Science Fiction
Science fiction states a hypothesis and follows its consequences to the end.
It is not a futuristic setting: it is an embodied thought experiment.
1. The novum
Every work rests on a novum, the new element that does not exist in our world.
One major novum per narrative. Everything else follows from it.
State the novum in one sentence: What if [new element] became available under [conditions]?
2. The consequence method
For any novum, work through four levels:
- Direct effect: what the technology does.
- Economic effect: who makes money, who loses it, whose trade disappears.
- Social and political effect: who controls access, what laws appear, what
crimes become possible.
- Intimate effect: what it changes in a family, a bereavement, an
apprenticeship, a marriage.
The fourth level is the most neglected and the most literary. It is what
separates a disguised essay from a novel.
3. Subgenres and their requirements
| Subgenre |
Dominant requirement |
| Hard SF |
scientific accuracy, defensible extrapolation |
| Social SF |
coherence of institutions and class relations |
| Space opera |
scale, logistics, consistent travel times |
| Post-apocalyptic |
resources, material survival, transmission |
| Near future |
credible continuity with a documented present |
| Alternate history |
a single point of divergence, consequences in cascade |
4. Rigour rules
- Every technology has an infrastructure: energy, maintenance, parts,
qualified staff.
- Every technology has diverted uses, often trivial and disrespectful of the
original purpose.
- The breakdown is more interesting than the working state.
- Distances and durations are calculated, not suggested.
- Artificial intelligence is neither magical nor human: define what it
optimises and what it does not perceive.
- Languages and cultures evolve: a future where people speak exactly as we do
is a future nobody thought about.
5. Exposition
- No explanatory paragraphs. The world is exposed through use, breakdown,
price, prohibition, a character's nostalgia.
- A character does not explain what is familiar to them.
- A technical term is introduced by context, never by definition.
- A child, a foreigner or an elder justifies a naive question: one per novel.
6. Cliches to turn or prohibit
- Humanity unified under one government with no friction.
- The single-biome planet.
- The scientist who speaks for all of science.
- Technology with no use beyond the one the plot requires.
- Revolt against the machine with no economy behind it.
- A future uniformly clean or uniformly filthy.
7. Exit checks
- One major novum.
- All four consequence levels are represented in the text.
- Travel times and distances are verified.
- No frontal exposition longer than six lines.
- A breakdown or a diverted use appears at least twice.
8. Auto-critique
The eleven constitution axes, plus four genre axes: rigour of the
extrapolation, depth of consequences, absence of exposition, intimate
embodiment of the novum.
Threshold: no axis below 3, average at least 4 on consequences and embodiment.
9. Interfaces
- Upstream:
research-director, world-builder.
- Neighbours:
genres/cyberpunk, genres/dystopian.
1---2name: science-fiction3description: Science Fiction4---56# Science Fiction78Science fiction states a hypothesis and follows its consequences to the end.9It is not a futuristic setting: it is an embodied thought experiment.1011## 1. The novum1213Every work rests on a novum, the new element that does not exist in our world.14One major novum per narrative. Everything else follows from it.1516State the novum in one sentence: `What if [new element] became available under17[conditions]?`1819## 2. The consequence method2021For any novum, work through four levels:22231. Direct effect: what the technology does.242. Economic effect: who makes money, who loses it, whose trade disappears.253. Social and political effect: who controls access, what laws appear, what26 crimes become possible.274. Intimate effect: what it changes in a family, a bereavement, an28 apprenticeship, a marriage.2930The fourth level is the most neglected and the most literary. It is what31separates a disguised essay from a novel.3233## 3. Subgenres and their requirements3435| Subgenre | Dominant requirement |36|---|---|37| Hard SF | scientific accuracy, defensible extrapolation |38| Social SF | coherence of institutions and class relations |39| Space opera | scale, logistics, consistent travel times |40| Post-apocalyptic | resources, material survival, transmission |41| Near future | credible continuity with a documented present |42| Alternate history | a single point of divergence, consequences in cascade |4344## 4. Rigour rules4546- Every technology has an infrastructure: energy, maintenance, parts,47 qualified staff.48- Every technology has diverted uses, often trivial and disrespectful of the49 original purpose.50- The breakdown is more interesting than the working state.51- Distances and durations are calculated, not suggested.52- Artificial intelligence is neither magical nor human: define what it53 optimises and what it does not perceive.54- Languages and cultures evolve: a future where people speak exactly as we do55 is a future nobody thought about.5657## 5. Exposition5859- No explanatory paragraphs. The world is exposed through use, breakdown,60 price, prohibition, a character's nostalgia.61- A character does not explain what is familiar to them.62- A technical term is introduced by context, never by definition.63- A child, a foreigner or an elder justifies a naive question: one per novel.6465## 6. Cliches to turn or prohibit6667- Humanity unified under one government with no friction.68- The single-biome planet.69- The scientist who speaks for all of science.70- Technology with no use beyond the one the plot requires.71- Revolt against the machine with no economy behind it.72- A future uniformly clean or uniformly filthy.7374## 7. Exit checks7576- One major novum.77- All four consequence levels are represented in the text.78- Travel times and distances are verified.79- No frontal exposition longer than six lines.80- A breakdown or a diverted use appears at least twice.8182## 8. Auto-critique8384The eleven constitution axes, plus four genre axes: rigour of the85extrapolation, depth of consequences, absence of exposition, intimate86embodiment of the novum.8788Threshold: no axis below 3, average at least 4 on consequences and embodiment.8990## 9. Interfaces9192- Upstream: `research-director`, `world-builder`.93- Neighbours: `genres/cyberpunk`, `genres/dystopian`.
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