Understand The Mechanics and Their Potential

I had a strange dream (like there's any other kind). I was driving a car and was attacked by another motorist, causing a fatal crash. I didn't die, though. It wasn't a simulation, nor was I controlling some kind of avatar; I just remember a white flash and then I was standing outside the car, completely unharmed. Somehow, the makers of this car had created a way to prevent fatalities in a car.

This was a pretty radical idea to me. It sounded like good story fodder. I just had one problem: I have no idea how it works. Now, I know that writing can allow for soft science. We don't need to actually be able to build a time machine, we just need to say that it has a flux capacitor and the audience will nod in understanding. However, I can't even fathom how a car can either bring somebody back from the dead or prevent it from happening in the first place.

Still, I kept considering the possibility. What if I could BS some passable explanation in order to tell this story? Well, that would be great except for another problem: such technology would have massive consequences in all other aspects of life. In order to make a car that could prevent death, they had to have the technology to prevent death in general. That means that people with it couldn't be killed. That would make war and generic street crime all but impossible, which would in turn make for a very different world, one where deathproof cars are the least of our concerns.

The point of all of this is that creating new things is awesome, but difficult. The what-if game is great, especially when used for science fiction or fantasy, but it is rarely as simple as we initially think. First of all, you yourself need to understand how it works. Even if you simplify it by using some unreal piece of technology, there are some questions you should be able to answer. What does it do? How does it do that? What fuel is it using? What else can it do?

That last question leads to the other part, which is understanding the potential of this technology. Let's suppose that these deathproof cars contained teleporters that activated when the car was in a crash, sending the driver out of the car, standing near, but away from the danger of the scene. That means we have teleportation technology. People can move through walls. Objects do not need to be carried to be moved. Could people use this to break into places (like bank vaults) or break out of places (like prisons)? What piece of technology can understand when a crash will be fatal? How does it know where to teleport the driver? Could it send the driver into an even more dangerous place (like incoming traffic or off a cliff)?

Although this post is talking about technology, all the same things can be said for societal characteristics. What if you had a society where a leader was not a prestigious job? They received no perks or castles or crowns. It was just a job. In the large scale, the people who want to lead because of prestige and riches would not be attracted to the job. Leaders of nations would be the ones who are good at leading and are simply doing a job they're good at. A lot of questions need to be answered. Most importantly, what prevents leaders from using their power selfishly? Does the same apply to businesses? Is a CEO merely another position that needs to be filled, no more prestigious than a janitor? How does that affect the way companies do business? How does that affect the zeitgeist? Do people not care about being the best or the strongest? Is good enough simply good enough?

Note that for all of these examples, I am not saying that any are stupid or would make for bad stories. What I am saying is that, if you want to make a good story in a concrete world that people can sink their teeth into, you yourself need to make sure that you can answer all the questions that your readers will likely come up with. Then those readers will be yours forever.