Okay, so yesterday, I posted about how there is a contest for a short science fiction story and how they want it to be inspired by a new science discovery or innovation. I wrote some yesterday and a character popped up, voice and all. His (yes, my character is male!) voice seems to be pretty strong, but despite that, right now he is something of an archetypes. God knows if it will last.  About the only thing I know is that it will be take place in the near future – about 10 or 15 or 20 years in the future. Probably 15 – it strikes me as a nice middle ground.

I don’t have an actual idea or even the bare bones of a concept yet, let alone a plot. I realized yesterday night if I use computers at all, it is going to read like cyperpunk. If I go the route of the social sciences, it’s going to turn into the type of story where you don’t know right off the bat if it is fantasy or science fiction. Not sure if I want that type of confusion in a short story. If I decide to use a biology based science, I’ve no idea what I will get.

I suppose it’s a good thing the character came first. I can develop him into a better character, but if the idea came first, the danger is that I might focus too might on that and leave the characters flat. On the other hand, this way there is the danger that I might leave my concept undeveloped. Not that there is much room to develop much of anything in a short story.

What I really need right now is a short, concrete plot.