Science Fiction & Fantasy

I'll soon be poised to start what I hope will be a writing routine for the rest of my life. Designating at minimum 1 hour of each night to writing. Perhaps 2 in time. Life is busy but it's something I must do, something I want to do.

I'm reading again Orson Scott Card's How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy. A good book, by the way, and I recommend it to anyone who wishes to do just that. It defines very well the differences between science fiction and fantasy, the reasons for establishing them, why you can still afford to discard them at a certain point, and why the two categories are always [rightfully] lumped together in bookstores.

But this, chiefly, is his rule of thumb: "If the story is set in a universe that follows the same rules as ours, it's science fiction. If it's set in a universe that doesn't follow our rules, it's fantasy. Or in other words, science fiction is about what could be but isn't; fantasy is about what couldn't be."

Pretty easy, huh? It also reminds me why I so enjoy fantasy and prefer it over science fiction. But I love that they can mix sometimes. The best example I have ever seen of a story that straddles the line between the two is the Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman. Consider that another recommendation. Even my magic-scorning father enjoyed that one, and there's plenty of supernatural elements to that story.

Anyway, it's time to get down to business with speculative fiction!