How Much Sci-Fi Do You Need?

Margrave86 · May 21, 2019

Originally I had a nifty idea about where my short story takes place--water miners on a planetary ring system--but as I try and get it under 5,000 words to increase my chances of selling it, I find myself chopping out great swathes of description about the setting. With this comes the realization it's quite an ordinary relationship story with superficial sci-fi trappings. There's some philosophical stuff about how the bleak void of outer space makes people rush into relationships, but mostly it's about two lovers and their hasty relationship.

The characters themselves are from my space opera series, which is most definitely sci-fi. But I'm not sure this story has enough sci-fi to qualify it for the sci-fi short story market. It's mostly just window dressing and light philosophy. So....

How much sci-fi do you need?

Curlz · May 21, 2019

The "sci-fi short story market" is not one single thing, it consists of many different markets and each one can have their own rules about "how much sci-fi" a story needs. One magazine may demand lots and another may be okay if it's just a hint. So you write the story the way you like it to be and only when you try to sell it to a particular market, only then you start measuring if your amount of sci-fi is enough for them. It works on a case-to-case basis.

JDWallawine · May 22, 2019

I agree with Curlz. Some of the short stories I have seen, the only scifi aspect was the other world colony consept, yet the inhabitants seemed to live simply as modern times. Other than the view out the window, the stories could easily happen on earth today. Personally I don't really like it that soft, I need my scifi to be futuristic or at least involving some advanced technology. Yet others seem just fine with a hint from the setting.

Robinski · May 23, 2019

I think if you need to ask this, you already know the answer. If you're selling to an SF market, they are going to looking for the SF elements being key to the story. Just read the submission guidelines for markets like Asimov's, Clarkesworld, Interzone, etc. If you're selling to a romance market, I guess they might be tripped out by the setting.

I would be very disappointed to read a story in an Sf publication in which the SF trapping were irrelevant, and didn't affect the characters, the plot, etc. Is it possible to play up and bring to the front the 'spatial' elements that you refer to? I think of the movie Passengers, or even Moon, The Martian, Silent Running, Solaris. These are stories that are completely about people. Gravity, for goodness sake. They're about character first and foremost, but SF elements still affect the way the story plays out.

Margrave86 · May 28, 2019

Thanks, all, but I decided to shelve this one for the time being. Too much sci-fi for romance, too much romance for sci-fi.

NINA28 · Jun 19, 2019

I would write the story you want to tell because most mags edit it down to what they want anyway and like others said, it's a big market.

How Much Sci-Fi Do You Need?

Margrave86

Curlz

cutsie-pie

JDWallawine

Robinski

Margrave86

NINA28