This comes up a lot in sci-fi stories.
You have this super cool device that can do this super cool thing! But how do you describe it and how it works if it doesn’t exist?
What it does
Easy. What does it do for whoever uses it? This is the main thing you need to worry about. What does it DO? Look at your story’s theme and message and complement them with the appropriate technology to match.
For example: Your story is about alterations of the human body and mind and how they have blurred the line between man and machine.
Then just use the technology to complement that idea.
Maybe you want a device that enables your character to fly. Image that if it’s wide spread how would building be? Shops and things may be high in the air if people can fly everywhere, as well as the lack of sidewalks an accommodating for thin air. Keeping these things in mind is also important for the world-building so your technology doesn’t feel out of place.
Now back to the flying device. Is that all it can do? The real thing with this part is making sure what it can do is clear from the get go. You don’t want to say it makes people fly, and then someone uses it to shoot lasers. a devices only proper function is what it’s made for. If it’s made for flight it should fly.
Now this doesn’t mean people won’t try to use it for another purpose, but this other purpose won’t be handed by the device well because that’s not what it’s made for. Especially if it hasn’t been modified in any way. Devices can overheat, and break even by doing their intended purpose. There’s an even higher chance for something it’s not. Just be sure to the reason the device was made for and keeping it in mind when someone uses it. It’s fine for something to have more than one use, but be certain that these other uses are established before their used. (Its the same rules with people’s superpowers. Don’t pull them at random.)
How it works
You really only need the basics for this. Let’s say you want a device that can do something pretty outlandish, like... make a portal to another dimension. There are two ways to go about how it works. You don’t have to actually know how to make a portal to another dimension to write how one works. Most of the time, it’s established that whoever created such a device is extremely intelligent. So they’ll likely have other inventions they’ve made that fit into a similar realm. As for explaining how it works, you always go for the simple explanation.
Portal:
“it tears open a hole in space time.”
Or
“It teleports you to another dimension.”
The simpler the better. As long as the characters have an understanding of how the basics work.
At the same time, this needs to fit into the setting. You don’t want faster than light travel in a setting in the 1800’s where tv hasn’t even been invented yet. It at the very least has to be in a time where space travel was at least possible. Not perfected, but possible. The realm of science you explore should at least be discovered in your setting or theorized about intensely to be in place.
The last thing to keep in mind is why the technology exists. There has to be a reason. Technology exists because of two basic reasons. One, it solves a problem. Two, it makes a process easier and more convenient.
Identify a big problem in your setting and how that problem is solved or minimized through your technology. For example, the problem is that the universe is just too big for rocket propulsion systems to be efficient, so warp drives have been invented to make interstellar travel possible.
Or identify the process that the inhabitants’ find a hassle. In our example, the hassle is obviously the long travel times of interstellar travel if they rely on rocket propulsion. So, warp drives make the process of traveling easier and more convenient. This helps add to the realism in your written world.
Technology doesn’t just pop out of nowhere. They are usually improved versions of older technologies.So, what is your technology’s advantage over its predecessors and competitors?In our example, warp drives are obviously better than rocket propulsions, because they are faster and more efficient.But there are times where the advantages are not so obvious. Look at cars and motorcycles for example. Both modes of transportation are efficient, but one is better than the other on different aspects.
In a car, you are enclosed, so you are in a more comfortable environment. Being surrounded also acts as an absorber of force when an accident occurs. The disadvantage is that you can get stuck in traffic really quickly.
In a motorcycle, you are not super comfortable because you are more exposed to the elements. You also don’t have a metal framework around you to absorb force when an accident happens. But the advantage is that you can weave through traffic legally.
Comparing your technology to other existing technology gives you a better understanding of its position in your setting.
Details
The main way technology in futuristic stories becomes dated is by showing too much. It’s not the showing that’s bad, but what’s shown. When the description shows what a piece of technology is capable of, for example, the amazing computational powers of the computers, the reader is able to give the technology whatever appearance and interface is necessary to make it seem futuristic. When it’s described too visually, the author inevitably bases all guesses on a current technology, making it almost inevitable that the story’s technology will seem less futuristic as innovations continue to make drastic changes to the look and capabilities of computers.
In this case, “tell, don’t show” is the safer thing. Successful futuristic technology has an air of mystery. The more you can trust your reader to provide the sensory details, the better chance the technology stands of appearing futuristic for decades to come. But be wary that this doesn’t mean the implications of the techs are simple just because they’re described lightly. And it also doesn’t mean you can put all your focus on just one type and leave it at that. Creating more technologies to complement your story, theme, message, and setting. A sci fi setting is much more intricate if it doesn’t rely on a single technology.
Just like the real world, a sci fi world has a lot of problems and hard processes that can be solved or minimized through technology. Below are some aspects of life where technology can make all the difference:
Biology – Producing materials that alter or improve the biological state of organisms
Communication – Easing the transfer of physical, digital, and other forms of information
Energy – Producing, harvesting, or storing of more efficient and cleaner energy
Engineering – Applying engineering and other technical concepts to solve or minimize problems
Environment – Controlling or changing the natural environment to make it more livable, safe, or stable
Transportation – Making mobilization more efficient and safe
A good example of this is the book Unwind, where any kid under the age of 18 (as well as criminals) can be harvested for body parts if their parents sign them away, due to abortion being illegal. All of their medical revolves around replacing the parts of you that don’t work instead of medicine to make your old parts better. Because this method is so widely used now, the acts of surgery to do these things has been perfected and is completely seamless compared to what we have now. With the invention of synthetic oxygen to keep bodies alive as long as possible during surgery, and people who’ve figured out how to turn themselves into suicide bombers by making their blood combustible and clapping their hands together to trigger it. (Not joking. That’s in the book.) All police bullets are replaced with tranquilizers so not to damage the bodies that can be used. Some people have an entire religion based around this system and some children are specifically born to be unwound and used by their parents. The civil war that made abortion and killing illegal shaped the entire country’s values, technology and the way it’s used all to that system.
And that concludes the writing technology post! I hope you found it useful in your future sci-fi writing endeavors! This was one of the harder topics to read watch due to the fact that there’s so much information to work with and so many examples. I’d suggest looking a bit deeper into some classic sci-fi titles (Not Star Wars) to get a better idea on how these technologies are presented. Hope you enjoyed the last post of the Building Blocks of writing project #3! See you in the next post!
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