For more than twenty years, Australian writer Isobelle Carmody has lent her unique voice to the sci-fi and fantasy landscape—penning numerous works for children and young adults. This month, the multi award winning storyteller has joined the Write the World team as our Science Fiction Writing Competition guest judge. In her writing advice, tailored exclusively for the WtW community, Isobelle tells us what she’s looking for in a winning entry and why the most important part about writing is not working within the confines of a particular genre, but the determination to “write what you love”.
What are some of the key conventions of science fiction writing that our writers should seek to incorporate into their piece? Are there any clichés to avoid?
I don’t think about a piece being sci-fi or fantasy or realism when I write it. This allows me to avoid the trap of sticking to a “to-do” genre list. Confining your writing to a genre will also lead directly to clichés unless you are experienced or brave enough to subvert them. But very often that subversion is itself a cliché! My feeling is, write what you write—if you love sci-fi, it’s highly likely your work will go that way.
What advice do you have for young writers who may have read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy but have never written a piece of their own?
Write what you love. It doesn’t matter who or what you model yourself on so long as you have a motivating idea that is original. Use your story to explore a true question or concern or interest in something that you are passionate about.
Which sci-fi writers have inspired you over the years? Do you have any sci-fi book recommendations for the Write the World community?
I love John Wyndham, Edmund Cooper, Frank Herbert’s’ Dune series, Marge Piercy’s Body of Glass was exquisite, and China Miéville’s work, but most of all I love Sheri S. Tepper and Ursula K. Le Guin. Also Lotus Blue by Cat Sparks and Year of the Orphan by Dan Findlay.
What are you looking for in a winning entry.
Stories that strive to explore deep questions about the real world and its problems and challenges. Stories that ask how we can live in this world, drawn through the prism of the strange or uncanny. Stories that move me with the truth of humanity they capture. Stories with complex, interesting, original characters that feel real.
Do you have any projects brewing that we can look forward to this year?
I have two books on the go but I suspect both will come out next year. They are a big stand alone books called Comes the Night, and the final book in my Land of the Lost sci-fi series, The Velvet City.
