Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold
Introduction
Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold is his non-fiction book on the craft of writing, subtitled how to write science fiction and fantasy. The most famous work that he wrote was the episode of Star Trek (the original series) called “The Trouble with Tribbles”. He also wrote scripts and directed episodes of other Star Trek series. He wrote novels in the science fiction and fantasy genre. This book tells about his writing path and gives examples from his works to help aspiring writers. Where should you start as a new writer? Use this book.
Summary
Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold starts with two of his college instructors who taught him valuable lessons. The first instructor told him he would never make it as a writer. That rage against failure fueled him to do well. The other instructor stressed the importance of structure. David Gerrold took that advice to mean he should learn from the masters of his chosen genre of science fiction and fantasy to see how they were successful. He realized that a story is about a person’s problem solving and the lessons learned through that experience.
Ask yourself If questions to invent the wonder of your story. Find your hero and your hero’s problem. Your hero will face crises and challenges. Set the stage and build your world. The first line is important to hook the reader and keep them reading. He gives examples of love scenes from his novels When Harlie was One and A Method for Madness. He goes over each structural device for writing. Discipline is important because real writers write. Use the idea that your first million words are for practice. If you end up selling any of your first million words, then that is a bonus for you. He ends the book with ten pieces of good advice.
Recommendation
Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold is a useful book about writing. It is short and easy to read. The author has a conversational way of writing. The advice is sound but like other books I have read. I remember reading the author’s novel The Man Who Folded Himself when I was in high school. I also remember that he was the writer of “The Trouble with Tribbles”. David Gerrold was a panelist and an interviewee at Marcon in Columbus Ohio on May 11, 2019. I had planned to read this book but because of the conference, I read it sooner than I planned. I am glad that I did.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39709934-worlds-of-wonder
Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 11, 2019. They held it at Crowne Plaza – Columbus North. I also attended Marcon in 2017 and 2018. This year I attended four panels, a performance, and an interview. My star of the con was David Gerrold. He was engaging in the panel and the interview that I attended with him.
Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody takes the books of Blake Snyder and applies his teachings to writing novels. She presents complete beat sheets and genre breakdowns of current and past novels. This is the link to my review.
Another similar book on writing is How to Write Best Selling Fiction by Dean Koontz. This is the link to my review. It’s from 1981, but the advice is still great.