Imagine You Explore A New Planet In 2938
Three Creative Writing Prompts To Kickstart Your Creativity
Nowadays, I am immersed in a lot of fiction. I have kept “The Handmaid’s Tale” near my bed for January and I have now finished reading it. I feel lucky to have witnessed Atwood’s immense powers of worldbuilding and storytelling. I am reading “Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel” in the loo — somehow I am deeply attracted to these dystopias of mass surveillance and oppression.
The Magic of Worldbuilding: 2312
In addition, I am reading “2312” in the living room. In this visionary science fiction, Kim Stanley Robinson, tells a tale of a miraculous future where humanity has expanded to new habitats throughout the solar system, including the city of Terminator on Mercury (which moves on tracks revolving around the planet to escape the burning sun).
In 2312, The Earth has 11 billion population but struggles with corruption, poverty, and institutional sclerosis. Mars is already terraformed and buzzing with life, and it has full independence. Venus is still being terraformed and terraformers live on asteroids in its orbit. Several moons are also being terraformed including Saturn’s Encaladus. Jovian League runs terraforming projects on 18 of Jupiter’s moons.
Asteroid belt is used for mining and prisons. Thousands of asteroids are turned into terraria and they include small worlds growing food and cruising the solar system. During the Accelerando period, starships have been built out of asteroids, and trips to the closest stars last some 20 years.
I am still reading 2312 and I am really curious to explore this new solar system, its inhabitants, its marvelous technologies, and its complex politics.
Immersing yourself in the world of fiction does interesting things to your brain. You want to read more, explore new worlds, kickstart new adventures, and construct your own fictional universes.
In this article, I will offer three creative writing exercises to help you warm up, clear up writer’s block, and stretch your creative muscles. You will engage in short exercises of improvisational writing to practice your storytelling and worldbuilding skills. You can do each of these bite-size exercises on a different day to spark new story ideas and to get your creative juices flowing. Let us start!
1You are a scientist who has just lost their beloved one (spouse) due to heart failure. You are devastated. In a moment of insanity, you decide to use the advanced AI and biotechnology you have developed to resurrect your spouse. You replace the heart with an artificial heart by experimenting with this technology. Your spouse comes back to life. But something seems off… What happens next? You will continue this story.
2. You have a hobby of climbing trees in the dense forest near your house. One afternoon, you discover a particularly tall tree, and you are filled with the desire to climb it all the way. As you start climbing, you experience that time is distorted and things get weird. You discover that this tree allows you to travel in time: The upper you climb, the further you can travel to the future. What happens next? You will continue the story.
3.The year is 2938. You are one of the first explorers sent outside the Milky Way. Milky Way Galactic Empire has colonized millions of star systems and planets throughout the galaxy and established an all-powerful authoritarian presence, arresting any protestors and sending them to asteroid mining. The empire sends you outside the galaxy to find new habitats and planets for humanity. There are seven members on your starship and each of these crew members is chosen for their courage and creativity, but also for their expandability. Each crew member has their own problems and issues and your challenge as a leader will be to keep the crew together. You find a fascinating planet bursting with life. It has oxygen, colorful plants, beautiful animals, majestic mountains, gorgeous rivers, and a pink sky. It rotates two stars at the same time, so, there are two dawns and dusks experienced every day. The day length is 32 hours, and the temperature is around 19 degrees. Gravity is around 80% of the Earth’s. The ecological conditions are very favorable and habitable. You decide not to inform the empire about this planet, colonize it yourself, and establish an independent colony. Three of your crew members oppose and challenge your decision — they are loyal to the empire. What happens next? You will continue the story.