Conventions in Science Fiction

[Sandoise]

Can anyone recall seeing a discussion on Science Fiction - it's conventions and conventions it shares with other genres? Can you direct me there please? :sosp:

[Katy North]

If by convention you are asking what is common fodder for almost all great science fiction works, I would say that it is writing about something scientific that no one else has managed to put into words before. Jules Verne was a master of this... you can almost see his thought process as you read his books. (What if I went to the moon? What scientific problems would I have to overcome? Would there be any social problems? How would I do this or that? What would I discover or what would be the ultimate result?)

Of course, Jules Verne's books were also very simple, as he was writing about many things that had never been written about before. As science fiction developed, so did the characters and the plot... but the basic concept was still the same. Truly good science fiction introduces SCIENTIFIC ideas no one else has ever thought of (or at least never written down).

As for what conventions sci fi shares with other genres, those are fairly standard... plot, characters, drama, etc. it is that scientific sense of wonder that separates sci fi from the rest of the fictional world.