Dragon*Con Panel: Military in Science Fiction

[momebie]

Before I get started in on the panel I just want to say that the Psycho City Roller Derby season opener was awesome and everyone in Orlando should go out to at least one date this season. You can find the info here. My favorite derby name from last night was Erin Gobrawl. Roller derby looks like a lot of fun to be involved in. Too bad I can't

Comments

[momebie]

She had dark hair, but she may have been Irish. I didn't ask. :p Another favorite name of ours was Ellen Rage. I've had some fun the last day or so trying to decide what my name would be, were I to ever stop being such a raging pansy.

[momebie]

Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full of clumsy. I cannot stand up on anything that requires balance. I had people try and teach me to surf four years in a row when I was young. I've tried to ski and skateboard and roller skate and ice skate to no avail. I am just not made for move-y types of motion. That being said, if either of my friends does try out, I will totally volunteer.

[ninepointfivemm]

This post might actually help to hammer down some details in the fractured fairytale. Which is weird, because there is definitely no military important in the verse. But it did help me re-look at the business politics of the company! Which, God, probably is run like a small country.

[momebie]

Oh excellent! There are definitely things that were said during the panel that made me think about what I write as a whole, and not simply how they apply to military situations.

[momebie]

I think the question is whether or not the story can be told without those elements. If a military presence adds nothing to the story then I'd err on the side of taking it out. That being said, there is some truth to the notion that some people WANT to see those stories, and because of that you might sell more than you would have otherwise. Of course, then you have a whole other dilemma. Am I telling the story I want to tell, or am I writing for a readership?

[momebie]

You can write A science fiction story without the military being present. There are quite a lot of them about. But it's very hard to write certain types of science fiction stories without that. I think it depends a lot on what kind of world you're building. Anything is certainly POSSIBLE in fiction. We're perfectly capable of writing a story without any kind of grounding in familiar military roles, but it takes more work to make it believable to an average audience. And of course, if you're working within a true to life frame then the military IS often part of negotiations and such. We can't just write them out of the story for the sake of being different

[ext_220931]

thanks for the recap! I wanted to get to that panel, but couldn't make the time. Very interesting.

[momebie]

Glad to be of help! And while we're here, thank you for posting notes to your tumblr from the all those writing panels I didn't get a chance to go to. I've started following that, if it's okay, so I can keep track of them.

[momebie]

Haha, thank you!