DEFINING - The First Chapters

The first section in the Complete Guide to Writing SF is DEFINING. I asked the authors to tell me a little about their chapters. Here is what they told me:

SEARCHING FOR THE DEFINITIVE DEFINITION OF SCIENCE FICTION
By Jeanne Allen

"When I was a teen, the science fiction book that first had a profound impact on me was Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. I remember how my imagination was swept away to other worlds and future times. Ever since, I've been intrigued by stories told around science concepts and futuristic possibilities. I always thought I had a solid foundation on what constituted science fiction, that is, until I ran across an article about Ray Bradbury, who said he writes fantasy, that he'd written only one science fiction story, Fahrenheit 451. He writes fantasy? That threw me for a loop. But it made me curious as to how others defined the genre of science fiction. I began with an internet search of "definition of science fiction," which eventually led to my chapter in the The Complete Guide to Writing SF, "Searching for the Definitive Definition of Science Fiction." The chapter includes quotes from people at various levels of success in science fiction. I found them to be a friendly, generous group, taking the time to answer my emails and expressing interest in the project. My gratitude to David Gerrold, Ben Bova, representatives of Robert Heinlein, Frederick Pohl, H. Bruce Franklin, Deron Douglas, Robert Runté, Orson Scott Card, James Gunn, and Darrell Bain for their insights and for allowing me to use their quotes in the chapter."

THE MANY FACES OF SCIENCE FICTION: SUB-GENRES
By Kim Richards

"When I set out to write this, I thought I could name all the sub genres off the top of my head. Boy was I wrong! I've learned there are many more I've never tried my hand at writing. There were some I'd simply forgotten about. Guess what's on my plan for this year? To write a short story in each. I even played a steam engine role playing game (Deadlands) at a gaming convention--sort of in honor of one that I had initially forgotten.

It's interesting how some of the sub genres have evolved and changed names over time. Some of them have come about as a reflection of the times they were popular in. I find myself now, when watching movies and reading books, classifying them in my mind."

More on the other chapters in this section next time.