leisure and lifestyle in your SF/F world....

is this an oft-overlooked aspect of world building? does it seem like we know everything else about the politics, laws, religion, etc., except what people do to pass the time? is it sometimes better to build the drama gradually, or do modern stories demand almost instant action?

even more defining about our culture that still holds true is 'logan's run' sport of literally playing for your life once you reach a certain age. i have only vague recollections of that game (i thought they were supposed to do a remake of the movie).

hey, glad i could shine some light on something i think goes largely unsaid, sean. these heroes who strive to save their way of life must have a reason beyond politics and religion sometimes, i think. i'd venture to say most of 'our' reason for fighting is to preserve our way of life, i.e. our 'freedom,' which may be roughly translated into being able to do what we want, or, in a way, 'to have our fun.' well, what freedom/fun does a character have worth killing or dying for? (this excludes, of course, fanaticism and zealousy, which doesn't sound either free or fun. then again, these aren't necessarily the typical hero-type characters, either.)

i was rather torn whether or not to separate the sports thread, figuring i should just combine the two.

i think this particular subject has more bearing on SF as our lives become more and more open to free time (at least theoretically-- in reality, americans are technically the hardest working people in the world, according to recent studies). in the future where robots may do our housework, though, what are we going to do? what are going to be some future pasttimes? and will the idea 'idle minds/hands are the devil's workshop' go a long way in the decline of our civilization? with excess free time, will people turn more towards recreational activities that are good or bad, and how much of that will have to do with moral leadership?

what a character does with his free time and how he does it is, i've always felt, pivotal towards understanding why his lifestyle merits saving. i've seen plenty of halflings smoking a pipe on their front porch and, at most, visit the tavern and that's supposed to suffice. i think that's too cursory for my tastes. we get a lot of potter's lifestyle, and, hm, how many potter books has rowling sold? lol. i could pick up just about any book right now and find more about how the character looks than how he spends his day outside work. there's usually an example in the form of a situation and a vague notion of how a fiery, raven-haired duchess spends her day than what she typically does just for fun. outside attending gala affairs wherein the misunderstood rogue at the other end of the room locks eyes with her, i mean (okay, wrong genre, but you get the idea, no?).

oh, and in the future, i reckon that if gladiatorial games came back into vogue it would be played through robots... ones that actually do grievous harm to one another as opposed to 'robot wars'. civilized violence.

on a completely unrelated topic, once humans advance to the point where we communicate telepathically and can move objects with our minds, will there still be science fiction stories?

that's true, too. parke godwyn's 'beowulf''s main character had him a viking, with the typical motivations a viking does for doing what they do, and, being so young, beowulf flees his first battle. he spends the rest of his life in a reckless pursuit of suicidal adventure trying to prove to everyone and himself that he's not a coward (though he kept his fleeing a secret). just the way godwyn did it was brilliant, though: it was perfect motivation.

what would an alien amusement park consist of, i wonder? do they have movies? i've always wondered that in a whole galaxy what the sunday paper would look like. pretty thick, i guess. crossword puzzle would be a booger.

sure, i think they'd want to ride practically anything available. we ride horses, camels, elephants, and even ostriches. like yourself, i wonder how many have tried to ride not only dogs (haven't we all given the chance?), but goats and llamas. hell we even ride dolphins and orca whales. if dinosaurs were around we'd be riding them, too.

i think an alien race, especially if they're humanoid, is pretty likely to figure amusement parks out. i reckon they'd have them unless there were reasons why they couldn't. sure, their amusement may be more exotic than ours, like spells or technology that allows them to explore their dreams while awake and interact with it (them? not sure what to call dreams in that case) as were it an alive movie (this actually may be a good way to work through some mental issues, eh?), but it's hard to beat actually getting outside, walking around, doing something, and going around a steep track at 65 miles per hour.

i figure any intelligent creature out there will have some form of getting high, too.

i'm almost embarassed to tell of one story i wrote long, long ago about a sport consisting of a combination non-lethal gladiators with jet-packs using chess moves and football strategies. awful, awful premise. good characters, though, but just a stupid idea besides, lol. i'm afraid to admit i actually wrote the whole damn thing out. one of those stories you find years later and literally cringe by the second sentence. honestly, i peaked as a writer about six years ago and have written crap ever since, that's why i call myself a hack.