Using wattpad’s visual feedback.

Posted on July 31, 2015 by dave

Here is a good visual tip on how your W.I.P is being received. It’s a great way to see where you might have some stalling in your storyline and where the peaks and valleys are. I am going to use this from now on.

I am using WattPad.com as a proving ground. There is great readership here and the feedback is always helpful and constructive. When you post your work, you can view the metrics of that work. I am finding it helpful to know where to place chapter breaks or what sections I might need to inject a bit of excitement or build character. If you see your readership drop significantly after the first part, you know you need to do one of a few things: Start out running, or become a better writer (LOL).

Here is an example of a short story I wrote, called “From Europa with love.” I divided the story into five parts to see how the sections were being received. The feedback was awesome and exactly what I would have predicted. You will notice that readership starts to wane after Part 3 (but by then I already had a good following to this short). This feedback was so informative to me, because part 4 is where the storyline shifts and part 3 sets up for that. The graph was spot on to what I would have expected. I think I need to go back into part 3 and set a few more hooks. I will definitely use this methodology for my novel.

I’m a believer.

You have 12 hours

Posted on July 29, 2015 by dave

One of my favorite topics at the dinner table, these days, is when the subject of disasters comes up. I immediately refer to the Carrington event of 1859. Having one of these today would bring almost everything we know, to a standstill, but serve as a great equalizer to 3rd world nations.

A study by Lloyd’s of London has concluded that if an X class storm the size of the Carrington Event hit us today it would take a $2,600,000,000,000 chunk out of the global economy, and would take up to a decade to repair the damage. It is going to happen at some point; the only question is when?

It is estimated that we would have between 12 and 17 hours before it would hit, which is not much time to get our S**T together. One of the interesting aspects of thee types of events, that determine speed, is if there were previous and closely related flares before it–sweeping a path and adding to it, the way waves can compound. Needless to say, it seems like a comic game of Russian Roulette we play as our planet dances around the sun.

The Solar storm of 1859, referred to as the Carrington Event

SPECIAL NOTE to users of Wiki:

Today (7/29/2015) Every Wiki age will have a splash screen for donations to keep this natural resource free of ads. As a writer, take the time to donate– at least $3 (credit card, PayPal, Amazon) to Wiki, where many of us start our research for our W.I.P.

I have started a short story titled, 12 Hours based on this event, today and it only cost me $5 😉

The future is here–I have seen it!

Posted on July 9, 2015 by dave

If the game of golf has been said, ‘as being a beautiful walk, interrupted.’ then the isomerism can be said about surfing the internet ‘as being a walk beautifully interrupted.’

I was conducting research for my Work In Progress (Silversides) and found a wiki post that was exactly what I was looking for (artificial gills), but something was off; I was reading a post taking place in the future and It freaked me out. I looked up at the URL and saw I was on a site called wikia (future). Wow! This was so cool and my mind was racing–so weird because my yahoo horoscope for the day(Gemini) predicted this would happen.

I had all these ideas pitching by me, so many it was like trying to grab at dandelion seeds in a breeze, where reaching toward them provided their evasiveness and at the end of it, I was left with nothing in my hands and only ideas.

So here is how I see this spectacular site useful to sci-fi writers: 1) Research for your sci-fi writing; 2) A one-stop-site to park new terms, ideas & concepts for sci-fi writers to create the future by using, in their works, this library–why invent terms if a good one already exists; 3) Like wiki, your posts can be the forward or a snippet of your story (making sure it adheres to the guidelines and does not read like a self-promotional ad), yet promotes your work; 4) That the concept of this site would make for a great sci-fi itself, where a destitute protagonist stumbles across a URL somewhere between the intra and dark net of tomorrow’s news (modern take on the protagonist finding a newspaper of tomorrow’s news, with a twist–this automata is self-aware).

I’m sure you all can add to this–I need to get these ideas spinning through my head down on digital before my muse steps over the threshold of my consciousness.

To enter the future, click here: http://future.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Writing material for your ending of the universe

Posted on June 3, 2015 by dave

A rocket science friend sent me an article posted on the BBC, titled: “How will the universe end, and could anything survive. “ The article contained some known (Big Crunch, Inflation) and unknown (Heat Death, Phantom Dark Energy) concepts to me. But reading through all of these got me thinking: how many sci-fi works have been written about the end of the universe or at least close to it all ending? The answer is, quite a few.

H.G. Wells: The Time Traveler
Isaac Asimov: The Last Question
Frederick Pohl: World At The End Of Time
Poul Anderson: Tau Zero
Federico Campagna: The Last Night
Charles Sheffield: Tomorrow and Tomorrow; Between The Strokes Of Night

These are to name a few, but here is a link, where I found these and more:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-469845.html

I might just have to write one, a short story, involving….. well, I will keep that one hidden for now, but I like what I’m thinking.

What are your characters wearing these days, in space and once they get to their destination?

Posted on May 23, 2015 by dave

I was reminded by a G+ post, by Ralph Roberts, of the brilliant Dava Newman and her recent appointment to NASA.

When writing Sci-fi, think about what your characters are wearing, in space. I had viewed a TED presentation by Dava Newman, of her work, on EVA design. It was such a valuable visual for me during a recent series I wrote called Kulcin’s Law, avalable on www.Offworlders.com. These were the suits I envisioned my astronauts were wearing, becasue I wanted them to move effortlessly and not have to explain getting in and out of their EVAs. Below is Dava’s TED talk.

Dava Newman on TED

Then, when your crew gets to their destination, you might want to check out the latest fashion ETs are wearing these days: Check out these possible Sci-Fi fashion statements.

Don’t miss the little stuff

Posted on May 7, 2015 by dave

I had just finished writing a sci-fi serial on OffWorlders.com called, Kulcin’s Law, where most of the story takes place in Jupiter’s realm, with several flights in and out of Europa’s orbit. I missed a bit of detail that would have been a nice morsel to the hard core readers and that was a simple line taking into account the ship’s roll on approach.

This gif taught me a lesson, that even though I can’t go there, my mind can. Don’t miss the little stuff.

Click on this animated GIF of Saturn and see what I am referring to.

New techniques for discovering planets, like our own.

Posted on April 23, 2015 by dave

For those of us writing about distant planets, the question always comes up, how real is this going to be for my readers? I am faced with this exact question in my current work and I want it to be as plausible as I can make it. So after watching this fantastic lecture by Sara Seager, I now have some real science to weave into my WIP.

Simulating Extreme Spacetimes

Posted on April 8, 2015 by dave

Above is a simulation of the gravitational lensing of two orbiting black holes by the SxS group or research scientists. I stumbled upon this site (Simulating Extreme Spacetimes) , which was put together by multiple institutions for research on black holes, neutron stars and other extreme events ‘To better understand Relativity and the physics of exotic objets in the Cosmos.‘ The work put together here is information rich, especially for the hard core Sci-Fi writer. Explore their Glossary, simulations and a favorite, Sounds. Surf their site for the plethora of links to make your writing a good read.

This is a great one-stop shopping site for my works in progress

Sci-Fi Writers, Start Your Engines!

Posted on April 6, 2015 by dave

As a writer of hard sci-fi, getting the science plausible is important and traveling through the solar system at conventional speeds has been a problem, until now.

Here is some tech to make that transit, plausible; granted, the VASIMR needs a few hacks, but nothing a sci-fi writer can’t do in their sleep.

Read the full article by clicking here.

Calculators for Sci-Fi Writers – Time Dilation to Parsecs

Posted on March 12, 2015 by dave

As a Hard core Sci-Fi writer, I want to get the science, at least near, right for my readers. When it comes to space travel, this is where your seasoned, educated readers will pick your work apart. Yes, there is a certain artistic licensing an author will use to get through space and time, but your readers want you to have some sense or rightness.

So here are some calculators I have come across for my own work, which have helped me in my timelines.

http://www.easysurf.cc/cnver15.htm – This is a great site which contains all sorts of distance calculations from Astronomical Units to Kilometers, light seconds to miles to Parsecs to light years.

http://www.1728.org/reltivty.htm – Relativity Calculator, usually referred to as Speed Dilation. The concept of time passage relative to the speed of light.

http://nathangeffen.webfactional.com/spacetravel/spacetravel.php – Space Travel Calculator (Takes some knowledge of Astrophysics)

http://www.calculatoredge.com/civil%20engg%20calculator/speed%20Distance%20Time.htm – Another set of speed calculators for practical speeds. This site also has calculators for a wide range of studies (i.e. Chemical, Physics, Optical, etc.).

This is just plain weirdly beautiful, if you are a visual kind of writer.

David Nadas

Science Fiction

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