In my opinion most science fiction is like old west stories. They may start out with a little logic and then quickly succumb to shoot em up stuff. The Alien series was popular for the reason it was intended to appeal to not so smarts that liked gore with a little suspense provided by victims walking down corridors scared as can be. I do not read current science fiction but in the distant past I read some of the good stuff, like, Jules Verne, 2001 Odyssey, Frankenstein and others. Good writing is far better that movie style interpretation. With that limitation on my background I will try to offer suggestions. Stephen King is getting very rich on my idea of crap.
If money is your primary goal then try the combination used by Stephen King- horror and beyond science reality. Read one of his books if you can and study his style. He gets away with the impossible. If you want studious approval read Frankenstein for the flow of the idea and potential for reality embedded in the work. I understand that Alex Asimov wrote some good science fiction but I never read any of it so I make no comment; try it out. The library has some very good books on all kinds of writing; I have read a lot of them.
1. Get an idea from real life of some unusual, possibly freak, happening and enlarge it into you main premise. Or take a real science story and have it go sour with unexpected results- you can decide how and what.
2. Make the body of the story work towards the eventual finish. It must be original and entertaining. A little mystery helps.
3. Devise a conclusion consistent with your original introduction and provide a logical outcome that has some surprises.
Think about the abundance of virus stories gone wild that have been sold and are still being written. Don?t waste your time rehashing old ideas because Hollywood has word thumpers doing that on a daily basis.
I hope this is of some help. The actual story ideas I am keeping for myself until I can not find anything real to write about. Good luck.
jjw
