Science Fiction comes across as a vast genre of writing. Yet, if one looks at mainstream adventure science fiction, one can see certain common features in it. People, who read this type of fiction, usually like to let their spirit soar free without the restraining the shackles of everyday reality.
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Most may want to be immortal, acquire some superpowers or have the ability to soar through space to an alien world. Most of these things are achievable through the pages of a sci-fi adventure. Such attributes can be gained in three ways. You can be born with them, for example, as a demigod or as a super-powered alien, acquire them with the help of magic or by the use of science.
Science Fiction deals principally with the last category, though it may also incorporate mythology and fantasy, possibly all three in the same book. The first thing to remember about writing a sci-fi novel is not to get bogged down with science. However, some relevant extrapolation of new discoveries and inventions will lend credence to the story, but don’t be too carried away, unless you are a science expert!
It’s really the story which is all important and should incorporate most of the normal rules of novel writing. It must have an able protagonist, male or female and a strong supporting cast of other characters including a capable adversary who will challenge for supremacy.
The main character must develop throughout the novel, must show resolve, but have vulnerabilities, with which the reader can identify. The hero has to overcome these and any opposing forces trying to stop him or her from reaching the desired objective.
The quest or desired goal of the main character must be identified early in the novel, though this may change or may not necessarily become clear to the writer until later on in the novel. In that case one has to go back and correct the situation.
In general the hero should never display these traits: be mean or petty, sneer or look down on other people. He or she must be generous of spirit and even though this leading character may do bad things at times, he/she must be shown to be intrinsically good. If the hero is male, it is important to include strong female characters; people who can stand up for themselves, even if in merely a quiet way. They should have their own agendas and not be just pliable females.
In reality the plots of most science fiction novels are no different from everyday stories but set in a novel (excuse the pun) background, be it another world, another dimension or in the future. Such scenarios will influence things.
We must always remember that science fiction is just that, fiction. It needs to give pleasure to people who read it. However, there are quite a few writers, who try to provide a certain vision of the future, usually dystopian and dwell on that. Though one certainly needs to have a vision of the setting, that could be the present, near or distant future, it is a strong storyline that sets a novel apart.
One current craze is to write space operas, where the viewpoint jumps from character to character. I feel this can dilute the storyline, though it certainly fills the pages.
Unfortunately it is quite difficult for most people to think of a good plot, though it is perhaps easier to develop it once one has thought of it. It may be helpful to start with a new scientific idea or discovery and think of how it may affect people and then apply this to an individual.
I often obtain great ideas from dreams; that is if I can be bothered to get up and write them down! If I don’t, they soon disappear once I get up.
The actual process of writing can be fraught with difficulty and people follow many different paths. The thing to remember is that constant rewrites of pages or chapters, to make them perfect, may end up with one, ultimately not finishing the novel!