Essential Reads for Aspiring Authors - Part 2: Orson Scott Card's "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy"

Orson Scott Card

On recommendation of a friend I recently purchased Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy. For those unfamiliar, Card is most famous for his sci-fi novel Enders Game and the seven sequels that followed.

Despite being a noticeably short read, (it clocks in somewhere shy of 140 pages) the advice is solid and easy to apply. This book is well suited to anyone with a penchant for sci-fi or fantasy, regardless of whether you've started your first draft or are already knee deep in revisions.While the examples used in the book are more often than not bent towards sci-fi, most of the advice offered is applicable to any aspiring author of speculative fiction. 

My only qualm with the text is that its advice regarding literary agents seems dated and overly skeptical (This is likely due to the fact that it was first published in 1991). Card advises seeking out an agent only after you've received an offer from a publisher. As a great deal of publishers are no longer accepting unsolicited queries or manuscripts, I'm not so sure that this is heed-worthy advice. Furthermore, he insists that the best agents are charging a going rate of 10%, (as opposed to 15%) something that I'm also quite skeptical of. Perhaps this was the case two decades ago. Today I'm not so sure.

The book is divided into five sections:

1. The Infinite Boundary: this chapter primarily deals with how to recognize and label speculative fiction, and helps explain how sci-fi and fantasy differ from one another.

2. World Creation: offers a great deal of advice about the process of creating a believable world, with a focus on setting firm rules surrounding your magic and technology.

3. Story Construction: especially useful in determining whether you should write your story with the milieu, idea, character or event in mind. This chapter is also benefitial in that it helps you determine whether or not your protaganist should also be your viewpoint character.

4. Writing Well: this chapter was invaluable to me, as it aids the aspiring author in writing exposition. How much is too much? How much is not enough? How do I integrate it into the story without slowing the pace of the novel? There is also some practical (and humorous) advice about integrating jargon, slang, and made up languages within your work.

5. The Life and Business of Writing: unfortunately the weakest of the five chapters; largely to blame is the outdated material and advice pertaining to literary agents. There are a few nuggets of wisdom to be found here, but be skeptical--particularly in regards to what's written about literary agents, finances, and querying--it is most certainly not the most up to date information available. 

Minor faults aside, this was a fantastic read and has provided me with a great deal of practical advice to help hone my craft. It'll definitely be studied more thoroughly during my revision period.

To the readers: what other books about the craft have you read and enjoyed?