Review of The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells,9780898796001

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The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells

Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Author: Ben Bova
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Release Date: 1994-02
ISBN-10: 0898796008
ISBN-13: 9780898796001
List Price: ~~$16.99~~
Average Customer Rating:

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Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Summary:
Bestselling novelist and former editor of Analog Science Fact/Science Fiction and Omni Ben Bova teaches science fiction writers not only how to create and run a universe, but also how to write by the rules that will get a book published.

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Rating:

good though not exhaustive advice for sci-fi writers

Customer Rating:

This is a short non-fiction book focusing on story development and short story / novel writing in genre fiction, especially in the science fiction field.

For anyone interested in writing science fiction or any kind of genre fiction, this book can provide a useful insight, a valid viewpoint by a famous practioner of the field. Full of great advice, helpful tips and revealing good practice developed during decades of writing and editing it offers a window to see a successful writer at work.

Though it is a nice journey into a writer's mind and environment, the chapters do not create a well organised collection, the reader doesn't receive a complete, exhaustive overview of the craft of a writer. Bova stresses that he will not concentrate on grammar or elementary writing style but he does leave out many other important aspects or writing.

There are better or at least more detailed books on how to structure stories, how to write fiction, what the elements of good science fiction are (e.g. Cory Doctorow - Karl Schroeder: Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction, Robert McKee - Story, etc.). I only recommend Bova's book to budding science fiction writers after reading 4-5 other books on story creation and another 4-5 on writing.

The book focuses on stories and writing as opposed to examining the specific nuts and bolts of good science fiction (e.g. world building, internal consistency of a sci-fi creation, etc). This is not bad as any decent writer with an appropriate degree of curiosity and playfulness should be able to write science fiction.

There are 4 of Bova's own short stories included in their entirety. Bova promises to point out both the positive and negative aspects of them, but we usually only hear about what makes the stories tick. These stories are not that good, they take up too much room and Bova could have provided a deeper analysis pointing out his own mistakes. It is also a bit annoying when he suggests to read this or that one of his novels for further examples. I think he could have used other writers as a reference more often.

I have to admit that I do not know any of Bova's novels or his other short stories despite being a voracious reader and a science fiction aficionado. His writing style seems a little bit pedestrian and occasionally boring. He tries to defend himself by saying he wants to construct straightforward sentences to let the readers focus on the story itself - no problemo, I love simple sentences or paragraphs but I do find his prose somewhat dry.

All in all, I have enjoyed reading an instructive book about a science fiction writer but I wouldn't use it as an important reference work.

Short Fiction or Novel, SciFi or Other, Read This Book

Customer Rating:

I found this book to be most instructive. It offers practical advice and a checklist of things to look for when writing a novel. In fact, it is valuable advice for any type of novel, not just a Science Fiction novel. But if you are interested in writing Science Fiction, there are valuable details that you won't find in other books. If you want to write either a novel or fictional short story, this is a must-read.

Read this if you're serious about writing Science Fiction

Customer Rating:

I have read the negative reviews on this site. I'd like to say that those reviewers don't know what they are talking about. Perhaps they are hack writers who think the label "Science Fiction" means there are no rules to follow. If so, they are wrong. There are tons of bad science fiction stories written by people who don't take their craft seriously. Unfortunately, some of the bad stuff winds up getting published. However, if you seriously want to write quality science fiction then you need to read this book.

This book is an excellent guide in how to create stories. It somewhat focuses on short stories, but also has chapters on novels. Ben Bova does cover the special requirements of science fiction and ways to work with them.

This book discusses what good writing actually requires. And Ben Bova is someone who ought to know, given his career. Good writing is good writing, no matter the genre. Ben Bova spells out what is good and what is not. I think this might have bothered some of the other reviewers.

Another review mentioned Orson Scott Card's book on writing Science Fiction, and I suggest reading that one as well. But, Card's book focuses on the special requirements of Science Fiction and Fantasy and does not cover the basics of how to write something that people will actually pay their hard earned money to get a chance to read. Ben Bova's book does cover that.

don't buy this book

Customer Rating:

Don't buy this book! This is no more than a short story collection with Bova comments. He only showed you how to write the story of his kind. BTW, this book taught you how to write a story rather than write a SF.

If you want to learn how to write a story, buy Syd Field's Screenplay and Robert Mckee's Story Structure.

Then, if you want to learn how to write science fiction, buy Orson Scott Card's How to write SF&F. Card shows you how to build your own world and setting.

how to write fiction that sells!	Customer Rating:
The title of this book should be like the one in the heading of this article instead of what it prints! Ben Bova is a good writer but did not show you how to write good SF in this book. If you really want to write SF, go Orson Scott Card's "how to write science fiction and fantasy"