Congratulations on making it to the end of this segment of your speculative fiction adventure. You’ll know you were a success when your family and friends begin to tell you that your monster has shown up in their nightmare and dreams. Your stories are definitely haunting mine.
That’s a good thing because remember, what we’re really doing here is dredging up different parts of the subconscious and pressing them together to see what we’ve all got inside. Monsters are out there and we’ve got to figure out what questions we need to ask to get to know them, and what our relationships with them should be.
-It’s poetry as much as fiction.
-Dialogue and debate help us know what’s at stake with choices.
– By the midpoint of your writing you’ll probably know enough about what’s at stake to write a longline, finding a paradox your story will turn on.
– As for the climax, don’t forget that there must be struggle there.
-By the end you’ll have discovered what the real question was: Octavia Butler’s story is about love, as much as monsters.
I hope you’ll continue writing, and discussing your fears with friends and examining your culture. You’re the ones who are going to tell us about the new world you’ve grown up in. We old people can hardly see it, so I hope that this class has taught some writing skills, but more than that reminded you what writing is for.
Eireene
Recommended Reading
Fledgling by Octavia Butler (a vampire novel)
The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender (Surrealist short stories)
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link (Magical realist stories)
Feed by J.T. Anderson (novella about internet feeds, warning: many swear
words, invented slang)
Autonomous by Anna Lee Newitz (novel about open source chemistry)
Above the Human Nerve Domain by Will Alexander (poetry)
