I don’t write a lot of SciFi (yet?) but I appreciate that there are authors out there who are turning a critical eye to sexism and racism in genre fiction. This isn’t new, but it should still be reiterated and spread as much as possible. Because ideas have consequences, and the consequences of some of these older ideas have reverberated far and wide.
Some ideas have been done to death in science fiction. We all know there are no new ideas anymore, and what matters most is the execution of the idea you stole have, but there are a few things that are not only over-done, they’re either incredibly stupid or offensive, as well. Here’s a partial list of tropes I’d love to never see again:
Stupid/Lazy Writing
- Funky Alien Language: your aliens from across the galaxy speak perfect English, except for a few “untranslatable” slang phrases? Or the language is made entirely of clicks and apostrophes? Hey, I know! All of your proper names are made with the 5, 8, or 10 point letters from Scrabble. Worst yet is when all of the men have harsh, hard-sounding names, and all of the women (or other effeminate species) have soft, vowel- and f/l/sh-heavy names. This is an instant clue that you’re dealing…
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