YCA Writing Workshop

Source Material:

• The Defiant Sci Fi of Janelle Monáe
  (Note how Ms. Monáe casts herself as the alternative, in Android form! She also employs her various forms of artistic expression—singing, dancing, fashion—in alternative ways as well, e.g. dance as a weapon of defiance)
• Visual Sci Fi arts of the Museum of Science Fiction
  (Note the variety of visual alternatives, from people to bots to space ships, reimagined cities, animals, landscapes, even soft drinks!)
• The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
  (I included this short story which was written in 1909 because it shows what alternatives someone back then might have concocted. Note how people are isolated in their own home spaces, only connected to each other via something very similar to the internet, in which everyone is concerned with what is most popular at that moment, rather like present-day Instagram or Twitter “likes”. This is an example of how Sci Fi alternatives can eventually become reality!)

Prewriting: Using the source materials as inspiration:

• Make a short list of what you would like to imagine in alternative ways
• Under each item list some attributes of those objects/places/beings/systems as they currently exist
• Then, flip the script on each attribute and list what changes you’d like to imagine
• Keep in mind that whatever alternatives you choose should at least be remotely possible scientifically (lest you cross the border into the Fantasy genre!).

Prompt: What are your Sci Fi alternatives? Why did you choose them?