The same
applies when you’re writing futuristic tech: it’s just the stuff your
characters use every day. Whether it’s a spaceship, a light saber or a pair of
telepathic wave-generator goggles (see? I just made that up, and you get it) –
the people of the future will have gadgets aplenty.
But how to
include them in your story without bogging down in dull technical explanations?
Back in
the old cyberpunk days (nostalgic sigh…) we decided we didn’t care about
golden-age sci-fi exposition. We just threw the gadgets out there and moved on,
a metaphor for the fast-moving, techno-sick society.
And ‘less
is more’ is still a useful rule. If you’re writing futuristic romance, the
story’s about the characters, not the gadgets. So give the tech the attention
it deserves – it’s like living wallpaper. It’s the world-building, the same as
the magical system in a fantasy or the werewolf pack hierarchy in a paranormal.
It’s not the core of the story. So give a basic explanation of what it is and
what it’s for, and move on.
Unless
you’re writing hard sci-fi, in which case readers want those details. Or, if
you have a gadget that’s particularly important to the plot, you might need to
go into a fuller explanation. But generally, if you’re genre-bending with a
futuristic romance or a space fantasy, keep it simple, colourful and visual.
Tips:
Focus on what it does, rather than how it works. If your pan-galactic
megaspace ion drive (or whatever it’s called) propels the ship faster than
light, that’s cool. Just show it doing that, and move on. We’ll suspend
disbelief and kick Einstein to the curb for a while. It’s when you try to
explain too much that readers lose faith.
Keep your explanations in the character’s point of
view,
rather than stepping aside into infodump. For example, you could go for:
The communicator was black, and
had a metal ‘press-to-talk’ button on the side, with a light that flashed when
the device was out of range.
Or:
She thumbed the metal button on
her communicator. “Are you there?” No response. The little red light flashed. Damn. Out of range.
A basic
‘show, don’t tell’ rule, yes? But it’s an easy trap to fall into when you have
a lot of exposition to deal with. And if you absolutely must infodump? Try
using dialogue, even if it takes longer. It’s far more interesting to read two
characters bickering for a page about how the hyperdrive works, than a dry
paragraph of explanation.
Don’t forget visuals. Like I said, readers are
familiar with sci-fi movies and TV. They expect to be shown what things look
like – the cooler, the better. Also, your visuals are a symptom of how things
are in your futuristic world. There’s a galaxy of difference between the
Starship Enterprise and the Serenity. What do you want your world to look like?
Is it shiny and clean, or is everything rusty, broken and ill-maintained?
Don’t forget other senses, too. Details will bring
your tech – and your world – to life. Does your heroine’s plasma gun buzz and
warm up in her hand when she fires? How does it smell in the bowels of your deep
space freighter? What does it feel like for the passengers and crew when the
spaceship breaks the light barrier? Make your reader feel as if they’re right
there.
And
finally: if in doubt, leave it out.
Readers are smart. They’ll get it. And don’t forget to use a good beta reader,
who’ll pull you up when you’ve glossed over something important.
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