I got permission from the mods (Colibri, to be specific – he was my first choice but he’s busy traveling) to start this thread. If it’s in the wrong forum, then mods feel free to move it.
I recently finished writing a sci-fi short story with a strong biology element, and I’m hoping to find a biology/life sciences professional who would give me their input on whether I got the science right (or as right as it can be in the world of my story). It’s about 3000 words long. If anyone’s interested, please PM me!
I don’t know jack squat about biology…but I’ll happily read it for style, grammar, etc.! I’m also a decent judge of “plausibility” in SF, so I could tell you whether a non-biologist can follow the terminology, explanations, etc. You want a “control sample” readership?
I wouldn’t worry about getting it right as much as making sure it keeps the story moving and interesting. Science fiction does not require scientific accuracy, and some of the best stories in the genre ignored science if it got in the way of the story.
Write the story first. You can finesse the science later.
One of Niven’s first stories (“The Coldest Place”) was written based on what was the best available science at the time, but between when it was accepted and when it was published, a new discovery came out that contradicted it. He frantically contacted the publisher and said that they had to pull it, because it was now invalidated. The publisher (correctly) said “Who cares? It’s still a good story.”.
