6*6 Fantasy Series — 2

Create six epic adventures set in outer space

From Andromeda to Alpha Centauri, the universe is your playing field

6*6 Fantasy Series

Science fiction is amazing for humanity as it helps us to deal with futuristic scenarios and imagine new possibilities for our collective future. I am excited to introduce a new series bridging the worlds of creativity, games, fantasy, and imagination. It is called 6*6 Fantasy Series. In this series, I present you with six imagination adventures or fantasy challenges. I will be developing these challenges during the months of August and September. The goal of these adventures is to help you expand your muscles of imagination through designing new games, worlds, universes, or stories. What you are reading now is the second installment of this series.

You can find the first installment of this series below:

Adventure 2: Create six fantastic adventures set in outer space

In this challenge, imagine that you are a science fiction writer. You will write six fantastic adventures set in outer space. You can decide to create an adventure where there will be an encounter with extraterrestrial life or aliens, for example.

How will you do this?

First, look at some of your favorite science fiction movies or novels set in space:

• The Martian,
• Interstellar,
• 2001: A Space Odyssey,
• War of the Worlds,
• The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,
• First Man,
• Star Trek,
• Gravity,
• Hidden Figures,
• Asimov’s Foundation Series,
• Arrival,
• Star Wars.

Second, you can look at award-winning science fiction plots from the following resources:

Third, you need to loosen up. Do not judge your ideas. Make sure you do this for fun. You can be naive, goofy, and foolish as you experiment with ideas. No one will judge you (including yourself).

Finally, you can learn from the following online resources on how to write science fiction. Please check out the following resources for guidance and inspiration:

Today’s Challenge

Now, it is your turn to create your own ideas. You will now create six science fiction stories set in outer space. These might be fantastic adventures involving interstellar journeys, encounters with aliens.

Imagine that you are a science fiction writer. You will be constructing stories set in outer space that are compelling and exciting.

You can create a story where your story characters will be heroes and they will go on a transformative journey. To create a compelling journey, you can use Joseph Campbel’s “The Hero’s Journey” framework in his famous classic The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In this framework, the hero:

• responds to a call of adventure,
• departs the familiar world behind,
• ventures into an unfamiliar world of adventure,
• experiences failures and hits rock bottom,
• goes through a series of tests and trials,
• sacrifices the self,
• proves own character, and
• comes back to the hometown after experiencing all the adventures and bringing back the wisdom/learning from the journey.

As you create your story, think of your characters as heroes. There is a call to adventure set in outer space — what is it? How do your characters leave familiar territory behind and set sail to new space horizons which are full of unknowns and surprises? Growth comes from leaving comfort behind and navigating uncertainty. How do your characters grow?

You can use the following points to create your space adventure:

1. Describe the context in space. Which galaxy, star, or planet? When? Is there a space journey involved?
2. Think about the overall storyline and how it progresses.
3. Describe the journey: What is the problem? Where is the call to adventure?
4. Describe the unknowns and the challenges your heroes need to go through during their space adventures.
5. Describe the overall goal/mission of the heroes. Define their success and failure.
6. Incorporate surprises and twists along the way — create a compelling story. Create some risks and rewards. What are the perks and risks of being on an interstellar journey, for example?
7. Describe different challenges the player will come across during the journey. For example, will there be extraterrestrial life?
8. Think of a compelling and satisfying finale to your space odyssey.

This is now your turn. You will create 6 different science fiction stories set in space and sketch an outline of key ideas for each story. Are you ready?

You do not need to aim for fully developed stories. You just need to write a minimum viable science fiction story idea. Do not judge or evaluate your ideas — just keep writing. Keep writing for about 5 minutes to create your main story or plot.

Do not stop writing. Imagine that your hands have their own imagination and trust them. Keep your hands moving. Do not think too hard. Make it fast and practical. Do not aim for a perfect science fiction story. Good enough is fine. Just an overall idea is fine.

You are doing this just to have fun. This is meant to be for fun — just play and mess around. Improvise as needed. Remember: You will try to surprise yourself and your brain.

“Science fiction is the most important literature in the history of the world, because it’s the history of ideas, the history of our civilization birthing itself. …Science fiction is central to everything we’ve ever done, and people who make fun of science fiction writers don’t know what they’re talking about.” — Ray Bradbury

“As well as considering the effects of current and developing technologies, science fiction can help address long-term problems, such as global warming. It can help with the development of space exploration, and prepare us for problems we may not anticipate. One day, time travel, teleportation, or the genetic engineering of humans may happen, we might communicate with aliens, invent simulated realities, or build intelligent robots, and we’ll be better prepared to deal with these, and other potential dilemmas, if we have already thought about them.” ―Dr Helen Klus

Fahri Karakas is the author of the Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.