Fi-sics

Fi-sics is the name I’ve given to my brand of fake physics. It’s taken from contracting Science Fiction Physics, though Sci-Fi Physics to Fi-sics. For a while I spelt it fisics but leads the mind to pronounce it the same as physics, which is no good for radio. I’m generally against putting hyphen’s in words but this one lends it to what I declare the correct pronunciation… (Sci-)Fi-sics. You see, the key to a good story is the reader identifying with characters and events, and the closer we identify, the better the story. Fi-sics allows us to step away from an inhuman reality and identify with recognisable fiction.

In my humble opinion, it’s about evolutionary imperative. The longer in ansestory we've had an imperative, the stronger it is, and the more we want to identify with it. Logic provides intelectual pursuit but when the animal is satisfied we get joy. To reproduce and to eat food (captured energy) are jointly (with others) the oldest imperatives. They are deeper and stronger than any later evolved cognitive or intellectual awareness. It’s why people, myself included, over eat. The drive to eat is greater than the choice not to. It’s the animal in me that gives me the want and is an expression of my humanity. To not over eat is to ask myself to not be happy and the solution was to replace it with exercise, the bit that came with the food imperative. To exercise is to simulate getting food and sport also satisfies the younger (but still old) imperative to hunt. There was a 631 word paragraph following this one; it explained this in more detail but also dealt with adult issues. As much as I want to share it, I want to keep this website child friendly.

You see, it’s all about the story, not the science. When we first had fire and not much else for a few hundred thousand years, we listened to what people said in the new reclaimed hours of firelight and took in what would help us survive. What related to our needs the most would also help us the most. The Beach Boys have plainly stated that their love songs in general are their best selling music, over any other type. We relate to it and not the acid trip (most of us). It’s core to us. I’ve read many a truly awful (one I had to abandon, which is unheard of for me) Sci-Fi story. On reflection I’ve realised that the writer took a single scientific theoretic reality and built the whole story around imagining what it would be like. In the awful ones, they were devoid of any real link to our current selves.

As it will be easier to explain afterwards, here are the rules of fi-sics:

1. Physics first. If there is real physics for something, use that first. There are such a thing as orbital mechanics and momentum, so use those first. This includes things that don’t exist. Don’t put gravity or sound where it can’t exist. Don’t use nuclear bombs to ‘restart the Earth’s core’… don’t get me started on that one.
2. Work out what you need to do to bring reality into a relatable context. One of the first things I invented for storytelling, even before I created Robilliverse, was the Impossibility Engine, which is using the fi-sics of time bubble's. Taking a long time to travel across a vast distance isn’t a very thrilling story. Most Sci-Fi finds a way to cut the distance with tech, but the issue is time, so I went with that. Once you have the idea, lock it down with rules, and by that I mean maths. I promise you, the story will work even better with restrictions, as they add adversity and great stories are about overcoming adversity. Unfortunately solar systems are a million times further (literally) than the distances between planets. So if it doesn’t take long to visit other stars then visiting planets would take minutes. Or spend time on the planets and forget the stars. In the end I locked the IE at a max of 8x and forgot the stars. I invented portals for those. Treat your fi-sics like physics (hence the name) and never ever break the rules you create. It is worth spending time getting these rules right as the alternative is shoehorning in detail. I spent a week’s worth of spare time pinning down portals fi-sics so they wouldn’t be used in system at scale 3 but could potentially go to other galaxies at scale 7.

You see, I love physics. It’s my key to good Sci-Fi. However, dancing across the stars lies in our future, not in our past so we cannot relate to the distance. Sci-Fi objects like space ships provide the means to shrink the gap between what we can relate to and what the reality is, but explain the rules. They don’t even have to be complicated but if your reader doesn’t know that you need to get out of X before they can deploy Y, then they don’t feel the jeopardy. And that is what stories are for. To learn what might kill us and avoid it (which is why we favour negative stories in my humble opinion).

Also here are some good story telling rules:

• Recognise reality, and by that I include probability. One hero (a gender neutral word to me but you can read ‘man’ if you like) may be a professional killer, verses 100 bad guys (also gender neutral to me) who are not trained, but if they are all in a machinegun fight, then I’m sorry, action hero should be dead. I was about to call this the ‘Rambo should be dead’ rule but actually Rambo is a prime example of how to do it right. His superior skills were used to take down idiots who walked into traps. I do like Rambo.
• Have your characters do what you’d do. I’m sick of seeing shows where the hero has a hand gun vs machine guns. That bit is actually ok, it where he shoots the first couple of guys and then walks past these guys and gets pinned down by the next couple of guys. Why? Those dead guys both have far superior machine guns. This irritating flaw is crowned when in the final bit, he’s got to make the shot with one bullet left. SO cliché. I’ve got a better idea. Pick up the gorram gun!
• Science is interesting. Have your story seek it out and adopt it. Oh, we’re exploring alien races and we’ve met some with amazing engines that go 100 times faster. Well nice meeting you, goodbye. What!!!??? Study, copy and implement what you’ve learned. If I had science ship exploring, it would come home much more kickass than when it left!
• Backstory. If you can, write it first, or just use mine as per Robilliverse and the legal rules I put in. Once I built one component of the universe, the next bit built itself in my head. I’m directing the work to take me back to my book, Impossibility Engine which will then continue to write itself in my head.
• Don’t throw in physics for the sake of it. It is not worth making your story meander just to shoehorn something in. Your story isn’t about physics. It’s about humanity. Physics is just a medium to free yourself from the historical rut.
• Embrace your humanity.