One of my favorite theoretical physicists of all time, Albert Einstein once said: “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” I honestly wish the world would take this to heart. Learning is one of the greatest things we can do to work towards a beautiful tomorrow. 

I’ve always loved to learn. Science and history were always welcome in my mind. But as a writer, I dreamed of fantasy worlds and wars between kingdoms. My first novella was a medieval fantasy with princesses and dragons. But as I grew and began to take a variety of classes in college, I found a whole new world of adventure. Science fiction.

It’s funny I had never enjoyed reading science fiction novels. They never seemed to make sense. The science didn’t make sense, or at least I didn’t feel the author explained the science well enough. When I started college I figured I could do better. (Arrogant I know but that’s how we are when we’re in college.) 

And so I took the plunge and began to research the science we know. By understanding what we already know, I was able to theorize about what we don’t. And ultimately weave my incredible science fiction world together. Studying current politics and historical world problems helped me visualize an alternate reality and potential future setting for my novel. 

I know how the saying goes, “write what you know.” I’d agree with that to a point. When you’re learning to ride a bike, sure use the training wheels. Writing what you know is a great way to build confidence and develop balance. But eventually you need to leave your comfort zone and stretch out into things you don’t know. I’m not saying someone who doesn’t understand the basic mechanics of a small internal combustion engine should write a rocket ship engineering manual. But I do believe that with the right amount of research and study, you could write some epic sci-fi stories.

And if you think I’m picking on you for not knowing physics and engineering… I’m not. That was me last year. I’d failed physics and never taken chemistry in high school. My physics teacher spent multiple hours attempting to explain how a car engine works to me. And up until last year, driving anywhere in my car seemed like black magic. 

But then I got an idea for a sci-fi novel. It was a wonderful, glorious idea. The kind that you get once in a lifetime. And I wanted to write it. The only problem was my main female character was a skilled mechanic in my story. That was where my journey down the theoretical physics rabbit hole started. For months I poured over every kind of science book imaginable. From theoretical physics, to nuclear and astrophysics, to mechanical engineering, to biological chemistry. I was suddenly passionate about it all.

The result. The first YA sci-fi I wrote was everything I’d been dreaming of. Now I’m addicted to the genre and always coming up with new story lines. Oftentimes these new ideas stem from the latest article I read in a scientific magazine or research paper. This is one of the greatest gifts of being a writer. The more you learn the more you have to create with.

When was the last time you read a non-fiction book for fun? If you’ve never done it, I would highly recommend it. Even if you’re only interested in writing fiction, facts can impart wisdom on our writing. It is true that the audience reads so they can escape the “real” world, but that doesn’t mean they’ll accept something completely illogical or irrational. You may have different laws of physics in your sci-fi but those laws need to be logical and have a reason to exist. 

In short, you can’t break the laws of writing until you understand the laws. In fantasy and science fiction, you are certainly able to make things up, that’s part of the fun. But you need knowledge about how it “would” work in the real world before you start your creativity engine.

Never stop learning. Never stop researching. Always continue to explore and create. The sky is only a limit if you put it there. What is possible today was considered impossible yesterday. Just because the physics hasn’t been proven yet, doesn’t mean you can’t write a story based on a theory. From worm holes, to different dimensions, to time travel, everything you can imagine in science fiction has a theory that you can build on. All you have to do is a little research.