What is Speculative Fiction?
This is a part of the LeVar Burton Reads Writing Contest series of blog posts I’m writing to both help other writers entering the contest and chronicle my own journey as I submit my story.
For the purposes of writing a short story and entering that short story in the LBRWC, here’s how they define speculative fiction: Your Submission must fit within the broad category of speculative fiction, defined as fiction that encompasses works in which the setting is other than the real world, involving supernatural, futuristic, or other imagined elements, including but not limited to science fiction, fantasy, horror, and alternate history. Submissions must not contain imagery or themes of sexual assault, graphic violence, gore, or body horror. Your Submission must be respectful in its language and execution regarding race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and/or mental illness.
First and foremost, I like to think of the phrase “speculative fiction” as a CATEGORY. I do this because when you hear someone talk about a piece of fiction they read and might consider being a spec-fic piece, it might also fall under the genre of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc. The reason for this is that almost all stories that explore another world or an alternate history of this world we live in will automatically be considered speculative fiction. So, as a better way for me to conceptualize and visualize this in my mind, I’m including the below graphic I literally put together in a few minutes so it’s not the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen (I know) but hopefully, it will better explain what I’m trying to say. All of those sub-genres which you probably have heard most often when talking about genre can all be considered spec-fic.
Now, another key distinction I like to make when it comes to whether or not something truly is spec-fic, as well as a sub-genre, is its length. Are there spec-fic novels out there? I’m sure there are. But from my research on the subject, I would say spec-fic work is predominantly short in nature. They are typically found in anthology form (collections of short stories written by one or more authors) or in digital/print publications that will feature a selection of spec-fic stories. Again, is this a hard and fast rule you must follow in order to call your work spec-fic? Not at all. It’s just the context with which I have heard the term spec-fic used the most.
When I look back at some of the Friday Fiction stories I’ve written over the years, I could make the argument that all of them fall into the broad-stroke category of speculative fiction. Their settings are not in the real world, they often involve supernatural things happening and almost always have other imagined elements. I’m not that big into writing science-fiction so I can’t speak to that genre but I enjoy writing mostly fantasy and horror.
I thought a good way to go about trying to explain what speculative fiction is would be to share how I went about researching it, giving you my findings, and letting you come up with your own conclusions. Of course, we could just take their paragraph at face value, but sometimes it helps to have a bit more context to go with the assembly of words.
My first introduction to the term speculative fiction came when I began listening to the LeVar Burton Reads Podcast. The fact that he was obviously reading stories that were mostly science-fiction or horror and the occasional fantasy but wasn’t calling them that, fascinated me. He kept talking about speculative fiction. Immediately, my mind went, ‘what is that?’ and I let my fingers do the typing. I’m not the type to go to rely on what Google tells me. I will sometimes use Wikipedia. But again, not as my final answer. What I much prefer are examples. Don’t just tell me what it is, show me and let me come to that conclusion on my own.
Here are some of the more well-known examples of short story speculative fiction. I’ll include what the more “traditional” genre would be classified as, but for the most part, they embody the true meaning of spec-fic:
How Long ‘Til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin [$15.29 on Amazon]
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu [$10.79 on Amazon]
The Real and Unreal by Ursula K. Le Guin [$11.05 on Amazon]
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman [$13.59 on Amazon]
You’ll notice all of these are anthologies by some pretty well-known authors in the novel writing community. I find this most interesting because it shows that you don’t have to feel like you can’t branch out and write short stories if you really want to. Putting together an anthology of short fiction is not out of style and actually still pretty popular in the short story and more specifically, the speculative fiction community.
Another way to get access to some of the most common speculative fiction out there and not have to spend a dime is to listen to the LeVar Burton Reads Podcast. He’s got over 100 stories that he reads to you so you can just sit back and enjoy. And I’d say that 100% of those stories are considered to be among the best spec-fic has to offer from both living and long since gone (but never forgotten) authors.
After reading or listening to some of these stories you should have a better idea of what is meant by the phrase ‘speculative fiction’ and you should be able to go forth and write your own.
But if you need just one more place to do research and get a handle on the genre, might I suggest checking out N.K. Jemisin’s MasterClass. I took the course and found it most informational and helpful, especially on the topics of worldbuilding and character arcs. Probably two of the most important areas any spec-fic writer spends the most time in before they start to tell their story.