Introducing "The Last Machine"

Summer's over! But that just means that I'm one step closer to finally completing my collection of dystopian science fiction stories, "In-Futura". I'm now on to the final five stories in Part III: Meaning. The fifth and final story in this series explores the meaning of companionship in "The Last Machine".

"The Last Machine" was another one of my short stories that resulted from the combination of a current societal trend and an archetypal story that could be told in a dramatic new way. The trend that inspired it came from an article that I'd read about farmers who were beginning to shun the use of machines on their farms, and were instead going back to using animals - like oxen - for their farm work. This resistance, and paranoia towards machines was an interesting thread - it was almost as if they regarded machines as monsters. What if I took that idea and combined it with one of the greatest archetypal "monster" stories of all time - Frankenstein?

Introducing "The Monarchs"

Summer's over! But that just means that I'm one step closer to finally completing my collection of dystopian science fiction stories, "In-Futura". I'm now on to the final five stories in Part III: Meaning. The fourth story in this series explores the meaning of charity - especially in the context of intense competition - in "The Monarchs".

"The Monarchs" is the kind of short story that had a very simple idea and an intriguing premise, but became increasingly difficult for me to turn into an actual story. As such, it is actually the last of the fifteen stories in In-Futura that I wrote - which is funny because I've sat on the idea for so long. The idea in question is that of charity, and what it would look like if charitable deeds were taken to the extreme. Take Brangelina and their growing family of adopted children, combine it with Sean Penn's dedication to disaster relief on the island of Haiti, and you've got the premise for "The Monarchs" - celebrity benefactors who rule their own islands. And although finding the right story to place in this setting was difficult, once found, the result was well worth the wait...

Introducing "Cradle"

Summer's over! But that just means that I'm one step closer to finally completing my collection of dystopian science fiction stories, "In-Futura". I'm now on to the final five stories in Part III: Meaning. The third story in this series explores the meaning of natural life in the post-radioactive fallout zone of "Cradle"..

The story of "Cradle" was written for two reasons. Reason number one: I'm a HUGE fan of Jurassic Park (and to a lesser extent, its sequels), and so I've always longed for my chance to write a similarly-themed sci-fi adventure. You know the drill: a small group of researchers enter a mysterious, unexplored tract of land looking for scientific discoveries... but find something terrifying instead. The opportunity came along after I began to read more about the wildlife in the Exclusion Zone of Chernobyl. That brings us to reason number two: the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster is a really interesting topic, as well! Combine the two, and you've got "Cradle"...

Introducing "Your Stock is Rising"

Summer's over! But that just means that I'm one step closer to finally completing my collection of dystopian science fiction stories, "In-Futura". I'm now on to the final five stories in Part III: Meaning. The second story in this series explores the meaning of friendship in the world of extreme social networking, in "Your Stock is Rising".

In the age of social networking, one overarching trend is that we've got too many friends, so many, in fact, that our social networks have become bloated, and the majority of our friends have become commodities, not any different than the rest. In addition, different members of our social network have different values, based on how active they are within the network, how many friends they have in their own network, and how much influence they have over those friends. In a way, the value of one's social network, and the people within it, increases our own value - just like currency. What if, just like with money, we could trade the members of our network with those who seek to add them to theirs? What happens when our friends, and contacts, become bargaining chips? From this line of thinking came the story of "Your Stock is Rising".

The Making of "Snips"

Summer's over! But that just means that I'm one step closer to finally completing my collection of dystopian science fiction stories, "In-Futura". I'm now on to the final five stories in Part III: Meaning. The first story in this series explores the meaning of human nature and the role of our DNA's SNPs, or "Snips".

The primary inspiration for "Snips", like many of the stories in In-Futura, was an article that I'd read about a current trend in science, technology, and society. In this case, the article, called "DNA diviners: Valuable service or dangerous novelty?", told the story of DNA diviners, and the perils of knowing too much about your inner genetic nature through quick DNA analyses. My biggest takeaway from the piece, however, was the predicament that these tests put the counsellors responsible for reporting someone's results in - how would the patient respond? What would they do? How will the information change their lives?

The Making of "Borrowed Time"

As the summer comes to a close, my work on the short stories of "In-Futura" continues. Specifically, I've been focused on finishing the final three stories in Part II: Longing. The final story in this series is the compelling journey of an autonomous military robot that gets a taste of true freedom in "Borrowed Time".

The premise of "Borrowed Time" is inspired by a current movement that is sweeping through the U.S. military: a movement away from on-the-ground human reconnaissance and combat and towards remotely-controlled surveillance and strike operations using autonomous and semi-autonomous airborne drones. Based on various rumblings and rumours, fully-autonomous ground-units aren't far behind. What really interested me about this, however, wasn't necessarily the machines, but the dynamic that must exist between a robot given the opportunity to make its own battlefield decisions and an officer half a world away attempting to maintain overarching control...

The Making of "Across the Metaverse"

As the summer goes on, my work on the short stories of "In-Futura" continues. Specifically, I've been focused on finishing the final three stories in Part II: Longing. The second of the new additions is a weird tale about a doomed romantic connection in a virtual world, "Across the Metaverse".

"Across the Metaverse" was originally inspired by the idea of social networking "tribes". Depending on what social network you're logged into, your personality, how you behave, and how you present yourself changes. For example, on LinkenIn, people are all consummate professionals, on Twitter, people spread shallow thoughts and gossip, on Facebook, people are the ultimate socialites. What if I could set a love story within the context of this world of culturally-distinct social networks? What if I adapted one of the most famous love stories of them all: Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet?

The Making of "Mail Order Bride"

As the summer goes on, my work on the short stories of "In-Futura" continues. Specifically, I've been focused on finishing the final three stories in Part II: Longing. The first of the new additions is a chilling, personal horror story called "Mail Order Bride".

"Mail Order Bride" was inspired by two related ideas and trends. The first is the idea of "homophily" which literally means "love of the same or self". It's when like attracts like - when we are attracted to someone because they are similar to ourselves. The other trend is that of online dating sites and matchmaking services, which help their users find and filter their potential matches according to their exact specifications. What if I took these ideas to the next level? Would it be beneficial to those looking for love - or scary?

New Additions Part 3: Mapping Out the Hero's Journey

Part 1 of the New Additions Series covered the first step in my dystopian sci-fi story-writing process - brainstorming insights and ideas. Part 2 covered the next step: turning that idea into a fully-baked outline.

The next stage in my process is all about mapping out the "Hero's Journey" by identifying the key elements and points of interest within the complete story. Again, this process isn't meant to build a template for the written word or hinder creativity, it's simply meant to push the writer to understand the key points of the story and the progress that the story must make along the way.

Is there a basic framework for the elements that should exist along the Hero's Journey? Well, sort of, yes...

Three Acts
The general rule of thumb for most impactful stories is the "Rule of Three" - try to think of the stories in terms of three overarching Acts. Remember, every good story has a beginning, middle, and an end, whether a short story or full-fledged novel. The Acts should flow smoothly into one another, yet the reader should still be able to recognize where they are in the story.

An Attention-grabbing Introduction
The first element of the Hero's Journey should include an introduction that grabs the reader's attention and immediately pulls them into the premise of the story or the plight of the main character (the Hero). In some cases, this can mean starting the story with a scene of high-intensity or importance, in other cases it can mean using an intriguing quote or section of dialogue.

New Additions Part 2: Turning an Idea into an Outline

Part 1 of the New Additions Series covered the first step in my dystopian sci-fi story-writing process - brainstorming insights and ideas that could drive the social commentary of a possible story idea.

The next stage of my process is to tease apart each of these potential insights in an attempt to turn an idea into an outline. Maybe it's my background as an Advertising Planner, but I feel compelled to map out the core elements and purpose of a story idea - a "strategy", if you will - before I dive head first into writing. Through the process of developing an outline strategy, I find out that ideas that were initially half-baked begin to transform into story ideas with much more potential.

Below are the key sections of the outline. In addition to describing what would typically go into each section, I'll use the short story concept that I'm currently working on, "Mail Order Bride", to provide an example of the write-up that went into each... Enjoy!

1) Premise
The premise is based on the insight or idea that was developed during the brainstorming stage of the process. It takes that insight and expands it into a brief description of the world or future that would result from it. In other words: what is the world of the future in which the story will take place in? What makes it different than the present?

Eg. For "Mail Order Bride", which originated in the "reliance on dating websites" insight from Part 1 and the idea of Homophily, the premise is: "In a world where "Homophily" rules the online dating scene, one dating service offers to set people up with their perfect match: someone eerily similar to themselves..."

New Additions Part 1: Brainstorming!!

Happy Easter, everyone! It's the Easter long-weekend, 2011 - not only a chance to get away from the city and spend some time with family, but also a chance to get some quality writing done!

I've decided to buck up and continue with the task of writing some brand new stories - some "new additions" if you will - to my dystopian sci-fi collection, In-Futura. I've got 7 pretty good short stories in the can, and 8 more to go to complete the collection. What's the hold up, then?

Starting from scratch...

While my first 7 short stories were conceived fairly quickly, the next 8 are proving to be much more of a challenge. I'll have to go from inception, to plot and character development, to... actually writing the darn things.

That said, writing is a process, and so, I've decided to document my process here, if only to keep myself sane. But if you're reading this, I hope you gain some insight from it as well...