Writing a Trek novel...

[Jbarney]

I'm in the process sending out a story to either Analog...Asimov...or Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction right now. (I'm still deciding).

Joel, I mean this in a friendly way.... but stop "deciding" and just send the darn story out!

For what it's worth, F&SF responds the quickest. Assuming it is rejected (and I assume that for my own stories, so I'm not trying to imply anything about your story in particular!), you should already know where you're sending it next, and do so within 24 hours of it coming back. It's a good practice to get into, so you can spend your time on writing instead of thinking about "where should I submit it now?"

Best of luck!

This is good advice. I guess I will go out and get several 9 by 12 envelopes and keep them handy. Perhaps I'll even have the Analog information written up and ready to go.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'd take a "spartan" day of writing over an "easygoing" day of "interaction" any day....

Interaction with human beings = research for writing.

 

[JarodRussell]

I'd take a "spartan" day of writing over an "easygoing" day of "interaction" any day....

Interaction with human beings = research for writing.

Nah, social interaction is overrated.

 

[Rush Limborg]

I'd take a "spartan" day of writing over an "easygoing" day of "interaction" any day....

Interaction with human beings = research for writing.

Perhaps....

 

[Joel_Kirk]

It looks like Hoshi Mayweather beat me to it with this earlier post, since I too was wondering how Miss Woods wrote her first Trek novel; (and Therin of Andor addressed the question posed):

http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=92576&highlight=Olivia+Woods

However, I have some further questions:

1. Obviously, I would have to write a standalone novel (or rather, a proposal) but many of the books are part of an arc. For example, what series would be opened to me? (Ex: Excelsior? Stargazer? TOS? NuTOS? ENT? ENT-C?)

2. Therin mentioned to Hoshi that there was another author, Leanna Morrow, who was to write Fearful Symmetry. Miss Morrow is also a new writer with no other listed credits. What has she--Morrow--done before?

3. Someone posted a link to a rejected proposal for a Star Wars novel, is there some way to get an link for a Trek novel proposal?

Thanks for the input…!

 

[Christopher]

1. Obviously, I would have to write a standalone novel (or rather, a proposal) but many of the books are part of an arc. For example, what series would be opened to me? (Ex: Excelsior? Stargazer? TOS? NuTOS? ENT? ENT-C?)

It's all there in the guidelines. If you're a new author submitting an unsolicited proposal, then you're limited to canonical onscreen series. Your story would have to focus on the main cast of TOS, TNG, DS9, VGR, or ENT and be independent of any ongoing post-finale or book-only continuity. In ongoing series, the editors decide which novels to commission and which authors to hire.

2. Therin mentioned to Hoshi that there was another author, Leanna Morrow, who was to write Fearful Symmetry. Miss Morrow is also a new writer with no other listed credits. What has she--Morrow--done before?

As you say, she was a new author. That was to be her professional debut.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

1. Obviously, I would have to write a standalone novel (or rather, a proposal) but many of the books are part of an arc. For example, what series would be opened to me? (Ex: Excelsior? Stargazer? TOS? NuTOS? ENT? ENT-C?)

It's all there in the guidelines. If you're a new author submitting an unsolicited proposal, then you're limited to canonical onscreen series. Your story would have to focus on the main cast of TOS, TNG, DS9, VGR, or ENT and be independent of any ongoing post-finale or book-only continuity. In ongoing series, the editors decide which novels to commission and which authors to hire.

2. Therin mentioned to Hoshi that there was another author, Leanna Morrow, who was to write Fearful Symmetry. Miss Morrow is also a new writer with no other listed credits. What has she--Morrow--done before?

As you say, she was a new author. That was to be her professional debut.

Tks, Christopher...

In regards to Miss Morrow, I guess that is in line with what you brought out in an earlier post: If someone notices potential, it might not lead to a sale of work initially submitted, but at least another project that can lead to professional work.

Cool...

I may have additional questions, but I think I'm okay for now.

 

[Rush Limborg]

As you say, she was a new author. That was to be her professional debut.

Hmm...interesting....

 

[Csalem]

I must say I wish I was a writer but I know I'll never do it in the fictional sphere. However my big ambition is to write a history book which is a much more realistic option for me.

 

[JarodRussell]

Sort of unrelated, I guess, but when you write a Trek novel, how much thought do you spend on the universe? Distances and speeds for example, do you calculate those or do you just go "speed of plot"? What about stardates? Is there an official formula for the authors or do you just make it up so it sounds nice? Background history, family trees of the characters? And if you explain something new that hasn't been explained on screen, like, I don't know, the Federation's political system for example, or some piece of technology, do other authors need to keep that explanation if they happen to write about something similar?

 

[Therin of Andor]

if you explain something new that hasn't been explained on screen, like, I don't know, the Federation's political system for example, or some piece of technology, do other authors need to keep that explanation if they happen to write about something similar?

If you've read enough ST novels you'll know that the authors sometimes embrace - and sometimes ignore or revise - factoids generated by other novels and comics. Everything has to pass muster for the people in at CBS Consumer Products, and some things will get overruled if it's not in the best interest of the franchise.

 

[Christopher]

Sort of unrelated, I guess, but when you write a Trek novel, how much thought do you spend on the universe? Distances and speeds for example, do you calculate those or do you just go "speed of plot"?

I generally try to keep the speeds relatively consistent, but the nature of Trek storytelling pretty much requires great flexibility where speeds are concerned.

What about stardates? Is there an official formula for the authors or do you just make it up so it sounds nice?

There's nothing official. Stardates were specifically invented to convey no chronological information of any kind, since Roddenberry wanted TOS to be an unspecified time into the future (so as not to under- or overestimate the rate of progress too badly). Even with the TNG-era system of increasing the second digit a steady one per year, the subsequent digits increased fairly randomly. Stardates are really little more than placeholders.

However, if you care to go to the trouble (or just go to this site), you can devise stardates based on the assumption that 1000 units equals one year from January 1 to December 31, and that's what a number of the authors in recent years have done. I do the same for the sake of consistency, but sometimes I make exceptions.

Background history, family trees of the characters?

Not unless it's story-relevant.

And if you explain something new that hasn't been explained on screen, like, I don't know, the Federation's political system for example, or some piece of technology, do other authors need to keep that explanation if they happen to write about something similar?

We do try to maintain overall consistency among those books set in the primary book continuity, but it's such a large universe that some technical inconsistencies are bound to crop up. Which is no different from the shows themselves.

 

[Stevil2001]

Sort of unrelated, I guess, but when you write a Trek novel, how much thought do you spend on the universe? Distances and speeds for example, do you calculate those or do you just go "speed of plot"?

When I was working on Myriad Universes: The Tears of Eridanus, I was very proud of myself-- I used Star Charts to figure out the distance between the two points my ship was traveling between, and then used the warp formula to calculate how long Sulu's ship could traverse the distance.

According to my calculations, it would take well over a month.

"Screw that," I said, and wrote "two days at maximum warp" in the manuscript.

 

[PaulSimpson]

Sort of unrelated, I guess, but when you write a Trek novel, how much thought do you spend on the universe? Distances and speeds for example, do you calculate those or do you just go "speed of plot"?

When I was working on Myriad Universes: The Tears of Eridanus, I was very proud of myself-- I used Star Charts to figure out the distance between the two points my ship was traveling between, and then used the warp formula to calculate how long Sulu's ship could traverse the distance.

According to my calculations, it would take well over a month.

"Screw that," I said, and wrote "two days at maximum warp" in the manuscript.

Can we start the complaints thread about this book now please to save time?

 

[Christopher]

When I was working on Myriad Universes: The Tears of Eridanus, I was very proud of myself-- I used Star Charts to figure out the distance between the two points my ship was traveling between, and then used the warp formula to calculate how long Sulu's ship could traverse the distance.

According to my calculations, it would take well over a month.

"Screw that," I said, and wrote "two days at maximum warp" in the manuscript.

Yep. The published warp formulae (TOS's warp factor cubed and TNG's more complicated formula which is basically warp factor to the 3.333... up to warp 9 and an arbitrary curve above that) have always given results far slower than what's actually shown onscreen. They're effectively meaningless.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^Agreed. Someone should come up with a new scale....

 

[BrotherBenny]

^Agreed. Someone should come up with a new scale....

Based on what? At least the stardating system for TNG is not quite so arbitrary as the TOS one. But warp factors are a completely different ballgame entirely. There's nothing to even work from since even on-screen goes at speed of plot (see ENT for numerous examples).

 

[DS9Continuing]

If you're a new author submitting an unsolicited proposal, then you're limited to canonical onscreen series. Your story would have to focus on the main cast of TOS, TNG, DS9, VGR, or ENT and be independent of any ongoing post-finale or book-only continuity. In ongoing series, the editors decide which novels to commission and which authors to hire.

This is interesting-slash-worrying.

I just came up with what I think is a great idea for a DS9-R story yesterday, set post-The Soul Key and following up on certain aspects of that book. So are you saying that I wouldn't be permitted to submit it as a pitch, because it's based on DS9-R and not DS9-original?

 

[Christopher]

But warp factors are a completely different ballgame entirely. There's nothing to even work from since even on-screen goes at speed of plot (see ENT for numerous examples).

Let's not pick on ENT; the problem goes back as far as TOS. "That Which Survives" asserted that the ship could cover 990.7 light-years in 11.33 hours at warp 8. That's about 766,000 c, but warp 8 is supposed to be 512c. So the stated warp velocity is about 1500 times higher than the published scale alleged it to be.

Not to mention that a velocity of roughly 2000 light-years per day would've allowed Voyager to get home from the Caretaker's array in about five weeks.

This is interesting-slash-worrying.

I just came up with what I think is a great idea for a DS9-R story yesterday, set post-The Soul Key and following up on certain aspects of that book. So are you saying that I wouldn't be permitted to submit it as a pitch, because it's based on DS9-R and not DS9-original?

The guidelines are for beginners just starting out. You have to prove you can follow the rules. Anything you pitch through that process is essentially a "demo tape." You're showing what you can do. You're selling yourself more than you're selling any single story. Once you've proven yourself to an editor, that's when you can try pitching a broader range of ideas to them.

However, something like DS9-R is generally going to be an editor-down process -- the editor is the "showrunner" with a plan for where the series is going, and will select authors to participate in advancing that plan. The selected author will probably get to develop a plot idea of his or her own, but one that incorporates the editor's plans for the next phase of the story in terms of where the characters and overall situation are heading.

Of course, with the editorship up in the air, there may not be a firm plan at the moment. But whoever does get the DS9 gig, if they decide to follow up on the state of affairs in The Soul Key, would probably select an established author to handle it. If you're just starting out and trying to break in, you don't want to try for a continuity-heavy ongoing series. Yes, several people have gotten their professional debuts in series like DS9-R and SCE, but that was at the invitation of editors who'd decided to give them a try after gaining some acquaintance with their writing skills through other avenues.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Is it possible to submit just the idea for the story to the editor, then, without actually wishing to write the story myself?