Inventing the Future: Mindreading
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One of my favorite things about writing is research. Coming from the ex-NASA engineer/scientist, I suppose that’s not much of a shock. But I really like exploring all the features of the worlds I dream up in my novels.
My paranormal/SF novel Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) takes place in a future world where everything is the same … except that now everyone reads minds. In the story world, it started out as a few kids who reached puberty and then suddenly could read minds. But it quickly spread until literally the entire world had changed into mindreaders.
One of the first things I constructed for this future world, was its past. I believe that the best worldbuilding is dynamic: it has a past, a present, and a future. The story may take place in the present, but it’s just a snapshot of the evolution of this world—one story of many that could take place in it. In fact, that DO take place in it, although off camera and in ways that only tangentially affect the novel.
Having those details is what makes the story come alive.
As any society evolves, they bring some of the traditions of the past with them, while creating new traditions to fit the changes. For a mindreading world, I imagined there would be a significant ceremony that marks the change (which usually happens around age 12, and denotes the entrée of a non-mindreading child into the adult world of mindreaders). Societies have long had a tradition of marking adolescence with some kind of ceremony, although that’s faded somewhat in recent times (at least in the U.S.). Perhaps getting your driver’s license is the “coming of age” ritual in America today, but in the future world of Open Minds, a child’s “Change Party” is the big milestone (one that Kira, the non-mindreading zero, will never have). Change Parties only get a passing mention in the final book, but in an earlier draft, the description went something like this:
Trina changed with that first wave in eighth grade. When her new mindreading ability stopped flipping on and off, I went to her change party and watched her run off with the other changelings for some secret rite that only mindreaders knew. I waited patiently for my turn to change, while one by one my friends moved on. But when Raf changed, I got desperate. An online site claimed guzzling gallons of water would trigger the change, but I only made myself sick trying.
Nearly everyone changed by the end of freshman year.
In the final version, almost all of that was cut. But I had already created it in my head, and it still informed much of the storytelling, especially Kira’s sense of desperation, and how all the characters had lived through this shift in their relationships.
There were many other aspects of this future world that I explored (with my mind!), some in the early drafts, some later. Some tidbits didn’t get added until the last draft or two. Here are some of my very early notes on building a mindreading world:
Religions spring up that concentrate on only thinking good thoughts.
Would people take drugs to block the sending out of thoughts?
Jury of your peers would be unnecessary - a judge can tell if a person is guilty or innocent.
Are there no stories? No fictions? Fictions are just lies, yes?
What does the school do to help changelings mold their skills?
Everything from architecture to politics to entertainment was touched in some way by mindreading. Other things remained the same, or evolved in a way that had nothing to do with mindreading, but simply because the story takes place nearly 100 years in the future. Things like transportation and financial systems.
Like I said, research is one of my favorite parts of writing, but the story is what really matters. By creating a dynamic, detailed background, Kira’s world became a colorful character in her story of isolation and struggling to fit in. The world pushes and pulls Kira, and she pushes and pulls back. One of my favorite lines in the book (which was there almost from the first draft) is this:
The world and I were at a standoff, waiting for me to change, but the world didn’t care. If I never changed, it would move on and leave me trying to catch up in a race I would never win.
The worldbuilding isn’t the story. But I am glad I get to play around in Kira’s world some more in Book Two, Closed Hearts.
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When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.
Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) by Susan Kaye Quinn is available in e-book (Amazon US (also UK, France and Germany), Barnes & Noble, Smashwords) and print (Amazon, Createspace, also autographed copies available from the author).
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PRIZES!
Three ways to enter (you can have multiple entries):
1) Leave a comment here or at the Virtual Launch Party post2) Tweet (with tag #keepingOPENMINDS)
Example: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. #keepingOPENMINDS @susankayequinn #SF #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds
Example: Celebrate the launch of OPEN MINDS by @susankayequinn #keepingOPENMINDS #SciFi #paranormal #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds
Example: Celebrate the launch of paranormal/SF novel OPEN MINDS by @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn for a chance to win Open Books/Open Minds prizes! http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds
Wow. This post is making my head spin! Research really intimidates me. Got a ton to do for my next project and am kinda dreading it! :o) I hope your head is spinning too, today, with JOY!
ReplyDelete@Jessica Thanks for all your comments!! I'm in awe of you stopping by when you have your own plate so full with your own launch!! THANK YOU. :)
ReplyDelete@Nicole Thanks for being a Party Host and letting me take over your blog for a day! :)
Not entering to win as I'm buying the book, but I could've used a little NASA expertise when I was designing my world!
ReplyDeleteIt is frightening to think that people could read out thoughts. It's the one place where we can always feel safe... except in Susan's world!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very interesting book. Don't think I would like anyone knowing what I was thinking either.
ReplyDeleteSue B