Speculative fiction is a story that asks “What if?” and then answers the question through the plot. Most people consider speculative fiction to be a sub-genre of fantasy or science fiction. In reality, a speculative fiction story can borrow elements from both of these genres (and many others too).
I love reading (and writing) speculative fiction because it sparks my imagination. I like a good coming of age story as much as the next reader, but when you add in the what-if element things get a lot more interesting.
For example:
What if an orphaned boy found out he was secretly a famous wizard?
Sound familiar? Here’s another one that might ring a bell:
What if children had to fight to the death to protect their families and earn favor for their hometowns?
Some of the most popular stories of our time can be boiled down to a single question. The rest of the book, or the rest of the series, is there to answer it. That doesn’t mean the question alone is enough to drive a whole story. It’s more of a starting point. The author can take that idea and run with it.
Examples of Speculative Fiction Books
So, the what-if question isn’t just a curiosity. It’s the the force that sets the plot in motion. This is where most of my favorite stories start. Here are a few examples of speculative fiction books I love, along with the questions I think they may have started with.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman: What if the old gods are real and get into a fight with the new gods we’ve set up for ourselves in the modern world?
The Arc of a Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman: What if humans stopped dying and we had to find a way to keep the population manageable?
The Mermaid by Christina Henry: What if P.T. Barnum’s Mermaid was a real person who happened to be a mermaid?
The first what if question leads to other questions: What would have to happen for this to be true? What would the world look like? How would people think and feel? What challenges would these people face and what would they do about them?
How to write speculative fiction
I consider myself a writer of speculative fiction because my own writing often starts with a question. My first novel “Nothing’s Ever Lost” answers the question: What if dying isn’t the end of the adventure?
My short story “Remade” also started with a question: What if someone made a teleportation device that didn’t work as intended? Near-Life Experience asks “What if a human could see the souls of the dead as they leave their bodies?” How much trouble could that really cause?
If you want to write a speculative fiction story, all you need is a question “What if… ” From there, you’re looking for “and therefore” or “but.” As Trey Parker and Matt Stone explain in this video, every beat of your story should be connected by “and therefore.”
For example, Eric can see the souls of the dead, and therefore Death is curious about him. And therefore, he brings the problem to the council of death, and therefore…
Some scenes also connect with “but.” For example, Jack and Anna die in a car accident, but learn there’s a whole afterlife out there to explore.
It should be one that lights up your imagination. Here are some writing prompts to get you started.