I had an idea.
Nothing new there, I get ideas all the time. New character ideas, plot ideas, subplot ideas, settings, events. My brain just never stops. Sometimes they’re good ideas. Sometimes they’re really, really not.
But every now and then, a thought occurs to me that just…resonates.
Those kinds of ideas are what brought about Chronicles of the Sentinels and Project Sirius. They’re what fueled the dystopian story I’ve been developing for about four years now.
Usually a resonant idea snowballs into something more, and more, and more. Until after years of work, I have enough to write a novel or three.
Over the past week and a half, something new occurred.
I had TWO resonating ideas. I had ideas for what I initially thought would be two completely separate stories, two unique Universes to write in!
Turns out, these ideas were actually perfect for each other!
The Essence of Sci-Fi
When I write, I write because I love to tell stories. I love to inspire. I love to explore new characters, new worlds! I enjoy fantasy, but I LOVE sci-fi, and lately I’ve spent time rediscovering my love for sci-fi novels, whether YA or not. I’m not a fan of hard sci-fi, though I don’t mind it being mixed in.
But when you boil down to it, what is the essence of science fiction? And what does it have to do with the two resonant ideas I mentioned a moment ago? Stick with me, I promise it’s relevant ;)
I’ve written in past blogs about why I prefer sci-fi/adventure over hard sci-fi. Often, hard sci-fi gets in the way of the story, and I feel like the story and the characters should matter a LOT more than the detailed specifics of technology. There are exceptions – I’m very much enjoying listening to The Martian in audiobook! (But it helps that the protagonist is very compelling in that book.)
But to me, if you distill science fiction down to its basic elements, it’s about speculative technological advancements, most often in the near or distant future (Star Wars being an exception ;) ), and it’s about what effect that technology has on society. By extension, it’s about how society might evolve over time. And, most often, the best science fiction resonates with issues relevant to today, whether we know it or not. (A good example: Star Trek 6 was written as a “What if the Berlin Wall was in space, and it came down?”)
In other words, no matter the technology, no matter the ‘sci-fi magic’ you use, no matter how FTL works or how many worlds we’ve encountered or what aliens we’ve come across, it boils down to an exploration of the human condition.
I’ll be the first to admit – a lot of my stories only explore these themes incidentally.
Until now.
…Unfortunately, I don’t want to spoil too much of what I’m developing now, but I can say this – the first idea, the one I had last week, asked a simple question: if a human attained immortality in the future, and couldn’t undo it, and grew tired of living and wanted to die, what lengths might they go to in order to die? Thus, a villain was born. But what about that villain? How did they attain immortality? What happened to them to get them to this point of ‘I want to die and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen’?
That’s just one idea. The SECOND idea that came this past weekend, and what I thought had nothing to do with this first story…ended up answering a lot of the questions I just asked about the immortal.
And it will blow your mind when the answer is revealed! I might not reveal it, or the full extent of it, in book 1. It might be a book 2 revelation, in what will probably at LEAST be a trilogy, if not longer. But allllll the hints will be there in book 1. You’ll just have to look for them ;)
Anyway, I’ve OBSESSED over this new idea over the past two weeks! I’ve begun to develop the Universe this takes place in, the timeframe (over a millenium from now), society and culture (barely scratched the surface on that), and the protagonist, her origin, and her link to the immortal antagonist.
The best part? This second idea very much explores new ideas and theories about the nature of the Universe that we have explored in recent years. And at its base, it asks the age-old question of, “Why am I here? What is the point? Do I even matter?” The way each character will answer that will very much be what separates them, and is why the immortal is the antagonist, and why the protagonist isn’t evil.
When Will This Story Be Written?
That’s the downside – I’ll likely be developing this story, and the Universe it exists in, for years. I don’t want to rush it like I did for the first round of Chronicles of the Sentinels. And besides, I still have the Sword of Dragons to finish, more Project Sirius to write, and a dystopian series to start.
I just want to be able to look back someday and see this post and go, “That’s when it started…”
…but at the same time, I don’t want to wait TOO long. I think this story is important. It NEEDS to be written, sooner rather than later. Sooo…I guess we’ll see when I can fit it into my schedule.
I really wish I could write full-time.
-Jon Wasik
A Writer at Heart 