Ben Bova "Writing Science Fiction" books

[Chang]

Hey, your fly's down.

Ages ago, I worked in a Waterstone's in Boston and got as a "parting gift"this book about writing aliens. Now I've ordered another one called World Building. And then a third about the science of aliens.

Okay, so has anyone seen these books?

The Aliens book in the Bova series is good in one way in that it's got a great crash course in science from astronomy to chemistry and biology. I need that at least until the 2nd edition of Scalzi's Rough Guide to da Universe comes out. I suspect the World Building one will as well, perhaps even moreso. And yes, I know that for some, [urlhttp://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/14/whats-wrong-with-wor.html]worldbuilding sucks[/url].

I guess my question is this:

Anyone have an opinion of these books or these types of books? Or even how to books in general. Part of me thinks I ought to just haul out the hard science books and leave these books to the newbs. But then I've found them helpful. And reall, all I want to be is cool.

Your thoughts, Whateveresquers.

[harishasic]

I have read one of his books on writing. It seemed really full of good and applicable information. However I recently also read on Strange Horizons a review of his latest book Titan where the reviewer made some insightfull remarks about the writing of Bova being both in the past and shallow.
Bova does have a lot of Hugo's for editing. And some say he was or is among the best in the biz. So I would just use common sense and read it cum grano salis.

[Domini]

I haven't read the Bova ones, but I have read Orson Scott Card's.

In regards to Card's, it depends on how far you are in learning how to write; I don't pick up how-to-write books as a matter of course, I prefer to just study what I read, both the good and the bad, and come to my own conclusions (heh, see all my topics here in the writing forums, my mind always does that), and by the time I got to Card's books I'd already gleaned much of what he he was saying (I just didn't realize it since I'd never sat down and made a list or anything before). So in that respect they weren't useful to *me*, but also I didn't *disagree* at all with them, I sort of went through the book nodding and going, "Yeah, I saw that. Yup, that's right. Eh, that's optional, but I see how it could work for some people."

[Chang]

I have read one of his books on writing. It seemed really full of good and applicable information. However I recently also read on Strange Horizons a review of his latest book Titan where the reviewer made some insightfull remarks about the writing of Bova being both in the past and shallow.
Bova does have a lot of Hugo's for editing. And some say he was or is among the best in the biz. So I would just use common sense and read it cum grano salis.

Yeah, I think I feel the same way about his writing. I read alot of it as a kid and found it pretty accessible. I bet now I would find it kind of weak. And Scalzicce recently linked to an editorial he wrote that just sounded like the crabbiest old man on the street. Sad.

But lik I said in the original entry, the editing of this book is good. There's tons of pretty basic science in there which I like.

[Chang]

I haven't read the Bova ones, but I have read Orson Scott Card's.

In regards to Card's, it depends on how far you are in learning how to write; I don't pick up how-to-write books as a matter of course, I prefer to just study what I read, both the good and the bad, and come to my own conclusions (heh, see all my topics here in the writing forums, my mind always does that), and by the time I got to Card's books I'd already gleaned much of what he he was saying (I just didn't realize it since I'd never sat down and made a list or anything before). So in that respect they weren't useful to *me*, but also I didn't *disagree* at all with them, I sort of went through the book nodding and going, "Yeah, I saw that. Yup, that's right. Eh, that's optional, but I see how it could work for some people."

I felt the same way about writing books, as I figured you have it in you or you don't. But then I got The Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction and it really helped refresh alot of things I had forgotten. Also it had a bunch of stuff on the getting published end which I needed.

[dr-phil-physics]

Writing books, whether for genre writing or in general, potentially fill a niche for reminding you about things which should be obvious or make you face some of your Achilles heels. They may not teach you to become more than a competent writer -- talent and ingenuity still have to count for something. (grin) Nancy Kress was one of our 2004 Clarion instructors and her book Beginnings, Middles and Ends talks a lot about how to make a story work and how to find out where it needs help. It's sort of a three-headed hydra -- concentrate on the beginnings and the ends, and then the middles squirt out, etc. The greatest ending in all of writing will do you no good if no one gets that far -- and the greatest beginning will fall flat if not supported by the rest. Sigh. You mean I have to be a balanced writer? I thought SF writers were unbalanced people by default. (grin)

I note that Amazon pairs Kress with Card's book Characters and Viewpoint, which is a pretty good combination to read. What Bova does is address the SF model itself and how to make it work -- Kress and Card are more about the writing.

The thing of it is, writing has Rules. You break those Rules at your own peril. Lots of good/great stories break those Rules, but if you want to sell your stories then you need to tell a compelling STORY. If you have to break the Rules to do so, it will work, but to break the Rules of writing because you just can't be fenced in or are ignorant or unable to be consistent generally gets you nowhere. Read any of the blogs of slush readers out there are you'll realize that with only a little attention to the details you can raise yourself up to the top 25% of the slush pile. After that, you do have to remember to tell a story. (grin)

I remember reading some Ben Bova stories a long time ago, but my initial enthusiasm waned somewhere between Kinsman and The Weathermakers, and despite his reputation in writing about science, finding Bova's name on a novel as an author ends up being a pretty big Do Not Buy sign -- but that's purely a personal tic. I know lots of other people who read his stories avidly and I'll admit I haven't read any of the Grand Tour series. To each his own...

Dr. Phil

[Zalandris]

While I'm not a writer, per se, I have read a lot of these "How-to" books by various authors. A lot of basic information, a lot of what seemed to me to be common sense.

There were a couple of these type books I would recommend for anyone looking to write.

Telling Lies for Fun & Profit by Lawrence Block
http://www.amazon.com/Telling-Lies-Fun-Profit-Fiction/dp/0688132286
It's a collection of his columns from Writer's Digest. Block is a fun writer and has tons of great advice in here. I actually read this and then went out to read some of his mystery novels. Good stuff, plus I just adore the title. hehe

The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner
http://www.amazon.com/Forest-Trees-Betsy-Lerner/dp/0333989228/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5540562-5165566?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189738627&sr=1-1
Lerner is now a Literary agent but she was an editor who did stints at a few of the major publishing houses (Houghton-Mifflin, Ballantine, Simon & Schuster, and Doubleday). While there are tons of advice books out there from a author's perspective, this one of the few from a editor's. Besides lots of helpful stuff to get your novel bought, she also goes in-depth with what happens after you sign that offer letter. After reading this book, I finally understood why it takes a year or more for the book to actually hit the shelves.

[dr-phil-physics]

I finally understood why it takes a year or more for the book to actually hit the shelves.

Yeah, I think that most budding authors don't know a lot about how the business works. Every now and then I run into people who suddenly decide they're going to write a book to make money, or worse have some debts and Need Money Now -- and when they find out the reality of (a) getting sold and (b) getting published, they just drop it.

As for the money, our host Herr Scalzi has done a good work by talking openly and honestly about the numbers for his books, which is both revealing and sobering. (grin)

Dr. Phil