Speed of Light

I'm going to admit up front that I like reading science fiction. Not a lot, mind you, because some is just too bizarre for me, but I like what is generally termed as space opera. Star Wars is an example, though I don't read the books anymore because there are just too many of them. Of course, I haven't read a lot of classics, either. I'm still in the middle of reading Asimov's Foundation, I've read Herbert's Dune along with the first two sequels, and I've read some of Anne McCaffrey's stuff. All in all, not a very impressive list.

The last few weeks I've been struggling to find a way to earn money while I'm waiting to be shipped out to Texas. There aren't any jobs in the small town I live in, and I don't have a car so I can't drive to another town. I have just under three hundred dollars left from the insurance money I got when my car was totaled, but it's not going to last much longer, especially with a kitten to spay. So I thought I could try my hand at writing short science fictions stories to sell to magazines.

I thought it would be easy. I mean, 8k is easy for me, and I've finished a couple of stories that short before, but most of my writing has been fantasy, so I knew this would be different. I've never actually written more than a few thousand words on any science fiction story, though I have a lot of ideas. I originally thought it was just because I like writing fantasy more, but after attempting to write three different stories to sell, I realized that wasn't the case.

I'm either not smart enough or not crazy enough to write science fiction.

My idea of science fiction is more based on the silver screen than books. I like Star Wars and Star Trek, and I love Firefly and an old show called Space: Above and Beyond. The thing about all of these is that they are simple. You can empathizes with the characters because they live through situations that are translatable into our time, and the technology never overwhelms the characters and story. However, in my determination to write and sell science fiction short stories I read some of my books that have been gathering dust on my shelves, and found that simple is not what science fiction is, apparently.

I've been reading a book called The New Space Opera 2, which is a collection of short stories, (I have number 1 as well) and 90% of the stories make my head spin. For the most part I can't relate to the characters because half the time they are 200 or thirteen centuries old making bizarre choices and using technology that I could never dream of.

The other thing is most science fiction has aliens in it, and I don't like reading about aliens. That's one of the reasons I like Dune and its sequels; there aren't any aliens. I mean, I firmly believe that there are 'aliens' out there, but I believe that they have the same form we do, so reading about tentacled, gray skinned, three-limbed creatures that have three genders, speak in radio waves, and breathes methane, doesn't appeal to me.

I realized that I had to give it a try anyway, to try to write something to sell, but after struggling through ONE PAGE on one story, I gave up. I'm just not cut out for it. My writing style doesn't do sell-able science fiction, my intelligence doesn't do sell-able science fiction.

So I'm back to my favorite genre and no way to earn money unless I get a novel finished.