How to Write Science Fiction, from my Substack

Posted by on Mar 15, 2026 in Blog

Not to imply that there is something democratic about writing, with number of sales having something to do with quality, which it does not. Or to imply that some advanced degree might confer writing talent, which it does not if such talent doesn’t already exist. There is no such thing as a PhD in creativity.

Rather, I will simply report my experiences in running a writers’ critique group in my home for several years, devoted to developing the craft of writing fiction, in particular, science fiction, and my conclusions on how beginning writers can improve their work.

People attended my weekly critique group in varying numbers, from 3 people up to 12. Almost entirely men since science fiction is generally more of interest to men than to women. We would distribute copies of our latest writing to all the attendees and the writer would then read his sample aloud. The guests would then critique his writing one by one.

First problem: people would often show up without having anything to critique. In fact, some attendees never wrote anything at all in several years. Not one line. One composed an intricate outline over a year or two but never actually wrote anything besides the outline. One or two persons had actually published something, but only one or two. The rest never published anything, not even self-published, despite the feedback they received at the weekly critique sessions….

[For more on this lengthy post n other posts on how to write, please subscribe to my Substack.]