#WriteCBC tip and task from Adam Roberts
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
5th Oct 2023
Welcome to our Oct 2023 #WriteCBC prompt challenge. I hope you’re ready to be inspired by our latest writing tip and task! If you haven’t taken part in a #WriteCBC Twitter competition before, we’re excited to welcome you to our writing community. Get up to speed by reading our blog full of information about how to play and the prizes on offer. It’s a lot of fun, and you might just win a free place on one of our six-week online writing courses.
This month’s special guest is Adam Roberts, CBC tutor and award-winning science fiction author. He has published 23 novels, most recently Purgatory Mount (Gollancz 2021; shortlisted for the Prometheus Award) and The This (Gollancz 2022), as well as dozens of short stories and many critical and non-fiction books. He is also a Professor of Nineteenth-century Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway University of London, an FRSL, and was chair of judges for the 2022 Orwell Prize for Fiction.
ADAM’S WRITING TIP:
- You need to turn your cool idea into a story; to recruit characters; to shape, structure and pace the narrative that flows from it. You have to get into the habit of taking any idea and asking yourself... Where is the drama? Where is the conflict?
It is not power that makes a great story; it is the obstacles to power. A novel that simply tours a happy-ever-after utopia will be undramatic and dull; a novel that portrays the struggles and obstacles of a dystopia is inherently dramatic.
Perhaps the most straightforward way of identifying conflict is to write about an actual war – a battle, a fight, galactic cops chasing interstellar robbers.
But conflict might also come into sci fi books in the dangers of all-powerful technology. Narratives that question our reliance on AI and technological advances are a staple of storytelling from The Time Machine and Brave New World to Ready Player One.
While many classic science fiction books about AI have focused on the dangers of robot uprisings and humans losing control over technology, contemporary authors are also exploring the emotional and existential hazards of engaging with sophisticated AI that increasingly acts sentient.
Conflict about advanced technology is integral to Adam’s most recent novel The This, in which cult-like tech companies and social media hardwired into our brains changes the course of human history. The This is the latest tech company threatening individuality as we know it, to the point where its users no longer resemble themselves. As the story progresses, we see a worrying glimpse into humanity’s future – the futility of being human in a technologically advanced war.
This leads us nicely onto Adam’s task...
ADAM’S WRITING TASK:
- Start with a mundane chore or activity, now write a scene set in a world where this has been automated via some advanced technology or new discovery. Focus on portraying an unexpected conflict that this advancement has caused.
We’d love for you to write a tweet-length scene in response to Adam’s task. Here is some more advice to help you get the ball rolling.
Identify your obstacles carefully: the more nuanced and real-life the better. Think of something so basic that everybody takes it for granted or does it without having to think. Then ask: ‘What if this were the other way about?’
Take a mundane chore or activity like brushing your teeth, washing your car or even making a cup of tea. Now make a story out of turning, upending and otherwise swivelling this mundane chore or activity.
Here are some suggested questions you should ask yourself…
- What are the consequences of this new technology? Is it going to threaten our privacy? Threaten jobs?
- How might it go wrong? What are the immediate consequences? How might these have a wider knock-on effect?
We can’t wait to read your tweet-length scenes. Tweet @cbcreative with your responses to Adam’s task and you might win a free six-week online writing course place. Competition closes Fri 6 Oct, 10am (winner announced at 11am).
Congratulations to this month’s winner, Emma Cox @scyian
- I craved old fashioned detective work. Yet here I was, in an airless office, arguing with an ageing robotic cleaner in dire need of an update. ‘You cleaned the site of a murder. You disposed of the body! Where is it?’ ‘I’m sorry, I do not understand your question.’
We loved Emma's dystopian detective scene which warns us of the perils of technological advancements within the legal system. The scene really got to the heart of this month's writing task by turning the mundane act of cleaning completely on its head, giving us a worrying glimpse into humanity's future. How is the detective going to solve the murder without the body or any evidence? Will advancements in technology have an impact on crime rates? Will criminals find new ways of committing offences? We were left desperate to read on! Well done, Emma – you get a free place on a £220 online course.
And this month’s runners-up – each getting a £50 course discount – are Georgina Edwards @Gina_E123 and Claire @Claire_h_writer. Congratulations, all!
To redeem your prizes please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk
Brilliant fun – hope you all enjoyed it and see you next month. #WriteCBC will be back on Thursday 2 Nov.
To learn more from Adam, join our six-week online Writing Science Fiction course. Adam will teach you how to develop your novum (‘new thing’), build a compelling world, people it with extraordinary characters, and write a story that transports your readers to somewhere that’s entirely yours. Next course begins 12 Oct.