An Interview With Ian Benke
Get a professional editor. Particularly if you self-publish, you need someone to tell you the truth when what you have written stinks, and give suggestions on how to make it better. You don’t have to accept all their suggestions, but their experience will improve your work. I was initially satisfied with SPARK and would have self-published it eventually. It would have been terrible. My publisher, Inklings Publishing, paired me with a spectacular developmental editor and the book is much better because of her. Thanks, Steph!
Science Fiction and Fantasy are hugely popular genres. What does it take for a writer today, to write compelling and successful Science Fiction and Fantasy stories? Authority Magazine started a new series called “How To Write Compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories”. In this series we are talking to anyone who is a Science Fiction or Fantasy author, or an authority or expert on how to write compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pat Daily.
Pat Daily is the author of SPARK. He is an engineer and former Air Force test pilot who worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs. When not writing or trying to bring new airplane designs to life, Pat can be found gaming online. He is a fan of role-playing games — particularly open worlds with engaging storylines where actions have consequences.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share a story about what first drew you to writing over other forms of storytelling?
I love to read and always wanted to write a book. I’ve been a teacher or instructor quite a bit over my career thus far, and I learned that telling stories is one of the most effective ways to pass on knowledge and influence attitudes. I love the interaction with the audience and the ability to adapt on the fly.
Instruction has steadily moved online, and I found that I was losing that connection with the audience. It’s hard to really engage with people on a 400-person zoom call. That motivated me to write in earnest. I still get to tell stories and, with writing, I get more chances to polish them.
I got asked to write a piece for a magazine — their regular writer, a colleague of mine, was in rehab and out of touch. I wrote something up and submitted it. The editor sent it back with some very helpful suggestions, and eventually it got published. Right after that, I got a few letters from people who loved it. I was hooked.
You are a successful author. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Thick skin: One of my early readers, my college roommate, gives me caustic criticism. In the first draft I sent him, I ended a sentence with an ellipsis — the three dots of fate. To properly close the sentence, I also needed a period. His comment to me was this: “Need four periods to end the sentence. God, do you even SPEAK English???” I keep a copy of that page tacked up next to my desk.
Robust ego: One of my writing group friends, Alex Perry, author of Pighearted, also read an early draft. Many critique groups are worthless because no one wants to hurt your feelings. They don’t want to tell you that you have an ugly baby. After a few weeks of meeting, Alex finally got to the point: “It’s boring. It’s like watching someone watch someone else play a video game.” Ouch. Painful, but crucial. I knew I could fix it but needed someone to tell me the uncomfortable truth. I dusted off my ego and got busy.
Tenacity: I queried 22 agents and publishers before Inklings signed me. That took months of effort and lots of times you don’t even get an email back. I knew I had a good story (robust ego, remember?), so I kept trying.
Can you tell us a bit about the interesting or exciting projects you are working on or wish to create? What are your goals for these projects?
Just this morning, I wrote the first pages of Book 3 of the Spark series. I plan to wrap up the story with this book because I have some other books I’m itching to get to.
One is tentatively titled gGodz. In it, two galaxy-spanning civilizations are at war and Earth is stuck in the middle. One civilization is treating us like cattle — managing our population and culling the herd as necessary. The other is stealing our souls when we die. It’s a lot of fun to write.
Wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define sci-fi or fantasy? How is it different from speculative fiction?
I define sci-fi as an extrapolation of the future from what we know now. I try to base any future technology or problem firmly on what we believe to be true today. Sometimes that changes. Just look at the furor over what constitutes good nutrition. First eggs were good for you, then they became anathema, now they’re okay again — putting aside all the moral questions of how the chickens are raised, etc.
Fantasy is similar, to me, except for the fundamental principal of magic. Sci-fi doesn’t use magic, although, as Arthur C. Clarke said, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Yesterday, while riding in a car, I had a video call with a colleague in the Marshall Islands using a device small enough to hold in one hand. Forty, fifty years (or more) ago, that would have been considered magic — Never going to happen! Even writers who were okay with neutronium-hulled spaceships and hyper drives never conceived of such a thing.
The term Speculative Fiction seems redundant. All fiction is speculative to a degree. I’ve only recently learned that the term is triggering some writers — some see it as weak-kneed hiding from one genre or another. Others find it an important distinction. I’ve chosen not to have a dog in that fight.
If you want to call my work Speculative Fiction or Science Fiction, I’m fine with either. Just buy my books.
It seems that despite countless changes in media and communication technologies, novels and written fiction always survive, and as the rate of change increases with technology, written sci-fi becomes more popular. Why do you think that is?
Change can be scary. If someone else has spent some time thinking and writing about the possible implications of that change, it can help us adapt. The faster things change, the more rapidly we need to adapt.
In your opinion, what are the benefits to reading sci-fi, and how do they compare to watching sci-fi on film and television?
Written sci-fi demands more of your imagination and can be much deeper. Film must cut so much out to make it into a tolerable length — or make it a series. The first Dune movie (1984) was mediocre, even if it did have Sting and Patrick Stewart. It was just too short to do justice to the glory of the book. So many story arcs were shrunken or terminated. The more recent one is better, and I hope that the second installment lives up to the promise of the first one. Even so, Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck, and Shadout Mapes got scant screen time although they played large roles in the book.
I love movies and watch a couple every week. I see a trend towards more action and less plot. Movies need to make us think as much as a good book does. They should linger in our subconscious and shape our perceptions.
Film and TV really excel in showing. They can very quickly immerse us in a world we may have needed a couple of chapters to build. Think about Blade Runner — very well done.
What authors and artists, dead or alive, inspired you to write?
Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, Earnest Cline, Erin Morgenstern
If you could ask your favourite Science Fiction and Fantasy author a question, what would it be?
What stories have you abandoned, and why? I’ve got a drawerful. Some I’ll never finish because they’re dated and haven’t aged well. Others are awaiting more inspiration. Some just suck.
We’d like to learn more about your writing. How would you describe yourself as an author? Can you please share a specific passage that you think exemplifies your style?
I like to write characters that see the world from a different perspective. They think differently from those around them. Sometimes that helps them, sometimes it leads to trouble. This passage is from SPARK. In it, sixteen-year-old Will Kwan, is in trouble. He’s trapped in a quest by his own fear of falling yet his curiosity is going to provide him a way out.
“It helped to look up at the sky. Since he laid down on his back, Phobos had risen and tracked most of the way across the sky. Its rotation and odd shape made for an ever-changing spectacle. He couldn’t tell what phase it was in. It was mesmerizing and calmed him some. The moon cast faint shadows above him. He was too afraid to sleep. That’s why he saw it.
Looking up as Phobos transited the sky, it disappeared briefly as if eclipsed. Even with all its irregularity, it looked odd — as if a straight edge were cutting into it. Will watched, fascinated. The larger of Mars’ moons quickly emerged and Will noticed it emerged with a straight edge as well — only this time it was on the trailing edge. The angles weren’t the same and seemed far too regular. I’ll check it out when it gets light — if I’m still up here, he thought.”
Based on your own experience and success, what are the “Five Things You Need To Write Compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories?” If you can, please share a story or example for each.
- Know, and write for, your audience. When you try to write for someone you don’t truly understand, you fail to write well. I just finished a book with a lesbian lead. She was so poorly written it made me cringe. It was as if the author, a male, had written a tough guy male character and then, belatedly, changed his name and gender. It didn’t work well.
- Get something on the page. Write fast, bad, and wrong. I’m not sure who originated it, but it works for me. Don’t worry, in the first draft, about getting it right, just get it on the page. Fix it later but don’t forget to fix it! When I wrote that passage about Phobos being eclipsed, Phobos, as seen from Will’s perspective was much too large. When I wrote my second or third draft, I took the time to do the research and had to rewrite the scene. The point is that I had a scene to rewrite. It gave me a starting point for the revision.
- Don’t pick unintentional fights. It’s fine to start a fight with something you write. Perhaps it’s even necessary. Just don’t do it accidentally. In my very first draft of SPARK, I wrote something that I thought was innocuous about a large company. One of my critique group readers asked me why I hated that company. That wasn’t my intention. I disagreed with some of their actions, but admired the company overall. That wasn’t coming through. It wasn’t a fight I intended to start so I had to fix it.
- Read a lot — inside and outside of your own genre. See how other authors handle dialogue, how they describe a scene or a character, how they put their characters at risk, and how they bail them out. I recently read Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea — twice. I admire her descriptions and keep copies of that and The Night Circus on my shelf.
- Get a professional editor. Particularly if you self-publish, you need someone to tell you the truth when what you have written stinks, and give suggestions on how to make it better. You don’t have to accept all their suggestions, but their experience will improve your work. I was initially satisfied with SPARK and would have self-published it eventually. It would have been terrible. My publisher, Inklings Publishing, paired me with a spectacular developmental editor and the book is much better because of her. Thanks, Steph!
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Entertainment, Business, VC funding, and Sports read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
Tim Ferriss. I discovered his podcast a few years ago and that led me to his books. His writing is clean and gives me the details I crave. I’d pick his brain and try to ask him questions he hasn’t already answered hundreds of times.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Best option is to follow my blog at: https://feraldaughters.wordpress.com
Thank you for these excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent. We wish you continued success.
Author Pat Daily On How To Write Compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.