Science fiction bends natural laws with speculation grounded in possibility. In this episode, we explore the foundations of sci-fi storytelling. Plus: publishing news on new imprints, prize controversies, AI audiobooks, and why indie presses are thriving.

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Overthinking Couch Topics:

• The “one big lie” principle.
• Science as a lens to ask bigger questions.
• Balancing ideas with compelling characters.
• Avoiding common pitfalls.
• A tour of sci-fi’s many subgenres.

• Why Creators Are Scrambling to Own Their Own Audience
• Bloomberg - AI-narrated books gaining traction
• Giller Prize Announces 2025 Longlist Amid Ongoing Financial Uncertainty
• Polari Prize organisers cancel book prize over trans controversy
• AAP April 2025 StatShot Report
• Conduit Books
• Storehouse Voices
• 7 Literary Conflicts Explained (Clip Show #11) - Writing Break
• Free Style Sheet Templates
• Free Writing Tips

Music licensed from Storyblocks.

If you have plot bunnies coming out of your plot holes, it’s time for a writing break.

If you are not into science fiction but still clicked play on this episode, thank you. I’m glad our timelines have crossed. I’m in a new studio today. My notes are a little further, but the microphone is a little closer, so let me know what you guys think. Back to sci-fi.

If it weren’t for the love and adoration I have for my big brother, I might never have given science fiction a chance. As children, my brother and I would each check out 10 books at a time, which is the maximum our library allowed, and when we were done with the 10 we checked out, we would swap. This is how he became acquainted with Amelia Bedelia, Nancy Drew, and The Babysitters Club and how I became acquainted with sci-fi, horror, and–oddly enough–The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks.

Maybe you never had an older brother as cool as mine, but my hope for this episode is that any non-sci-fi listeners turn at least sci-fi curious, so that one day you can be the cool one recommending science fiction to the next generation.

The thing I learned and love about science fiction is that, in showing us a possible future, it makes us ask questions about today. It is both mirror and portal.

Last week we talked about fantasy, and people sometimes lump fantasy and sci-fi together, but they are not the same. Fantasy breaks natural laws with magic, and science fiction bends natural laws with speculation grounded in possibility.

At its core, science fiction asks one simple, powerful question: What if? What if we colonize Mars? What if artificial intelligence takes over? What if the climate crisis reshapes society?

Today, we’re defining the foundations of science fiction, reviewing three key takeaways that will help you write stronger speculative stories, and of course, we’ll cover some pitfalls to avoid.

Before we launch into that, let’s fuel up at the Writing Break cafe and catch up on the latest publishing news.

First up, imprint news.

Crown Publishing at Penguin Random House has launched a new imprint called Storehouse Voices, whose mission is to elevate Black voices in both fiction and nonfiction. The imprint is led in partnership with Tamira Chapman, and it’s designed to create structural support for stories that have too often been sidelined.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, critic Jude Cook has launched Conduit Books, an indie press that will focus on literary and memoir work by male authors, particularly debut authors. The move has already sparked debate. Some argue that men writing quiet literary fiction or memoir are overlooked in today’s market, but others say an imprint dedicated exclusively to male authors feels tone-deaf in an industry that has historically centered men by default.

I believe all authors deserve a chance to be nurtured, published, and championed. It’s the book sales at these new imprints that will dictate where the reading public and our culture is at the moment.

We haven’t talked stats in a few weeks. Let’s look at the numbers. According to the latest AAP StatShot, US publishing revenues dropped 4% in April compared to last year. Year-to-date, though, the decline is only 0.2%, which means the market is essentially flat. Hardbacks and e-books are holding steady, while paperbacks and specialty bindings are slipping.

Print sales overall are stable, though the June reports showed the first hints of softening. What’s especially interesting is that independent presses are thriving. Authors who once would have kept their eyes on the Big Five are now looking to small and mid-sized publishers, who can often take bigger creative risks and move faster. More and more, writers are realizing that it’s not just about who will publish them but who will champion them.

A couple of literary prizes are under pressure.

The Polari Prize, one of the U.K.’s leading LGBTQ+ literary awards, has been paused. The controversy came after the inclusion of an author with gender-critical views, which led to withdrawals and resignations. The prize’s governance is now under review, and its future is uncertain.

Meanwhile in Canada, the prestigious Giller Prize is on shaky ground after Scotiabank ended its sponsorship. Unless new backing is found, its future is also uncertain. This is important because the Giller Prize is one of Canada’s most powerful literary spotlights, with the ability to transform a book’s sales overnight.

I also gave you a break from AI and audiobooks for what, a month? Sorry, but it’s a potential iceberg, and we cannot take our eyes off of it.

AI-narrated audiobooks are still gaining traction. They are cheaper to produce, which makes them attractive to small presses and indie authors. I fall on the side of humans, which is a double-edged sword in this case. For accessibility, AI-narrated books can be a win because it makes more titles available to more people at lower costs. During college I volunteered with a non-profit to record textbooks for the blind and visually impaired, and I know the non-profit’s funding would have gone much further and helped many more people if we could have just QC’d AI narration rather than needing so much equipment and so many people to record each book.

But, without a doubt, human narrators add irreplicable texture, nuance, and artistry. And what about human listeners who might never experience the glory of listening to a book read by Eduardo Ballerini?

At the same time, more authors are experimenting with selling directly to readers through newsletters, Patreons, and their own websites, thereby bypassing traditional distribution entirely. This mirrors what we’ve seen in music and video, where creators are carving out sustainable livelihoods by going straight to their audience.

And along this same vein, I’d like to remind Spotify Premium users that they get 15 free hours of audiobook listening included with their subscription. I’m not sponsored. I’m just a Spotify Premium member who keeps forgetting to make use of those 15 hours.

That’s it for this week’s publishing news. A link to all of these stories can be found in the show notes of this episode. Now, let’s blast off into today’s main topic: science fiction.

Science fiction is speculative storytelling shaped by science, technology, or societal shifts, and sci-fi readers expect three things: (1) plausibility, which means the story feels grounded in what could happen; (2) logical consistency, which means the speculative element follows clear internal rules; (3) and exploration of human impact, meaning a look at how those scientific or technological shifts ripple through people’s lives, relationships, and choices.

The genre’s roots run deep. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often considered the first modern sci-fi novel, combining gothic horror with a warning about unchecked science. Then came Jules Verne with adventure-driven speculation, and H.G. Wells with social commentary through time travel and alien invasion.

In the twentieth century, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke gave us classic “hard” science fiction. Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, and later Ted Chiang showed how sci-fi could also interrogate culture, identity, and morality.

Science fiction thrives on the interplay between science and imagination, but at its heart, sci-fi is always about humans navigating the fallout of change.

A key principle in writing science fiction is the one big leap or the one big lie.

First, you introduce one speculative element—meaning the thing that isn’t real in our current world or isn’t real yet—and then you build the rest of your world logically around it.

For example, take Asimov’s robots. The idea of highly intelligent, rule-bound machines is the big lie. From there, his famous Three Laws of Robotics dictate how robots behave and how humans interact with them, and then everything flows logically.

Let your imagination soar without losing believability by giving your readers one bold leap and then grounding it in logic. I love shiny gadgets and thinking about space travel, but sci-fi doesn’t always have to have those elements.

What it does have to do is use science as a lens to explore deeper questions. Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower asks: what if climate change and social collapse accelerated?

In your writing, use “what if” scenarios to interrogate power, gender, race, and survival.

Science fiction has always been a way to wrestle with the anxieties of the present. Cold War fears gave us invasion narratives. Climate anxiety gives us climate fiction. Questions about technology give us cyberpunk.

So, when you’re writing sci-fi, ask yourself: What truths about the present am I exploring through the future?

But remember to balance your ideas with your story. Many novice sci-fi writers use characters as mouthpieces for their concepts, but that feels like self-righteous lecturing. Characters are people and they’re supposed to be flawed, funny, desperate, courageous, and complex. If you’re going to have any success as a writer, your readers must care about your characters.

The Martian by Andy Weir is brimming with technical details about botany, engineering, and orbital mechanics, but what keeps readers hooked is the protagonist’s wit, determination, and humor.

In Ted Chiang’s Story of Your Life, which became the film Arrival, the core idea is high-concept linguistics and nonlinear time, but the emotional heart is a mother’s relationship with her daughter.

The best science fiction balances the intellectual with the emotional. Ideas make us think, but characters make us feel. And that’s how you turn readers into fans.

Science fiction hosts a galaxy of subgenres, including hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, space operas, cyberpunk, biopunk, climate fiction, alternative history, dystopia, utopia, and more. In episode 14 of this season we’re going to discuss these in greater detail.

Like fantasy, sci-fi blends beautifully with other genres, including romance, thriller, detective, and comedy.

The subgenre you choose isn’t as important as staying true to the central what if and making it resonate with readers.

Now, a few things to watch out for.

First: as in every genre, avoid the destructive info-dump. If your story stops so you can explain how faster-than-light travel works, readers might check out. Weave in details through action and dialogue.

Second: avoid drowning readers in tech jargon. If only engineers can understand your story, you’re going to lose readers. Clarity always wins over complexity.

Third: and we’ve already touched on this one, do not focus on ideas over people. A clever premise without compelling characters is a travesty.

The danger is when we tie our stories too tightly to predictions of technology. The tech will change faster than you expect. What endures isn’t the gadget but the human story beneath it.

So, when you’re writing sci-fi, ask yourself: is this story about the technology or about the person using it? If the tech ages out, will the emotional truth remain?

Anchor your story in human emotions and human relationships, and it will stand the test of time, no matter how outdated the gadgets become.

So, to recap: science fiction thrives on the “one big lie,” it uses science as a lens to ask bigger questions, and it balances ideas with character-driven stories. If you want to learn more or get a refresher on character-driven stories. If you want to learn more or want a refresher on character-driven stories, check out episode 109, called 7 Literary Conflicts Explained. I’ll add a link to it in the show notes. Remember, science fiction isn’t about predicting tomorrow. It’s about interrogating today.

Thank you to everyone who reminded me that I didn’t include an overthinking prompt in last week’s episode. On Writing Break we do overthinking prompts rather than writing prompts so you don’t feel obligated to actually write this out; you can just imagine it in your head.

So, since I missed a fantasy prompt, today’s prompt is going to ask you to blend fantasy with sci-fi.

Imagine a scene where magic and technology exist side by side, and then collide. Maybe a wizard hacks a spaceship’s AI with a spell. Maybe a knight’s enchanted sword is outlawed under intergalactic weapons treaties. Or maybe an elf doesn’t trust the android who just moved into their village. Keep the scene grounded in one ordinary moment. Show us how the blending of magic and technology shapes everyday life.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to make you overthink. And if you do happen to take the time to write the elf one, please send it to me. I would love to read it.

Next time, we’re taking a look at historical fiction, which is a genre that was my favorite for many years. Until then, thank you so much for listening, and remember, you deserved this break.

Thank you for making space in your mind for The Muse today.

Writing Break is hosted by America’s Editor and produced by Allon Media with technical direction by Gus Avilés. Visit us at writingbreak.com or contact us at podcast@writingbreak.com.