"On the Writing of Speculative Fiction" is an essay by American science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein. It was first published in 1947, also appearing in Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy: 20 Dynamic Essays By the Field's Top Professionals in 1993, and The Nonfiction of Robert Heinlein: Volume I in 2011.[1]
Advice, turned essayedit
When fellow writers, or fans, wrote Heinlein asking for writing advice, he famously gave out his own list of rules for becoming a successful writer:[2]
You must write
Finish what you start
You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order
You must put your story on the market
You must keep it on the market until it has sold
About which he said:
The above five rules really have more to do with how to write speculative fiction than anything said above them. But they are amazingly hard to follow – which is why there are so few professional writers and so many aspirants, and which is why I am not afraid to give away the racket![3]
Heinlein later published an entire article under the title "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction," which included his rules, and from which the above quote is taken. When he says "anything said above them", he refers to his other guidelines. For example, he describes most stories as fitting into one of a handful of basic categories:
writing, speculative, fiction, essay, american, science, fiction, writer, robert, heinlein, first, published, 1947, also, appearing, writing, science, fiction, fantasy, dynamic, essays, field, professionals, 1993, nonfiction, robert, heinlein, volume, 2011, ad. On the Writing of Speculative Fiction is an essay by American science fiction writer Robert A Heinlein It was first published in 1947 also appearing in Writing Science Fiction amp Fantasy 20 Dynamic Essays By the Field s Top Professionals in 1993 and The Nonfiction of Robert Heinlein Volume I in 2011 1 Advice turned essay editWhen fellow writers or fans wrote Heinlein asking for writing advice he famously gave out his own list of rules for becoming a successful writer 2 You must write Finish what you start You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order You must put your story on the market You must keep it on the market until it has soldAbout which he said The above five rules really have more to do with how to write speculative fiction than anything said above them But they are amazingly hard to follow which is why there are so few professional writers and so many aspirants and which is why I am not afraid to give away the racket 3 Heinlein later published an entire article under the title On the Writing of Speculative Fiction which included his rules and from which the above quote is taken When he says anything said above them he refers to his other guidelines For example he describes most stories as fitting into one of a handful of basic categories The Gadget Story 4 The Human Interest Story 4 Boy Meets Girl 5 The Little Tailor 5 The Man Who Learned Better 5 In the article Heinlein credits L Ron Hubbard as having identified The Man Who Learned Better 5 References edit Publication The Nonfiction of Robert Heinlein Volume I Heilein 2022 p 131 Heinlein s Rules Introduction Deanwesleysmith com Retrieved November 26 2017 a b Heilein 2022 p 126 a b c d Heilein 2022 p 127 Article editHeilein Robert A June 2022 On The Writing of Speculative Fiction Nota do Tradutor Vol 1 no 24 Desterro pp 126 131 ISSN 2177 5141 nbsp This article about a science fiction book is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about a literary essay or essay collection is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title On the Writing of Speculative Fiction amp oldid 1178379194, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
