Creating

One reason many readers choose speculative fiction stories, instead of mainstream stories, is to escape their everyday realities and be transported other worlds. And because these worlds exist only in the writer's imagination, without true connections to the world we live in, the task of creating seemingly realistic and cohesive speculative fiction settings can often be a challenge.

During our May 3 meeting, our panelists will guide you through a discussion and exercises on creating speculative fiction settings that leave lasting impressions with your readers in much the same ways as the characters in your stories.

Panel: Kurt Schweitzer, Eric Scoles, Lynn Spitz, and Ted Wenskus
Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: May 3, 2016 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

In our April meeting, we'll explore including current events in your speculative fiction stories. We'll look at selected classic and modern stories that used current events to help answer the "what if?" questions we didn't think about when the events unfolded on the evening news.

Socialism and totaliarian rule or the fear of atomic annihilation were often the focus of SF's "Golden Age" stories. Today, advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence, biological experimentation, and genetic manipulation of the human genome, are front and center in many writers' minds. When the elements of politics, economics, warfare, terrorism, and social struggles – just to name a few – are mixed in, you have the mirrors that writers hold up for us to gaze into and contemplate the consequences of our actions.

How do you explore a current event topic without becoming preachy or writing an essay of your opinions? How do you come up with a new perspective that wasn't discussed on the evening news and prevent a regurgitation of the facts that you can find by doing an Internet search? We'll answer these questions and more through group exercises and discussion.

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: April 5, 2016 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

For our March meeting, R-SPEC will be holing its annual meeting for the first 30 minutes or so where we will review our accomplishments in 2015 and elect board members for the coming year. As always, this is open to the public, but only paid R-SPEC members are eligible to be on the board and to vote in the elections.

Afterward, attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works. (Older or sold stories and poems are also welcome, especially if you'd like some kind of feedback on it.) Please bring a short piece or a portion of a longer work -- fewer than 1,000 words if you can, but up to 2,000 words if you can't break the scene -- so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees have time to provide their feedback. Please try to arrive before 7 to put your name on the list for reading. After the readings conclude and time permits, we'll go around and share with the group what we're currently reading.

Moderator: Ted Wenskus
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: March 1, 2016 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Your story’s success hinges on suspending disbelief in your readers’ minds. Naming your fantasy creature “Fluffy Unicorn” might be appropriate in a picture book for kindergarten-aged readers, but it will likely cause your high-fantasy novel readers to slam their books closed in disgust. Likewise, you’d be truly lucky if your readers were still reading your short story after trying to pronounce your alien’s name of “Ag-K’Li’k’-O’dam-Go’Hai, the Third” for the fifth time.

In our February 2 meeting, Alan leads a discussion on creating appropriate names for the objects, characters, and worlds that are foundation of your stories. Tips and techniques for picking good names and making sure they convey the correct meaning will be shared.

Attendees: Please bring at least one name from your favorite speculative fiction story or novel for an object, a character, and a world. If you have examples of bad or inappropriate names, feel free to bring those to share, too.

Presenter: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: February 2, 2016 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

In our January 5 meeting, Kurt will present our first Disturbing Frequencies story and interview podcasts.

Attendees will then be invited to read from their current or in-progress works. (Older or sold stories and poems are also welcome, especially if you'd like feedback on the piece.) Please bring a short piece or a portion of a longer work -- fewer than 1,000 words if you can, but up to 2,000 words if you can't break the scene -- so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees have time to provide their feedback. Please try to arrive before 7 p.m. to put your name on the list for reading. After the readings conclude and time permits, we'll go around and share with the group what we're currently reading.

Presenter: Kurt Schweitzer
Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: January 5, 2016 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

November is National Novel-Writing Month, so our November 3 meeting is a great time get a boost by reading your first few day's work. Please come early so we can get an idea of how many people will be reading; if we have enough folks, we'll split off into small groups for reading & feedback. 

Presenter: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: November 3, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Human-habitable planets are a staple of science fiction, but not everyone has the technical background to construct self-consistent, scientifically accurate, and believable worlds. Our March 3 meeting is for the SF writer who needs a plausible background for his story, but doesn’t know how to go about creating it.

We’ll discuss the factors that make a planet habitable for humans, and put bookends on the physical attributes that a terrestrial planet can have and still support a human-compatible biosphere. Along the way, we’ll note which parameters the writer has a free hand to twiddle with, and discuss some of the narrative “color” waiting to be found in the superficially dry data that describe a planet. There will be a Q&A session after the talk, and, if time permits, we’ll try our hands at designing a planet or two.

Moderator: Lynn Spitz
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: March 3, 2015 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

In our February 3 meeting (tonight), attendees are invited to participate in a writing workshop focusing on using only dialogue to describe characters, settings, and plot. Prompts will be provided and, if desired, participants may read their drafts and receive feedback from those in attendance. After the meeting, we will discuss some R-SPEC business news, including when we're holding the R-SPEC Annual Meeting and the 2015 program calendar.

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: February 3, 2015 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

On Monday, March 9, R-SPEC and Writers & Books will present a selection of dramatic readings, featuring local actors, from Rochester Rewritten: Rochester in the Alternative in conjunction with WAB's 2015 'If all of Rochester Reads the Same Book.' Contributors to Rochester Rewritten will be on hand and copies will be available for purchase. Come out to meet and talk with our authors! 

Location: Writers & Books, 740 University Ave. ROCHESTER
Date & Time: Monday, March 9, 7:00-8:00pm
Admission is free. No registration required. For more information call (585) 473-2590. View the program.

November is National Novel-Writing Month, so our November 4th meeting is a great time get a boost by reading your first few day's work. Please come early so we can get an idea of how many people will be reading; if we have enough folks, we'll split off into small groups for reading & feedback. 

Presenter: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: November 4, 2013 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.