Essential Tips for Writing Space Opera
Essential Tips for Writing Space Opera – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 156
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“Of course, you want to think of what they want, the goal, why they want it, the motivation; what’s in their way, the conflict, but also their strengths and also their secrets.” – Beth Barany
In this episode of How To Write The Future, “Essential Tips for Writing Space Opera,” podcast host Beth Barany gets interviewed by her husband and fellow author Ezra Barany about what a space opera is and explain how you can create that type of story. Beth shares how she was inspired to write her Janey McCallister sci-fi mystery series, shares how to build complex interstellar societies.
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About the How To Write the Future podcast
The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers.This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.
This podcast is for you if you have questions like:
– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?
– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?
– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?
This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.
ABOUT EZRA BARANY
Ezra Barany loves riveting readers with thrillers, but by order of the Department of Motor Vehicles he must place a warning on every book cover, “Do not read while driving.” His first two books in The Torah Codes series were award-winning international bestsellers. The second two books in the 4-book series wowed readers too! In his free time, he has eye-opening discussions on the art of writing novels with his wife and book coach Beth Barany. A high school physics teacher, Ezra lives in Oakland with his beloved wife and two cats working on the next book in The Torah Codes series. Ezra, not the cats. For a free short story in The Torah Codes series, “The Mourner’s Kaddish,” do please go to http://www.thetorahcodes.com/.
Transcript for 156. Essential Tips for Writing Space Opera
[00:00] Introduction and Host Background
BETH BARANY: Hi everyone. Beth Barany here with a laughing husband.
Beth Barany here with How to Write The Future Podcast. And I’m here today with my husband, Ezra Barany.
EZRA BARANY: Hi.
BETH BARANY: Yay.
We are experimenting with a little series of episodes where he asks me questions and I answer them, and he’ll chime in with his answers, I hope.
So this is How To Write The Future Podcast. We are here to support science fiction and fantasy writers and anyone who cares about the future to help you envision and write stories that I hope will be positive and optimistic versions of humanity, of what we can become. And both Ezra and I are working writers and we’re here to enlighten and lighten the load, have some fun, give you some tips, and of course, we’re here also for your questions.
[00:54] Your questions, our answers
BETH BARANY: So if you have questions, be sure to ask us those questions in the comments section of wherever you can post comments or directly contact me through how to write the future.com.
And stay tuned to the end where I’m gonna share a way that you can get even more information about helping you write your science fiction or fantasy novel.
Alright, let’s take it away.
[01:17] Today’s Topic: Space Operas
BETH BARANY: Today’s topic is:
EZRA BARANY: Space Operas.
BETH BARANY: Space Operas.
EZRA BARANY: So here’s my question.
BETH BARANY: Yeah.
EZRA BARANY: So when people sing and perform where there’s no atmosphere out in space, is that a space opera?
BETH BARANY: Absolutely.
EZRA BARANY: Okay. Next question.
BETH BARANY: Oh, I had people performing outside the space station in my Janey McCallister, science fiction mystery series. I can’t talk. In the official name is Janey McCallister mystery series. She’s a space station investigator and she works in a fancy space station.
EZRA BARANY: And they were dancing in that one, right?
BETH BARANY: Yes. Yes. and in the first four books, she works at a hotel casino. Think Bellagio in space. Yeah.
EZRA BARANY: Great.
[02:02] Defining Space Operas
EZRA BARANY: So what is a space opera?
BETH BARANY: Okay. What is a space opera?
So I envision a space opera as a very dramatic series of stories that take place in space, often on spaceships that involve power struggles, family dynamics, interpersonal dynamics.
It has a broad scope and it’s dramatic and it involves personalities. Let me think of a good one. Elizabeth Moon has some space operas and it’s like a space shipping family. And every book has some big adventure involving some family members and there’s forces acting against them.
And so you’ve got your drama and you’ve got your adventure, and then you’ve got this sense of a saga and it’s usually involving societies on different planets or in different spaceships, that kind of thing.
EZRA BARANY: Great. Here’s another question that’s right off the top of my head.
[02:52] Building Complex Interstellar Societies
EZRA BARANY: Just out of the thin air. What are the essential building blocks needed to make a complex interstellar society feel authentic and coherent to readers?
BETH BARANY: Just off the top of your head.
EZRA BARANY: just off the top.
BETH BARANY: Yes. We did prepare ahead of time. Yes. So similar to any kind of story you write, you’re gonna wanna have your different factions and your different groups. And actually, Ezra did a great episode on thinking about the different groups in your society.
You’re gonna have your hierarchies, your power structures, so think religion, economics, supply chain, education. So when you wanna create a complex society, you’re not gonna create one priest or one teacher or one captain, they’re gonna be part of a greater group. So then they’re gonna have competing ideologies, competing philosophies and worldviews.
So you’ll wanna think about all of those, including people affected by the bigger decisions of societies. Like creating a world for any kind of story in science fiction or fantasy, it’s gonna have different kinds of people doing different kinds of things with different agendas.
I know that’s very general. How to make it more specific? I think of Star Wars. Star Wars is a good example, y’all of a space opera, right? You don’t just have your fighter pilot, Luke Skywalker’s not just a fighter pilot. He gets trained, there’s commanders, of course there’s opposing forces, that kind of thing.
EZRA BARANY: Yeah. So actually leading from that is a part of making it so epic. All those different philosophies, etcetera.
[04:26] Creating Emotionally Invested Characters [
EZRA BARANY: So how do you make that epic feeling of a space opera be so intimate with the characters? How do you focus? How do you keep the readers emotionally invested?
BETH BARANY: Yeah, good question. Yeah. So what you wanna do is, and this is I think my specialty, huh? and how I write and also how I help writers is really develop your character to be fully realized. Of course, you wanna think of what they want, the goal, why they want it, the motivation; what’s in their way, the conflict, but also their strengths and also their secrets.
We love teaching about the secrets.
And also you might wanna think about the worldview, their philosophy, and how that came to be so. Some of the other things I like to think about is how they perceive and feel about their relationships, their core relationships. You learn a lot about someone thinking about those things.
What else? Their secret. I’m gonna come back to secret. The thing that’s in their heart of hearts that they yearn for, that maybe they don’t tell anyone. What they prioritize in their environment. That is actually something I consider important, like in their home space, what’s important; in their workspace what’s important, in their vehicle what’s important, and hobbies.
Hobbies also shape how we view the world. And lastly, something that’s really fun to pull out, and Elizabeth Moon does this really well, is what is your main character’s or point of view character’s favorite story, fairytale motif, hero from storyland. This allows you to bring in–some people call it the imaginal–their imagination, their favorite stories.
‘Cause that tells us what they love and how they were shaped.
And so it’s not an institution versus an institution. That’s not an interesting story.
But if you’ve got a pilot. And she’s gotta deal with her commanding officer and her fellow pilots and the mechanics. And then she’s, I’m thinking of, uh, of Starbuck in, Battlestar Galactica.
EZRA BARANY: Yes.
BETH BARANY: Battlestar Galactica, right? Starbuck isn’t–so none of your characters are in a vacuum. They’re interacting with others all the time. The powers that be, the people who clean their clothes, the cooks, their parents, their friends who aren’t doing what they’re doing. Create a well-rounded character and write the story from their perspective.
And now you’re gonna have something that’s emotionally relatable in this vast epic scale of the story world that you’re creating.
EZRA BARANY: I also think, the character of the main character in Dune, how there are these expectations imposed on him. And we see him grow up with these expectations, his talents that are supposed to be fulfilled and his training, and his desire to get away from those expectations. We see the epicness of the story in that manner.
BETH BARANY: Absolutely. I love that. And their expectations, the expectations that he’s carrying, that he has to respond to fight against, the prophecy that’s on him. How does he respond to that? And it’s all channeled through him. His actions, his words, his deeds, his interactions with everyone.
EZRA BARANY: Great.
BETH BARANY: Yeah. Good.
[07:44] Conclusion and Resources
BETH BARANY: Any more questions for us on this topic? Otherwise, we’re gonna wrap it up.
EZRA BARANY: That’s it.
BETH BARANY: Great. So We’re gonna wrap it up for today.
If you would like more support with your world building, then I recommend that you check out our World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers, where I ask you a bunch of questions, give you a bunch of prompts, and you can use that as a guide to dig into your story world.
And that’s it. oh. Be sure to contact us if you have any questions at how to write the future.com or leave a comment on YouTube or on the blog post where we put this up or anywhere else you can leave a comment, tag me on social media.
EZRA BARANY: Feel free to mail us a pizza.
BETH BARANY: There you go. That’s right. All right, everyone. Write long and prosper.
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ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”
Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:
Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog
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