A long time ago in a galaxy far far away… or most likely a long time in the future but still in a galaxy far far away, this is often the setting of a Science Fiction Novel.
Similar to fantasy, Sci-Fi is often set in an entirely different world to the current time period, the distant future being the most common. Not only a different world, but a different planet, solar system or even universe. This can be quite a daunting task, as (if you so wish it) you could end up needing to design multiple planets, races, civilisations and technology in order to fill up your story’s world. There are a few ways to approach this, and not all of them are as difficult as they look.
Let’s start with planets, often the most fun part of making a sci-fi world. Depending on how important this planet is to the story will relate to how much detail your will need to put into it. You can see a list as to what should be considered in my Fantasy blog, but there can be a few additional thoughts that could apply in specific situations.
1) Is the planet like Earth? Aka about the same size, human population, normal atmosphere, land and water, carbon-based life-forms?
Small science lesson here, a planet’s size and density can dictate the gravity on said planet, so on a smaller planet the gravity is a lot less. How could this impact life on such a place? You don’t require a degree in science to write about Sci-Fi, but a little understanding can go a long way (at least to get your readers to believe what you are writing.)
This does lead onto how you can establish the life-forms on a certain planet. Gravity could be one thing to consider, maybe the lack of gravity has made life evolve in a way that takes advantage of this (such as more aerial / jumping based abilities)? There are many other factors that can lead to interesting Alien life being brought about. Take the book Dune for example. The world they are on is almost entirely desert, with very little water to be found. The inhabitants have evolved in such a way to recycle water in their suits, and it has given them also a distinct appearance. There are not many living creatures on this planet, save for huge worms that live underground (to escape from the heat), for what else could live in such harsh conditions? But why are people there, who would want to live in such a terrible place? Well, there is an important resource that can only be found on that planet. This might be a slight side note; but giving a reason as to why people live there (or for your heroes to visit) is an excellent storytelling technique and helps with world building.
Creating a planet consisting of only mono-terrain isn’t too bad an idea, as apparently it isn’t too farfetched in the realms of science. It also allows you to simplify some of the less important planets in your story. Mono-terrain just means the whole planet consists of only one natural characteristic, including but not limited to: Forest, Desert, Ice, Volcano, Ocean, Thunderstorms, Gas etc.
Go crazy with your ideas of what a planet could be made up of, and what sort of life would come from it? Would an entirely Ice planet be lifeless, or would animals and aliens adapt to have thick fur coats to keep warm?
Sci-Fi is also all about the technology, and since it is set in the future (or another dimension), you can be free as to how you use it. You don’t need to know exactly how to make a starship to describe one, so long as it sounds feasible and sci-fi-ey. Star Wars invented the “Hyperdrive” which sounds futuristic enough that you just accept that it is part of a ship. Technology can lead to advanced weaponry, robots, surveillance, advertising, communication etc, and they are all often based around existing technology. The best thing to think of it “What would make this technology easier to use?” or “How would this be improved?”. An example being a phone, how to make it easier? Well maybe it is implemented directly into your body? Perhaps it is just a little wrist strap, but has even more features than a phone?
The possibilities are endless, it is just how far your imagination will go.