Should you up date your story if something comes true?

=DryBonesReborn Nov 21, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Like say Hurricane Sandy and all it's coicendances that you had an idea a year ago? Or other sad tragedies? It's not often a Hurricane hits NYC.

Heck or say a volcano that erupts in Pittsburgh-something that would not happen. (Not that it has happen or will)

As a writer, it can be devastating if life does imitate art.

HOw would you live with such 'prophetic' events that you made up?

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~anonymous-yet-again Dec 4, 2012 Writer

this isn't an answer to your question, because I don't know, but it could help: one of my favorite authors, Diana Wynne Jones, would joke that her books seem to come true, like one of her characters had a traveling curse and she would have problems traveling, and someone sent her a message about how their family had names like a family she wrote about. she wrote about it in various places on her website: [link]
so if that doesn't help, sorry; i mostly thought it was a cool connection.

=DryBonesReborn Dec 5, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Where? In the autobiograhphy?

~anonymous-yet-again Dec 26, 2012 Writer

at the very end of the autobiography, yeah, but in various pages of the questions that people would send her, too (and that she answered). sorry for the late answer.

`saintartaud Nov 26, 2012 Professional General Artist

Isn't that always the ideal situation in SF? To be so prescient that you can seem to predict certain technologies or events?

If I were in the situation of my work eerily matching a real event after writing, I probably wouldn't bother with retcon or anything. It would be a nifty coincidence, or say something about our ability to take what we know and speculate/project based on that. Science fiction is often just as wrong as it is right in its predictions.

=DryBonesReborn Nov 26, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Really?

Thanks.

A volcano in Pittsburgh. You never know.

`saintartaud Nov 26, 2012 Professional General Artist

If you talk to most science fiction fans or read enough criticism within the genre, you will see that predictive ability or accuracy of speculation is often a concern. Or at least something that is often discussed. I don't see it as the only function of science fiction and if it were that would render tons of good books obsolete. For instance, intelligent life on Mars is no longer remotely plausible, but The Martin Chronicles or Martian Time-Slip are still good books. I think we're even well past the time frame they're set.

=DryBonesReborn Nov 26, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Is it a personal choice if it's something that's more plausible, than not plausible.

`saintartaud Nov 26, 2012 Professional General Artist

Well, plausibility of a concept is determined by what is known at the time. How far a writer wants to push that depends on the writer and the story. A lot of science fiction pushes those boundaries of plausibility (and possibility!) all the time.

*MadOldHag Nov 25, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

I understand that it can be scary.

As I am not writing SF, it hasn't happened to me yet. I encountered other odd coincidences instead. I make something up, soon after there is a movie or documentation about exactly that topic/detail/type of character.

Anyway, I wouldn't change much of the story. Maybe work out the differences between the story and reality a bit more, but that's all.

=DryBonesReborn Nov 25, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Thanks.

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