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I had this idea for a hard science fiction story that I have been thinking about for years. Nobody else is going to write it, so I started. 20 000 words in my b
by bjelkeman-again 2y ago
I had this idea for a hard science fiction story that I have been thinking about for years. Nobody else is going to write it, so I started. 20 000 words in my beta readers say it is good, so I think I will continue. And I don’t expect to sell it, but I want to know what happens and so do the beta readers. So on we go.
- mbbbackus 2y agoCurrently in the same boat! When you say beta readers, do you mean other friends/writers or like people on twitter
- bjelkeman-again 2y agoA mix of people who are known and good readers and some on Reddit /r/hfy
- greenie_beans 2y agohell yeah, keep on writing!
- mysteria 2y agoYou really have to write it for yourself if you want to keep going - unless you're lucky or have a large following already it's hard to get a lot of readers. I've written stories and serials and posted them on social media, my personal site, etc. (I release them as Creative Commons works) and few people read them. Self-published authors who want to make a living typically have to do a lot of promotion to get a chance. Also there are times when I decide I want to read my own stuff for entertainment instead of a published novel. And the joy I get from that keeps me writing.
- wolverine876 2y agoMany successful artists in any medium say they create things for themselves; it's more a compulsion than a business activity. Some are lucky that others like it; some are even luckier that others like it during the creator's lifetime; the luckiest even make money from it!
- mysteria 2y agoIf you want to make money you're often creating for your audience rather than for yourself too. For instance I know professional artists who don't enjoy their work that much since they end up having to please the client rather than make what they really want. Even for my own CC fiction my themes and language are affected by current trends and what I think my readers will like. Of course if you're lucky you can create whatever you like and your fans will eat it up, but how many people can do that? As an aside though I feel that the science/engineering heavy HN crowd would bring some life to science fiction. We have the ability to write things that make technical sense and I'm sure many of you internally roast the handwaviness seen in some franchises. I don't know if I'm the only one that does this but I plan out the computer networks my characters use, draw cutaways and chip architecture diagrams for new devices I come up with, read scientific papers for research, and so forth. Sometimes that's even more fun than the actual writing!
- jimbokun 2y agoCixin Liu was a computer engineer working at a power plant before writing 3 Body Problem and its sequels. He very clearly embeds his love for science into his books.
- bhaney 2y agoCan I be a beta reader? Always looking for more good hard sci-fi.
- bjelkeman-again 2y agohttps://www.reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/the_daedalus_encounter/ https://www.reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/the_daedalus_encoun...
- bjelkeman-again 2y agoI should be easy to find from the profile here on HN.
- Aeolun 2y agoI think the best motivation I’ve ever gotten for writing was finishing another story and being sad about it. The best part about writing the story yourself is that it never ends unless you want it to (or you end, I suppose).
- vidarh 2y agoKeep at it. I've self-published my first two (and beaten the odds - somewhat - judging by this article, while still paying substantially below minimum wage for my time, but that's ok), and the experience is "interesting". The first time I had someone somewhat accusingly message me on twitter to ask when I'll get the next one out (I'm way overdue) was exciting.