156. Essential Tips for Writing Space Opera

“ Of course, you want to think of what they want, the goal, why they want it, the motivation; what's in their way, the conflict, but also their strengths and also their secrets.” - Beth Barany

In this episode of How To Write The Future, “Essential Tips for Writing Space Opera,” podcast host Beth Barany gets interviewed by her husband and fellow author Ezra Barany about what a space opera is and explain how you can create that type of story. Beth shares how she was inspired to write her Janey McCallister sci-fi mystery series, shares how to build complex interstellar societies.

ABOUT EZRA BARANY

Ezra Barany loves riveting readers with thrillers, but by order of the Department of Motor Vehicles he must place a warning on every book cover, “Do not read while driving.” His first two books in The Torah Codes series were award-winning international bestsellers. The second two books in the 4-book series wowed readers too! In his free time, he has eye-opening discussions on the art of writing novels with his wife and book coach Beth Barany. A high school physics teacher, Ezra lives in Oakland with his beloved wife and two cats working on the next book in The Torah Codes series. Ezra, not the cats. For a free short story in The Torah Codes series, “The Mourner’s Kaddish,” do please go to http://www.thetorahcodes.com/.

ABOUT THE HOW TO WRITE THE FUTURE PODCAST

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers and get curious about the future of humanity.

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• SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES

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Episode Transcript

BETH BARANY (00:00):
Hi everyone.

(00:01):
Beth Barany here with a laughinghusband, Beth Barany here with
How to Write The Future Podcast.
And I'm here today with myhusband, Ezra Barany.

EZRA BARANY (00:10):
Hi.

BETH BARANY (00:11):
Yay.
we are, experimenting with alittle series of episodes where
he asks me questions and Ianswer them, and he'll chime in
with his answers, I hope.
So this is How To Write TheFuture Podcast.
We are here to support sciencefiction and fantasy writers and
anyone who cares about thefuture to help you envision and

(00:33):
write stories that.
I hope will be positive andoptimistic versions of humanity,
of what we can become, and bothEzra and I are working writers
and we're here to enlighten andlighten the load.
Have some fun, give you sometips.
And of course, we're here alsofor your questions.

(00:54):
So if you have questions, besure to ask us those questions
in the comments section ofwherever you can post comments
or directly contact me throughhow to write the future.com.
And stay tuned to the end whereI'm gonna share a way that you
can get even more informationabout helping you write your

(01:14):
science fiction or fantasynovel.
Alright, let's take it away.
Today's topic is:

EZRA BARANY (01:20):
Space Operas.

BETH BARANY (01:21):
Space Operas.

EZRA BARANY (01:22):
So here's my question.

BETH BARANY (01:23):
Yeah.

EZRA BARANY (01:24):
So when people sing and perform where there's no
atmosphere out in space, is thata space opera?

BETH BARANY (01:31):
Absolutely.

EZRA BARANY (01:31):
Okay.
Next question.

BETH BARANY (01:35):
Oh, I had people performing outside the space
station in my Janey McCallister,science fiction mystery, I can't
talk in the official name isJaney McCallister mystery
series.
She's a space stationinvestigator and she works in a
fancy space station.

EZRA BARANY (01:54):
And they were dancing in that one, right?

BETH BARANY (01:56):
Yes.
Yes.
and in the first four books, sheworks at a hotel casino.
Think Bellagio in space.
Yeah.

EZRA BARANY (02:01):
Great.
So what is a space opera?

BETH BARANY (02:04):
Okay.
What is a space opera?
So I envision a space opera as avery dramatic series of stories
that take place in space, oftenon spaceships that involve power
struggles, family dynamics,interpersonal dynamics.
It has a broad scope and it'sdramatic and it involves

(02:24):
personalities.
Let me think of a good one.
Elizabeth Moon has some spaceoperas and it's like a space
shipping family.
And every book has some bigadventure involving some family
members and there's forcesacting against them.
And so you've got your drama andyou've got your adventure, and
then you've got this sense of asaga and it's usually involving
societies on different planetsor in different spaceships, that

(02:47):
kind of thing.

EZRA BARANY (02:48):
Great.
Here's another question that'sright off the top of my head.
Just out of the thin air.
What are the essential buildingblocks needed to make a complex
interstellar society feelauthentic and coherent to
readers?

BETH BARANY (03:02):
Just off the top of your head,

EZRA BARANY (03:03):
just off the top, just the top of my head

BETH BARANY (03:05):
Yes.
We did prepare ahead of time.
Yes.
So similar to any kind of storyyou write, you're gonna wanna
have your different factions andyour different groups.
And actually, Ezra did a greatepisode on thinking about the
different groups in yoursociety.
You're gonna have yourhierarchies, your power
structures, so think religion,economics, supply chain,

(03:27):
education.
So when you wanna create acomplex society, you're not
gonna create one priest or oneteacher or one captain, they're
gonna be part of a greatergroup.
So then they're gonna havecompeting ideologies, competing
philosophies and worldviews.
So you'll wanna think about allof those, including people
affected by the bigger decisionsof societies, Like creating a

(03:51):
world for any kind of story inscience fiction or fantasy it's
gonna have different kinds ofpeople doing different kinds of
things with different agendas.
I know that's very general.
How to make it more specific Ithink of Star Wars.
Star Wars is a good example,y'all of a space opera, right?
You don't just have your fighterpilot, Luke Skywalker's not just
a fighter pilot.
He gets trained, there'scommanders, of course there's

(04:13):
opposing forces, that kind ofthing.

EZRA BARANY (04:16):
Yeah.
So actually leading from that isa part of making it so epic.
All those different.
philosophies, et cetera.
So how do you make that epicfeeling of a space opera be so
intimate with the characters?
How do you focus?
How do you keep the readersemotionally invested?

BETH BARANY (04:40):
Yeah, good question.
Yeah.
So what you wanna do is, andthis is I think my specialty,
huh?
and how I write and also how Ihelp writers is really develop
your character to be fullyrealized.
Of course, you wanna think ofwhat they want, the goal, why
they want it, the motivation;what's in their way, the

(05:00):
conflict, but also theirstrengths and also their
secrets.
We love teaching about thesecrets.
And also you might wanna thinkabout the worldview, their
philosophy, and how that came tobe so.
Some of the other things I liketo think about is how they
perceive and feel about theirrelationships, their core
relationships.

(05:21):
You learn a lot about someonethinking about those things.
What else?
Their secret.
I'm gonna come back to secret.
The thing that's in their heartof hearts that they yearn for,
that maybe they don't tellanyone.
What they prioritize in theirenvironment.
That is actually something Iconsider important, like in
their home space, what'simportant; in their workspace

(05:41):
what's important in theirvehicle what's important, and
hobbies.
Hobbies also shape how we viewthe world.
And lastly, something that'sreally fun to pull out, and
Elizabeth Moon does this reallywell, is what is your main
character's or point of viewcharacter's favorite story,
fairytale motif, hero fromstoryland.

(06:02):
This allows you to bring in-some people call it the
imaginal- their imagination,their favorite stories.
'cause that tells us what theylove and how they were shaped.
And so it's not an institutionversus an institution.
That's not an interesting story.
But if you've got a pilot.
And she's gotta deal with hercommanding officer and her
fellow pilots and the mechanics.

(06:24):
And then she's, I'm thinking of,uh, of Starbuck in, Battlestar
Galactica.

EZRA BARANY (06:28):
Yes.

BETH BARANY (06:29):
Battlestar Galactica, right?
Starbuck isn't-- so none of yourcharacters are in a vacuum.
They're interacting with othersall the time.
The powers that be the peoplewho clean their clothes, the
cooks, their parents, theirfriends who aren't doing what
they're doing, create awell-rounded character and write
the story from theirperspective.
And now you're gonna havesomething that's emotionally

(06:49):
relatable in this vast epicscale of the story world that
you're creating.

EZRA BARANY (06:56):
I also think, the character, of the main character
in Dune, how there are theseexpectations imposed on him.
And we see him grow up withthese expectations, his talents
that are supposed to befulfilled and his training, and
his desire to get away from thatsort of,those expectations.

(07:19):
We see the epicness of the storythat manner.

BETH BARANY (07:25):
Absolutely.
I love that.
And their expectations, theexpectations that he's carrying,
that he has to respond to fightagainst, the prophecy that's on
him.
How does he respond to that?
And it's all channeled throughhim.
His actions, his words, hisdeeds, his interactions with
everyone.

EZRA BARANY (07:42):
Great.

BETH BARANY (07:43):
Yeah.
Good.
Any more questions for us onthis topic?
Otherwise, we're gonna wrap itup.

EZRA BARANY (07:49):
That's it.

BETH BARANY (07:49):
Great.
So We're gonna wrap it up fortoday.
If you would like more supportwith your world building, then I
recommend that you check out ourWorld Building Workbook for
Fiction Writers, where I ask youa bunch of questions, give you a
bunch of prompts, and you canuse that as a guide to dig into
your story world.
And that's it.
oh.
Be sure to contact us if youhave any questions at how to

(08:12):
write the future.com or leave acomment on YouTube or on the
blog post where we put this upor anywhere else you can leave a
comment, tag me on social media.

EZRA BARANY (08:22):
Feel free to mail us a pizza.

BETH BARANY (08:24):
There you go.
That's right.
All right, everyone.
Write long and prosper.