The Age of the “Geek”
“When I’m introduced to someone as a writer, a now familiar pattern of events often follows.
“Oh, really! How
interesting!” the someone—let’s call her Jane—says, sounding quite
enthusiastic. “What do you write?”
“Science fiction,” I
say.
Jane instantly glazes
over. “I’m afraid I never read science fiction.”
“Science fiction,” I
say.
Jane instantly glazes
over. “I’m afraid I never read science fiction.”
While I have had that happen, it’s been my
experience that “the someone” says “Oh, what kind of science fiction? Aliens?
Spaceships? I didn’t used to like it, but I started watching “The Big Bang
Theory,” and now I love it.”
I have a friend who had never seen any of the Star
Wars movies until she “got into The Big Bang Theory,” she is now, not only a
fan of Star Wars but a few other Sci-Fi franchises as well. Sheldon and the rest
of the geeky gang, along with some other high profile films, have helped bring
the “geek,” the “fanboy,” the “comic book,” and the other “nerds” of the world
into the spotlight.
Are we, as Science Fiction writers, relegated to a
different shelf of books and separated from the “General Fiction” category?
Sure we are, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. We, like all writers, write
to entertain our readers, but we do it in such a way as to be able to explore
other worlds, or other universes even. We are not bound by the constructs of
our own reality. We are free to explore reality in ways that are completely
different from what’s in the real world. Why do people read? To escape the Real
World! As long as we can create relatable characters that could be as real in
this world as they are in the world we’ve created, characters with real
problems that resonate with our audience, then Science Fiction can be just as relevant
as “General Fiction,” in my opinion.
Write On! Create those characters that reach into
our hearts and minds, those characters that allow us to live out our dreams
without the constraints of the real world!
Let’s see
what else we can make into reality! Keep writing!
Royce Sears
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