By James L Hill (aka J L Hill)
To write science fiction you must create two things in particular, an environment and people. In part one, we discussed creating environments. I spoke about building a multi-faceted environment. Now I tell you to apply that same logic when populating your worlds. Look around there are millions of life forms on Earth. Each one so different from one another it is hard to believe they all live on this one planet.
Nothing is more disturbing then reading a story where this is a single creature until man shows up. I always ask myself what this thing did before Biff the Spaceman arrived. Did it just sit around saying, “I’m so hungry I wish some humans would come over for dinner”?
You see if your world has a singular life form then it is either a cannibal or a plant. That is not very interesting. When I build my world, I make two charts, what is life like on a daily basis, and what is life like in the long term. Daily there are things to be considered such as, what does it eat; where and when does it sleep; is it sentient and cognizant of itself and its environment or does it act on instincts alone. In defining these aspects of daily life, you will have to create a varied ecosystem.
On a long-term basis, I pose the questions is it a predator; is it the prey; is it both. We like to think of ourselves at the top of the food chain. But that is only true in our own environment. Once outside of it we quickly fall down the list, in the ocean we are prey to sharks and other predator fish. In the jungle, lions and other big cats have the upper hand. We humans rely on are superior knowledge and dexterity to maintain our edge. Where does your creation fit in its food chain and does it move from top to bottom outside its environment? What does it use to stay alive from day to day?
Your creation – how does it grow, change, procreate and finally die? What other creatures help it throughout its life cycle? Life is a symbiotic existence. Life forms need other life forms support whether they know it or not. Add some supporting characters to your world. The Earth supports life forms from the microscopic to the multi-ton at the same time. Life forms have come and gone. Some have mutated into entirely new forms, while others have found their niche and dominated it for millions of years. Your worlds should be as diverse and teeming with life.
When I start to build my world, I look at my fish tank. I have three or four different species of tropical fish, an algae eater, some snails, and couple of plants (some I am trying to get rid of – algae), rocks large and small (for the small fish to hide in – even though the fish don’t eat each other). In that little fifty-gallon tank there is a lot of life, I probably find out exactly how much if I was foolish enough to take a sip of its water. Then I take a look at my friend’s tank, the same size but with only one big fish. It hardly moves. Believe me that is no life, not even for a fish.
To write science fiction you must create two things in particular, an environment and people. In part one, we discussed creating environments. I spoke about building a multi-faceted environment. Now I tell you to apply that same logic when populating your worlds. Look around there are millions of life forms on Earth. Each one so different from one another it is hard to believe they all live on this one planet.
Nothing is more disturbing then reading a story where this is a single creature until man shows up. I always ask myself what this thing did before Biff the Spaceman arrived. Did it just sit around saying, “I’m so hungry I wish some humans would come over for dinner”?
You see if your world has a singular life form then it is either a cannibal or a plant. That is not very interesting. When I build my world, I make two charts, what is life like on a daily basis, and what is life like in the long term. Daily there are things to be considered such as, what does it eat; where and when does it sleep; is it sentient and cognizant of itself and its environment or does it act on instincts alone. In defining these aspects of daily life, you will have to create a varied ecosystem.
On a long-term basis, I pose the questions is it a predator; is it the prey; is it both. We like to think of ourselves at the top of the food chain. But that is only true in our own environment. Once outside of it we quickly fall down the list, in the ocean we are prey to sharks and other predator fish. In the jungle, lions and other big cats have the upper hand. We humans rely on are superior knowledge and dexterity to maintain our edge. Where does your creation fit in its food chain and does it move from top to bottom outside its environment? What does it use to stay alive from day to day?
Your creation – how does it grow, change, procreate and finally die? What other creatures help it throughout its life cycle? Life is a symbiotic existence. Life forms need other life forms support whether they know it or not. Add some supporting characters to your world. The Earth supports life forms from the microscopic to the multi-ton at the same time. Life forms have come and gone. Some have mutated into entirely new forms, while others have found their niche and dominated it for millions of years. Your worlds should be as diverse and teeming with life.
When I start to build my world, I look at my fish tank. I have three or four different species of tropical fish, an algae eater, some snails, and couple of plants (some I am trying to get rid of – algae), rocks large and small (for the small fish to hide in – even though the fish don’t eat each other). In that little fifty-gallon tank there is a lot of life, I probably find out exactly how much if I was foolish enough to take a sip of its water. Then I take a look at my friend’s tank, the same size but with only one big fish. It hardly moves. Believe me that is no life, not even for a fish.
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