The Secret to Writer’s Block: Misfit Inspiration - Guest Post

 

Don’t Touch That!

by James Scott

I’ll be blunt!

Perhaps the reason for your writer’s block is guilt.  Guilt that deep down inside you know your story is, well, not believable.   I don’t mean unbelievable as in wow, this pushes me to think beyond my normal limits.  But rather hey, this can never, ever happen.  It’s just not logical, not credible, not worthy . . .  It’s . . . well you get the idea.

Don’t feel alone.   It’s happening to me right now with my unfinished SciFi book MILK RUN.   The scene just doesn’t seem real. Matter of fact, it down right sucks the air right out into space.  And I know the reason for this dilemma . . . believability.   

So, I’ve did some research into what makes a good SciFi story.  Check out this post I wrote that boils it all down into the three most important things for successful SciFi writing.  The most important of which is believability.   Put yourself in the reader’s position.  It doesn’t matter what genre.  You got to think that what the person is doing in the story is something you might do in the same situation.   Or better still, is it something that makes common sense?  If it doesn’t, then there had better be some good plot action or character flaw to justify it later. 

For example, would you believe a SciFi space story if all the characters constantly leave the door of the spaceship open after landing on a strange planet? Heck No! As I described in an earlier post, Close That Damn Door Behind You, leaving spaceship doors open is an invitation for certain calamity. Maybe writers do that to drive their story forward, but it doesn’t make sense to me.

Here’s an example of how we determine what makes sense and what doesn’t.  Do you remember your parents telling you not to touch something or pick up something in an unfamiliar or strange place?   Well, as some of us hardheaded ones can attest, that’s a lesson for our own good.   As a very young child, I had a personal coaching moment on this topic via a shocking experience with an electrical outlet.  Mom said don’t touch that!  But I did!  

From similar experiences most of us learn when it is safe to touch or pick up a strange object.  But all too often we see exceptions like SciFi characters wondering around and picking up or getting too close to strange things.  And that makes the story implausible. 

One example is seen in THE WAY TO EDEN episode of the Original STAR TREK series where Ensign Pavel Chekhov (presumably a well-trained Star Fleet officer who should know better) is burned when he touches a pretty flower on the planet of Eden.

The ensign is not the only one who violates the golden rule of not touching anything on a strange planet in this TV episode.   With clouded judgement, Dr. Ton Sevrin, who commandeered the Enterprise to Eden is so overjoyed of his successful arrival that he instantly takes a shuttle craft to the planet’s surface and (after leaving the spaceship door open, I suspect) rushes out, climbs a tree, grabs a piece of fruit and chows down.  Of course, he dies from food poisoning.   

Now, would you do that?   I guess we can excuse poor Dr. Sevrin since earlier in the episode, Mr. Spock concluded that he was insane.   But Chekhov should have known better, which makes that part of the story a bit hard to believe.   

And of course, another example is ALIEN, when Executive Officer Gilbert Kane and his survey crew comes across an alien spaceship on a spooky moon.  Inside they find a chamber filled with undulating eggs.  Don’t know about you, but I would have sent a drone or some sort of robot in to check it out.  But Executive Officer Kane (who by his very title should also have known better) does the exact opposite.   He comes up real close and personal to one of the moving eggs and touches the darn thing.  

We all know what happened next.   A small octopus like creature springs out from the egg, breaks through Kane’s helmet and with a hugging embrace, plants itself firmly on his face.   At least Warrant Officer Ellen Ridley follows her training and intuition to not allow the survey crew and the incapacitated Kane from re-entering their spaceship. But she is overruled by Science Officer Ash.  And the entire space crew’s fortune goes downhill from there.  

Now, in all fairness it turns out that Ash is really an android with a secret assignment to bring back the alien creature. But that could have been done more safely.  Nevertheless, Kane’s callous judgement as the Executive Officer is not believable.

Then, there is Grogu (aka baby Yoda) in the THE PASSENGER episode of THE MANDALORIAN.  At least he had an excuse of being young and hungry for disturbing the tempting eggs of the giant spider in the underground ice cave.  That’s believable.  So, I can pardon Grogu’s selfish child instincts to gorge himself on some tasty spider but not the judgement of a more mature but insanely curious (or is it careless) Kane.

So, if you find your writing blocked, consider the believability of your scene. And check out the other two most important ingredients for a good SciFi (or any) story: a bad romance; and the need for a good travel agent. Till then, if you find yourself in a strange place and you hear menacing music in the back of your head, heed mom’s advice, don’t touch anything!

Check out more from this author at www.James-SciFi-Journal.com . A sneak peek of his new story God Games can be found for free by clicking the link below:

https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/8f9c0aa0-9f10-11eb-b94b-4b8f77434fa1

Disclaimer: This post is exclusively the words and views of the guest blogger and do not necessarily represent the views of Heather L. Barksdale. The story featured has not been read or reviewed by Heather’s bookshelf.