

What if I’m not good enough?

What if they laugh?

What if I make a fool of myself?

These are not the what ifs you want to dive deep with.

Of course we imagine the worst—imagining is what writers do best! But only you can change that narrative and write a different adventure. We are encouraged to identify the lie our character believes, but dare we dig deeper and challenge the lies we believe?

When you dream up worlds that don’t exist outside your mind and then people them with inhabitants from your imagination, it can be intimidating to reveal your creation. But if you find a kindred spirit it’s a little less scary.

Still, someone needs to make the first move, to confess,

“My name is Sophia and I write science fiction and fantasy.”

Two things can guide you through these unknown waters:

1- The spark you brought with you

2- The wisdom of those who have gone before.

Hold onto the candle of your imagination. Remember, you came because you had a thought, an idea, a story. You had a little light, and it led you into this universe. Your flame, whether large or small, is more than what meets the eye. Colored and shaped by the experiences that make you unique, this light is unlike any other.

Nurture it. Don’t compare it to the bonfires of those you meet.

Yes, learn from the professionals you want to emulate, those who’ve produced what you’re aiming for, but don’t judge your works by theirs. Study, practice, and follow their advice, then work it out with others whose lights are similar to yours.

Find support among your peers while you follow the pros. Critique partners, writing groups, retreats, conferences, and seminars are great opportunities to find like-feathered friends. Flock with them.

Remember, everyone starts as a beginner. so don’t be afraid to ask how they got started. Only those who haven’t gone through the trenches think writing is easy.

Be generous with what you’ve gleaned. We don’t all have the skills to teach a master class, but we can pass along the bits we’ve learned here and there. It all counts. Frequently, our experience provides what is lacking in another’s.

Share opportunities. Let your friends know where you’ve found beneficial input. Whether you call this networking or collaboration, it falls under the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. You don’t need to bring a slew of new contacts, but if you add even one person their circle is unique, which can add to and enrich all the parties involved.

You never know who’s hesitating in the wings, working up the courage to step out.

That little flame flickering across the way? It might belong to a new partner in your writing ventures and adventures. Bring your light close to theirs and increase your candlepower.

The funny thing is, once you gather a bunch of little candles, their lights combine and overcome darkness. The effect of the sum is truly greater than that of the parts, and together can illuminate new paths for many.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Wonder

I wonder… What made you fall in love with science fiction and fantasy?

As a child, I loved fairy tales and myths. When I got older, the worlds of Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, and Anne McCaffrey swept me away, surprising and astounding me with new ideas. Their worlds opened my mind to endless possibilities.

Worlds full of… WONDER.

Wonder: rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely
mysterious or new to one’s experience.

David Farland, mentor for dozens of internationally successful writers including Brandon Sanderson and Stephanie Meyer, lectured on the importance of writing wonder into our stories, and often. He pointed out that JK Rowling introduced something wondrous in her Harry Potter series every three to five pages. When I needed some comfort-viewing, I rewatched the first few movies and it was true. Something wondrous happened every few minutes, immersing me deeper and deeper into her world of impossibility.

This is what our readers crave—to be transported.

The challenge lies in how to share the wonder present inside our minds with our readers. Don’t hold out on them. My tendency is to reveal little bits at a time, teasing the reader and saving the big reveal until later in the story. But if I wait too long to set the hook, I risk losing them altogether. Remember, they have chosen your sci-fi or fantasy tome because they want, no they expect to be fascinated. Don’t be coy.

Another point David Farland makes is that once the audience has been exposed to something new and wondrous, the author will need to provide a new magical experience. The next time they see it, they will not be struck with wonder, but filled with nostalgia. you must keep tapping into what makes them wonder, but with new experiences.

If you write science fiction or fantasy, it’s not because it’s easy. You love your genre, and you are compelled to share the worlds inside you. But after months or years of worldbuilding it’s easy to forget that not everyone knows the suns create seven seasons, or the cannibalistic flora are the sentient beings of their planet, and we assume that our readers will grasp the diabolical intent of a mental contract.

Build a world filled with wonder.

Then invite your reader in.

Star Trek promised new worlds and new civilizations—to boldly go where no one had gone before. Avatar’s world is full of wondrous creatures that don’t seem to move the story forward—it’s all part of the setting, right? But then these amazing creations show up powerfully, asserting their place in the narrative. Star Wars began with A New Hope, and while they were spinning that tale, introduced new robots, new powers, and new races. As much as we love to laugh at the cantina scene, we all remember it.

Look at your work.

Have you shown the wonder that you know exists in it? Pull back the curtain a little more and let your reader in on the special. It’s not spoiling—it’s deepening their experience.

Here is a link to one of David Farland’s seminars on Writing Wonder.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Valued

From her earliest days, my mom’s life lacked value in the sight of others.

One-year-old Hyun Sook, before contracting polio.

Born female and Korean in Japanese-occupied China, Hyun Sook started at a deficit. Then polio left her with a useless leg at three. The cultural stigma of disability brought shame on the family, so she was kept out of sight when company came. Following Japan’s surrender, her family returned to Korea, but when her older sister started back to school, she wasn’t allowed to go. Why educate a crippled girl?

Mom is the child on the
right, held up by
her grandmother.

Communists invaded in 1950, but due to her disability, the family couldn’t flee. Her parents were sentenced to hard labor, and her father was almost executed. At the threat of a second invasion, fourteen-year-old Hyun Sook was left behind with promises that they’d send for her once they were settled.

After being interrogated by the invaders, waiting was no longer an option. If she stayed, she’d be at the mercy of those who terrorized her parents. Her journey from North to South Korea was dangerous, but God made a way—whether by miraculous intervention or the kindness of American servicemen.

Working at the U.S. base

Even after reuniting with her family, the GIs showed her compassion and respect previously unknown, and as they did, her heart began to hope of having something—of being something more. She dreamed of going to this country where even a girl with a withered leg might pursue an education… and a life.

After several failed attempts, her dreams were realized. She began to experience the life she thought she’d never have: moving to America, an education, and a family.

In the ‘80s she wrote her story and tried to get it published. Too religious for traditional publishers, and too raw for faith-based ones, she opted for a vanity press.

By business standards, Mom wasn’t a successful author. She’d give her book away in a heartbeat, and any proceeds were donated to veterans’ organizations. Yet, every time her story was shared, people’s hearts were touched.

Who do we listen to? Who do we believe?

We have a Shepherd and an enemy.

Voices surround us telling us we can’t, we shouldn’t, we won’t make the cut, and our words fall short of the mark. They accuse us of being insufficient—of being imposters. They tell us our words lack value.

Listen to those who speak with wisdom and experience, but don’t allow the voices of those who wish to destroy us to dominate our thoughts.

The enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy the vision and mission placed on us. If God’s gifts and calling are without repentance, it’s safe to say He knew what He was doing when He planted those story seeds.

Why listen to the one who wants to destroy us? A pastor once said, “A thing’s value is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it.” You were purchased with the priceless blood of Jesus.

Furthermore, according to Ephesians 2:10, you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to walk in good works he has prepared in advance for you to do. The gospel’s truths form a shield against the lies that attack. They remind us of our value and strengthen us to follow his lead.

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

G.K. Chesterton

What about you? What has God planted in your heart?

Have you ever felt your stories lack value? We write science fiction and fantasy. Is investing time, money, and energy in fairy tales and space operas worth the cost and sacrifice?

“God has placed a story in you that no one else can tell.”

Bob Hostetler

These words from the Blue Ridge Mountains Christina Writers Conference-BRMCWC– 2017 still convict and comfort me.

Made in the image of an infinitely creative God, we are as unique as fingerprints. So are our stories. In them we diffuse light to fight darkness, disperse comfort we’ve received, and share truth we’ve learned.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s genre… or their ratings.

Be faithful with the talents your Father has entrusted to you.

Our job is not to out-perform anyone else, but to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and walk in obedience.

There were times that my mother felt like a failure. She’d sunk her savings into self-publishing her book, and never recouped the losses. Had she been a fool to pursue this dream? Her testimony to God’s mercy says otherwise, and her message continues to touch hearts, long after she ran into Jesus’ arms.

The value of our work and words isn’t weighed in ratings or sales, but in truth revealed, and that is worth more than gold.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Location, Location, Location: Where Do We Find Our Peeps?

Finding your tribe can be difficult, especially for writers who’d much rather stay at home. It doesn’t take an introvert to prefer the comfy confines of one’s office/writing nook. However, as we discussed in Who’s Ya Buddy, our writing life can be greatly enhanced by connecting with other authors.

How? you may ask. I’ll take a cue from starting a business: the three things you need to keep in mind are Location, Location, Location. And in this day and age we have OPTIONS! The more specific question is, Where? As Dr. Seuss reminds us, “From there to here, from here to there. Funny things are everywhere.” Funny things being, in this instance, writers. The challenge can lie in finding balance between limiting or spreading ourselves too thin.

“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

Local Gatherings

It’s scary but beneficial to meet other authors IRL (in real life.) I promise, no one will behead you and absorb your life energy. I promise, no one will behead you and absorb your life energy.

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My first critique group experience was arranged through NaNoWriMo—four total strangers meeting in Books-A-Million to submit their words to each other. (Cue nervous sweating now.) I learned to prepare my work to be shared, and not die a thousand deaths while they listened and critiqued my piece. Though I was terrified, I ended up loving our little group. The other members were far more experienced, but gracious and encouraging. It can be a transformative experience to sit down with another author and go over your WIP with them. Sometimes these are the best brainstorming sessions.

  • Check your public library for opportunities and events, whether virtual or in-person, it’s a good place to connect. And, if there isn’t already a writer’s group, you can start one!
  • Local comic-cons are a fun place to meet local scifi/fantasy authors who are further along the publishing journey.
  • Another opportunity for author enrichment can be the local university. UAB has hosted writing festivals for several years, initially live and in-person, but adapting to virtual and hybrid meetings as the pandemic changed the way we interacted.

These local opportunities open the way to other author activities like poetry slams and book readings. Participate in community author events—you don’t need to be published to encourage other authors. You just need to show up.

Writing Conferences (Not-so-Local)

Writing conferences, whether in-person or virtual, can boost your writing attitude and energy tremendously. Whether they’re specific to your genre or encompass a variety of like-minded authors who produce differently styled works, this where you can meet your peers in drive and passion. The love of words is a powerful equalizer, able to bridge chasms of age, geography, and reading tastes. That being said, Realm Makers is a wonderful group for lovers of speculative fiction.

If finances are tight, ask about scholarship options. Most writing conferences exist to encourage new writers and will do what they can to minimize barriers. Plan ahead for lower travel expenses. Take a risk and be open to a roommate. Join the dialogue before you arrive, it’s never too early to start learning from each other.

Internet Communities

Finally, gatherings of writers abound online. Facebook, Instagram, Discord, even Twitch & Twitter are full of opportunities to connect with other authors. If you want to follow your favorite author, search their website for where they invite the public to join them online. If you want to brainstorm with spec fic authors, do a search and check out the groups that interest you. If you want to learn throughout the year, there are many opportunities to join other writers who spur each other on. I’ve listed these before, but Writers Chat, the 540 Club, and Realm Makers are welcoming communities which exist to benefit other authors.

Here’s my caveat: Not every situation will be best suited to meet your needs or expectations. You don’t have to listen to all the voices that speak into your work, but you should learn to be flexible. I have been devastated by some critiques and strengthened by others. Look for safe spaces and spaces that challenge, but you won’t find either until you strike out and take a risk. Don’t wait for the mountain to come to you, be brave and start climbing.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Sense Sensibilities

A flexi-tube extended from the airlock and attached to the exterior of the arrow with a dull clang. A moment later, the light turned green, and he pushed the hatch open.

Filtered air wooshed in, wonderfully odourless. He climbed through the double airlock and into the dock itself, then collapsed on the cold floor of the main cabin, his arms and legs spread wide. Sweet relief.

Filtered air wooshed in, wonderfully odourless. He climbed through the double airlock and into the dock itself, then collapsed on the cold floor of the main cabin, his arms and legs spread wide. Sweet relief.

Not a word is spoken in these initial paragraphs of Discernment, but the author has immersed us via sights, sounds, and sensations into an unknown, yet relatable, world. We tag along as her character explores, sharing the experience of his journey.

Next, we are transported planet-side, to a dusty, grease-filled mechanic’s garage, then squeezed into crowded family rides that roar and rumble past orchards, pastures, and plains. We’re introduced to this world’s foods with charred or tantalizing smells, triggering memories or imaginings of what these might be like. Spices and perfumes, musk and manure, all give a sense of the festival market. We can almost hear the hawkers and animals of this off-planet county fair.

Instead of telling us that “Mama’s stew smelled delicious,” make your reader’s mouth water.

“The metal stool scraped across the stone hearth as Mama rose to greet me. The aroma of seared meat and caramelized vegetables traveled with her, wafting from the kettle. Her embrace sent puffs of flour over me, but I ignored the cloud, surrendering as her arms enveloped me. My stomach grumbled. I hadn’t eaten since before sunrise.”

“Mama’s stew smelled delicious,” states a fact. The paragraph that followed evokes an experience, conveying you into the setting. Jerry Jenkins describes the difference between showing and telling here.

Let’s break this down a little more. 

Sight:

This common path for descriptions can be challenging to make immersive without falling into “telling” patterns. There’s a reason we use the term, Point of View (POV) to indicate whose perspective is being described. What is seen, and the reactions that follow, must be consistent with that one character, at least for the scene. The information shared must be limited to what that character can access, as viewed in that perspective.

Sound:

Scrapes and squeaks and the emotions they elicit can convey the feel of your story. Bare feet slapping down stone hallways or magnetic boots connecting to metal walls—these sounds tell us what your world is made of. Your characters’ reaction to them tell us what they are made of.

Touch:

More than hot and cold, rough and soft. Tell us about the grit that embedded itself under the shirt cuffs, leaving the wrists raw at the end of a long journey. Or the itch just out of reach and what must be endured to scratch it. When your MC scuffs their toes—is it in dirt? Moss? Wet sand? Are they frustrated? Embarrassed? Wistful? This is your chance to let your characters be more than talking heads. Don’t limit the playing field.

Smell:

This is one of your most powerful senses. First, it informs the sense of taste and second, it is closely tied to memories. If you can trigger the memory of a smell with your words, you can bring a whole world to life for your reader.

Taste:

It’s a challenge, especially in SciFi and Fantasy, to describe food that is foreign, without using Earth labels and breaking the fictive bubble. On the other hand, it’s a good exercise in “show, don’t tell.” You can’t tell your reader what the soup compares to, but you can touch on its essence—citrusy and sour, or meaty with herbs—and continue on to what feelings are evoked.

In the same way we are encouraged to pay attention to conversations around us to gain insight into dialogue, people-watching, especially around food, is a great way to pick up on sense-related mannerisms and the reactions these sensations evoke.

Engaged the senses. The medley of sights and sounds, smells and substances, whether foreign and familiar, will mesmerize your reader, draw them into your story, and keep them there.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Who’s Ya Buddy?

Crashing waves.

Wild winds.

Scratchy sand between my toes.

I loved those summer days when someone’s mom would offer to take a gang of us to the beach. Our excitement and voices rose as we piled into the back of the station wagon, singing and chattering until we were hoarse. An hour later we’d tumble out like clowns at a circus and race across gravel, dried seaweed, and sand to reach the foamy shore. But before we were allowed to enter the water, we were given strict instructions:

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Buddy up!

We’d pick a partner and promise to stick together. Someone would blow a whistle and we would stop, clasping hands high in the air until a second shrill tweet released us to play with abandonment in the surf.

The key to fully enjoying the day was to buddy up with someone who had compatible beach sensibilities. Ankle waders did not like being paired with dolphin wannabes. And if you wanted to dive into oncoming waves, just past the point where your feet could find the floor, you wouldn’t commit to a friend who preferred to stay where the foam slapped against wet sand.

Writing speculative fiction is like a day at the beach. There’s much excitement as you anticipate diving into your strange new world, but peril plays along that coast as well. The stinging burn of criticism, pesky attacks of self-doubt, even the undertow of research can wreak havoc with our writing life. In a sea of distractions and discouragement, a writing buddy that has your back can make a world of difference.

When you’re describing the third moon’s view of your planet, it’s not something you can research or interview past visitors about. And the emotional challenges of a banshee surviving high school aren’t readily available in the latest teen advice columns. Nor is relational advice for nuns who turn pirate.  Bringing these worlds and characters out of your head and onto the page is a solitary endeavor, but support while you are creating is necessary and available.

On the other hand, getting feedback from someone who is immersed in a different genre can be difficult, and disheartening. A compatible imagination to brainstorm with on flights of fantasy is an amazing gift. Yes, your ideas are unique, but you are not without community. Find your tribe and connect with others who share your affinity for elf, aquatic, or starship culture.

Alpha, Beta, it’s all Greek to me…

Critique partners, alpha and beta readers, write-ins and sprints are wonderful opportunities to build community—but choose your buddies with care. You want iron to sharpen iron, not dull your edge or worse, break your blade.

Here is a sampling of free online writing communities that have helped me grow as an author.

Writers Chat meets on zoom weekly to encourage, educate, and empower writers.

Realm Makers is a faith-based community dedicated to support authors, artists, and readers of speculative fiction. Prime members may apply to join a critique group and are sorted via magic hat, or perhaps questionnaire answers, into appropriate groups.

Havok publishes free speculative flash fiction online and provides feedback for all submissions. It’s a great place to read and learn as you hone your writing skills.

The 540 FB Community holds Write-Ins where members meet on zoom for mutual encouragement and writing time.

NaNoWriMo is another virtual community for writers, holding several events throughout the year. They provide local group support, forums, and fun ways to set goals.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Baby Stepping

The proverbial journey of a thousand miles begins with the one step. But it doesn’t end there. 

Writing an epic story is like climbing a mountain. The approach is intimidating, and reaching the summit seems impossible. But anyone who’s climbed a mountain will tell you that though the ascent isn’t completed in one step, it starts with one.

The prospect of beginning may terrify us, but what we need—and must—do is begin.

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin…”

Zechariah 4:10

When you’re starting out as a spec-fic writer, don’t despise the small beginnings. I don’t mean shelve your four-book faerie trilogy or your open-ended space opera, but do give yourself some space for encouragement and success along the way. When I taught children with special needs, I’d divide the large goals into smaller tasks, so we could acknowledge and celebrate each incremental gain.

Writing is a marathon, not a sprint.

Sometimes we need a little Couch-to-5K training.

In What About Bob? Psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin hands Bob, a highly dependent, obsessive-compulsive patient his brand-new book called Baby Steps. He explains:

Marvin: It means setting small, reasonable goals for yourself. One day at a time, one tiny step at a time–doable, accomplishable goals.

Bob: Baby steps.

Marvin: When you leave this office, don’t think about everything you have to do to get out of the building, just deal with getting out of the room. When you reach the hall, just deal with the hall. And so forth. Baby steps.

Here are some baby steps that can take you farther than you’d imagine:

  • Reading this column counts as a baby step. You’re studying the craft.
  • Write Ugly – My previous post is an encouragement to get your words out, before focusing on the polish.
  • Read and write flash-fiction—stories no more than 1000 words. Havok Publishing is an excellent place to read and submit.
  • The 540 FB Community encourages, educates, and equips its members to communicate their stories.
  • Cassandra Hamm hosts Prompted, delightful microfiction (50 to 300-word stories) contests, on Instagram, and there are challenges on a variety of social media platforms. Follow #writingchallenge and you’ll discover a plethora of opportunities to write. 
  • Step into the boots, tentacles, or wings of your characters and have them write to someone important in their life, describing their spaceship, forest grove, or tower/dungeon confinement. 
  • Create a travel brochure for your favorite out-of-this-world getaway.

Writing short stories hones your skills and gets something out there for people to read and respond to. It’s a true accomplishment. Once your words are out there, you’ve been published! You don’t need to know how to do everything to get started… or keep going.

You just need to do the next thing.

The next easy thing.

The next scary thing.

The next hard thing. 

The. Next. Thing.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Write Ugly

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer

Psalm 19:14

You love words. So much that you can’t stop them from spilling out of your brain. You dash home, clear your schedule, and sit—fingers poised above the keyboard, or a pen in hand over a sheet of paper, ready to breathe life into the figments of your imagination and… nothing. Somehow, somewhere, the words are stuck, refusing to flow.

This is when I channel Marvin the Martian whining…

“Where are the words? There are supposed to be earth-shattering words.”

Even now, writing this, I struggle. Is this how I want to start? Do I have a hook? What about the right structure? Will my words add value, or am I just “adding to the noise“’?

I write in fits and starts, pouring out my thoughts and then I stop—wanting to fix the beginning…again. These same words came so easily as I was sharing my idea with a friend, but the switch from narrator to scribe is sometimes tricky, and we feel the loss of translation.

The best remedy is this: write anyway. Write anything.

In or out of order, get your ideas out of your head and into text. Let your first draft be as ugly and disjointed as it needs to be born. You can clean it up with the next pass. And polish it with another. But you can’t edit a blank page.

Great works of art may come from a potter’s wheel, but it takes more than sitting and spinning the table. Nothing can be formed until a lump of clay is slapped onto its surface. Only then can the artist’s hands run over the surface, watering and wiping, stretching and shaping the malleable clay until form and function is revealed. But the next step is to fire your vessel – not to destroy your work, but to let its beauty take on strength and shine.

So it is with our stories. We want the beauty and the impact to be as present on our page as it was in our mind, but that will take time and work. The beauty is there, residing in its potential, but to be realized it needs shaping.

Don’t deny the world of the marvels your mind has concocted just because it takes some time to communicate them. Slap that lump of clay on the page that is your wheel. Spin it, wet it, squash it—work that clay.

Here are some helpful shortcuts I’ve learned:

  • Use brackets if you’re not sure of a word.
  • Use bullet points for your ideas, especially sequences. It’s what I’m doing now.
  • Use comments to note things you need to research so that you won’t get distracted from content creation.
  • Do writing sprints or write-ins with others. A little accountability (and sometimes competition) can make your writing time more productive.
  • Place-kittens are images designers and coders use when they don’t have all the content, but they still need to create a structure.
  • A friend uses a script-like format for his first drafts, with stage-direction and environmental comments dispersed throughout

Do you see a pattern? You don’t need to have all the pretty words to start sketching your story. You just need to start.

“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”

Shannon Hale

You don’t need to have all the pretty words to sketch your story. You just need to start.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Same and Different

Once upon a time, there was a caterpillar tale. Worlds apart from those biped readers with their opposable thumbs, the little story wondered how to make the struggles of a larva eating her way through life relatable. Could human hearts resonate with Laurva’s despair—feeling trapped in an endless cycle of stuffing and pain?

As Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, we share strange worlds from our imagination and the new civilizations residing in them, crafting words to usher the reader across the threshold of their reality into ours. But how do we capture the hearts and minds of those readers? Wisdom can be found, as Robert Fulghum  teaches, “in the nursery school sand box.”

One of these things is not like the others…

Why just one? Because “One” makes a difference special. We appreciate what is different in the context of what is familiar. Sometimes the simplest children’s song can point the way to deeper truth. Unfold your story-world differences with care, inviting readers to suspend disbelief one feature at a time.

When we introduce too many alien concepts at once, we can frustrate or confuse readers, jarring them out of the fictive bubble. On the other hand, we need to reveal our story wonders early—before the reader creates a picture that could collide with future revelations. To keep them engaged, their hearts need to be pulled into the conflict. They need to connect with our characters, no matter how dissimilar their worlds are. A Sesame Street story teaches that while we are all different, we also share traits. This common thread allows the reader to see past what separates, forming an emotional bond.

We’re Different, We’re the Same 

Cathy McCrumb opens her debut science fiction novel, RECORDER, with “I did not have a name—none of us did—but once when I was young, I had a friend.” Unlike the Recorder, we have names, so the otherness of her existence is immediately obvious. But the wistful remembering of what was dear to her heart captures our attention and emotions because we can all relate to missing a friend.

It’s exciting to dive into the chasm of “what if,” but to set the story-hook, it’s important to effectively communicate both the foreign and the familiar. Our readers need to feel the characters’ struggle. We want them care about what is gained and lost. It’s less about stepping into another person’s shoes, and more about slipping into their skin, perhaps even realizing, as the antagonist often reminds the hero, “we’re not so different, you and I.” (Cue Hero screaming “Noooooooooooo!”)

When what is Other becomes relatable, a connection forms, linking the reader to your characters. They are emotionally invested in how the story turns out—giving them something—someone—to root for, and they won’t be able to put your book down.

Allow your readers to feel your characters’ struggle to find meaning in existence, learn how to survive or even thrive under oppression, and they can vicariously participate in your characters’ arcs. Studies have even suggested that reading fiction is a catalyst for emotional development. Aristotle suggested that entertainment can teach us how to deal with difficult life situations from safe environs as spectators. Yes, dear author, your fiction can be transformative.

Entice your readers with wondrous imaginings, but don’t overwhelm them, and provide a tether to ensure they stay immersed. That one special difference, viewed in light of the familiar, will build your world and make the story sing.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.