Reviewed by Angela Wauchop
“Genre and subgenre crossings in speculative fiction thrive in this world of blurred boundaries […] Genre bending is ‘writing different’[…] As more cross genre works emerge, authors and readers more and more realise text as a network spreading in all directions, as a field of possibilities unfolding […]”
Writing Speculative Fiction is Eugen Bacon’s new and exciting non-fiction stroke of genius. The book explores creative and critical approaches to writing speculative fiction. But, regardless of your preferred genre, if you’re an aspiring writer of any style this impressive guide is for you! You see, the book is all about you and helping you to write in your preferred style. Don’t have one? Don’t know what they are? – Good! That’s what the book is for. Creative writers, whether experienced or novice will find Writing Speculative Fictionan invaluable tool.
The book consists of clear and well-defined chapters, with many fantastic examples of successful speculative fiction from writers such as Stephen King and the legendary Ray Bradbury, fascinating and always sharp. At the end of each chapter, there are short writing exercises to consider. If writer’s block is your issue, don’t wallow… just read the exercises or even attempt to do them. They will provide several avenues of ideas, angles, perspectives and what if’s. In fact, have you ever considered crossing the genres of steam punk and gothic fiction? How about writing a gothic sci-fi? Eugen Bacon’s book will extract from your head the unconsidered and the untrodden, the unexpected and the taboo.
Before I read Writing Speculative Fiction, I wondered if speculative fiction was for me. I mean, could I? Dare I? Hell yes. Because this book will help you to fret less about labels and pigeonholing and focus more on getting something down on paper. I have learned that nothing fits neatly into one category: “In the end, genre labelling is no more than a device of commercialization […] a convenient grouping of books on a shelf for the reader to find”. I quickly learned that all fiction is at least a bit speculative. As writers, we do after all, draw upon the real world and our experiences and extend them when we write. Bacon’s book helps us to realise that we each have a story in us and that story is as valuable as it is unique. If you write fiction of any genre or subgenre, if you write short stories, novels, flash fiction or poetry, the very essence of Bacon’s meticulously researched and thoughtfully constructed guide will help you shed the doubts, constraints and anxieties of starting or finishing your next creative piece.
In the spirit of Ray Bradbury, Eugen Bacon asserts that speculative fiction should be about ‘writing with joy’ and ‘a great sense of fun’. In fact, I learned that to Bradbury, writing ‘was not a serious business’. He once said, “All of my books have been surprises. I’ve never known where the hell I’m going.” Bless him. There’s hope for us all.