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The Trek Creative Lexicon

 --Adapted shamelessly from--

 The Turkey City Lexicon

 A Primer for SF Workshops,

Edited by Lewis Shiner,
Re- Edited and added to by Garry Stahl and Jay P. Hailey

--Not Copyrighted--

Introduction

    This manual is intended to focus on the special needs of the science
fiction
workshop, with a special look at the needs of Star Trek fan fiction. 
Having an accurate
and descriptive critical term for a common SF problem makes it easier to
recognize and
discuss. This guide is intended to save workshop participants from having
to "reinvent
the wheel" (see section 3) at every session. The terms here were
generally developed
over a period of many years in many workshops. Those identified with a particular
writer are acknowledged in parentheses at the end of the entry. Particular
help for this
project was provided by Bruce Sterling and other regulars of the Turkey City Workshop
in Austin, Texas.   Additional terms by the Trek Creative FIDO echo and
internet
mailing list.

     This is not a list of flaws per say, or things that must, are all costs,
be avoided.  It is
a set of shorthand terms for common complex ideas that repeatedly occur.

Words

Bathos
    A sudden change in level of diction. "The massive hound barked in a
stentorian voice
then made wee-wee on the carpet."

Brand Name Fever
    Use of a brand name alone, without accompanying visual detail, to create
false
verisimilitude. You can stock a future with Hondas and Sonys and IBM's and still have
no idea what it looks like.

"Burly Detective" Syndrome
    Fear of proper names. Found in most of the same pulp magazines that abound
with
"said" bookisms and Tom Swifties. This is where you can't call
Mike Shayne "Shayne"
but substitute "the burly detective" or "the red-headed
sleuth." Like the "said" bookism it
comes from the entirely wrong-headed conviction that you can't use the same word
twice in the same sentence, paragraph, or even page. This is only true of
particularly
strong and highly visible words, like, say, "vertiginous." It's
always better to re-use an
ordinary, simple noun or verb rather than contrive a cumbersome method of
avoiding it.
    The oppisite of this is the "paid by the word Hack" that will
never use a
single word
when several will do the same thing.  The example give of the (Horror!) Pro
author that
refered to each and every character every time they were refered to or
spoke by full title
rank and name.  "Chief Engineer Lt. Commander Jordi LaForge."

The Capitalization Syndrome of Death
    This is where the author, for some reason or another, feels like every Word
deserves
Capitalization so to heighten its Importance. Found most often in fantasy novels.
[suggested by John Meyer]

Eyeball Kick
    That perfect, telling detail that creates an instant visual image. The
ideal of certain
postmodern schools of SF is to achieve a "crammed prose" full of
"eyeball kicks." (Rudy
Rucker)

Pushbutton Words
    Words used to evoke an emotional response without engaging the intellect or
critical
faculties. Words like "song" or "poet" or
"tears" or "dreams." These are supposed to
make us misty-eyed without quite knowing why. Most often found in story titles.

Random Hunting and Pecking
    Writing words that are not pronouncable. Like "Lymlpsfdasn" 
to describe a
foreign
language. [suggested by John Meyer]

"Said" Bookism
    Artificial, literary verb used to avoid the perfectly good word "said."
"Said" is one of
the few invisible words in the language; it is difficult to overuse. It is
infinitely less
distracting than "he retorted," "she inquired," or the
all-time favorite, "he ejaculated."
A good rule of thumb is that using a word otherthan "said" makes
your point clearer
or gives the sentence better flow (a situation much rarer than most writers believe),
then do so. If it doesn't, then try one of three things: Use
"said"(generally best); alter
the structure of the sentence so that the speaking verb is unnecessary (occasionally
helpful, but again not so often as one might think); attach an adverb (this is almost
always a bad idea).  See "Tom Swifty".  [Contributions by Joe Manno]

Tom Swifty
    Similar compulsion to follow the word "said" (or
"said" bookism) with an
adverb. As
in, "'We'd better hurry', said Tom swiftly." Remember that the
adverb is a leech sucking
the strength from a verb. 99% of the time it is clear from context how something was
said.


Sentences and Paragraphs

Bogus Alternatives
    List of actions a character could have taken, but didn't. Frequently
includes all the
reasons why. A type of Dischism in which the author works out complicated
plot problems at the reader's expense. "If I'd gone along with the
cops they would have
found the gun in my purse. And anyway, I didn't want to spend the night in jail. I
suppose I could have just   run instead of stealing their car, but then..."
etc. Best
dispensed with entirely.

Countersinking
    Expositional redundancy. Making the actions implied in a conversation
explicit, e.g.,
"'Let's get out of here,' he said, urging her to leave."

Dischism
    Intrusion of author's physical surroundings (or mental state) into the
narrative. Like
the character who always lights a cigarette when the author does, or is
thinking about
how they wished they hadn't quit smoking. In more subtle forms the
characters complain that they're confused and don't know what to do--when
this is actually the
author's condition. (Tom Disch)

False Interiorization
    Another Dischism, in which the author, too lazy to describe the
surroundings, inflicts
the viewpoint character with space sickness, a blindfold, etc.

Fuzz
    Element of motivation the author was too lazy to supply. The word
"somehow"
is an
automatic tip-off to fuzzy areas of a story. "Somehow she forgot to
bring her gun."

Hand Waving
    Distracting the reader with dazzling prose or other fireworks to keep them
from
noticing a severe logical flaw. (Stuart Brand)

Laughtrack
    Characters give cues to the reader as to how to react.  They laugh at their
own jokes,
cry at their own pain, and (unintentionally) feel everything so the reader
doesn't have
to.

Squid in the Mouth
    Inappropriate humor in front of strangers. Basically the failure of an
author to realize
that certain assumptions or jokes are not shared by the world at large. In
fact, the world
at large will look upon such a writer as if they had a squid in their mouths. (Jim
Blaylock)

Telling, Not Showing
    Violates the cardinal rule of good writing. The reader should be allowed to
react, not
instructed in how to react. Carefully observed details render authorial
value judgments
unnecessary. For instance, instead of telling us "she had a bad
childhood, an unhappy
childhood," specific incidents--involving, say, a locked closet and
two jars of honey--should be shown.

White Room Syndrome
    Author's imagination fails to provide details. Most common in the beginning
of a
story. "She awoke in a white room." The white room is obviously
the white piece of
paper confronting the author. The character has just woken up in order to be starting
fresh, like the author. Often in order to ponder her circumstances and provide an
excuse for Info Dump.

You Can't Fire Me, I Quit
    Attempting to diffuse lack of credibility with hand-waving. "I would never
have
believed it if I hadn't seen it myself." As if by anticipating the
reader's objections the
author had somehow answered them. (John Kessel)


Background

Appropriate Stupidity
    Any time the main character acts in an untypically stupid fashion, such as
not raising
the shields when they should, or trusting an obviously untrustworthy type,
in order to
develop a situation where the character must now act heroically to extract themselves
and others from the situation of their own making.
    To this author a lame method of setting up the situation or advancing the
plot by
having your protagonist act in an untypical manner, so sloppy plot development can
occur.  Captain Kirk not raising the shields in Star Trek 2 is a perfect
example. To be
avoided in any case. (Sandi Hedlund, Garry Stahl)

"As You Know, Bob"  (see "info dump")
    The most pernicious form of Info Dump. In which the characters tell each
other things
they already know, for the sake of getting the reader up to speed.

Author Needs You to Know
    Dialog or action that blatantly has no purpose other than to educate the
reader about
some important story detail. Usually a failed attempt to smoothly work in
an infodump;
cousin of the As You Know Bob. "'Do you really need it spelled out?'
Bob ranted. 'We
[followed by explanation]..." Or, "So, boss, remind me what time
I'm supposed to whack
the president?" Or, "Say, Captain, do we have enough fuel to
reach Tau Ceti, our
destination, in our scheduled time of six months?" [suggested by Andrew Burt]

Betty Sue
    Mary Sue's less pretty, less smart, and less perfect sister.  (See "Mary
Sue"
definition three.)  A metaphor for the way things really are.  The Betty
Sue Federation
still has rough edges and imperfect people in imperfect places.  Society is less than
ideal.  In short the reality of the situation.  (Garry Stahl)

Dramatic Sensor
    Specific to Star Trek, the "sensor" that weakens the shields,
or lessens
the effect of
the weapons, or makes the ordinarily stable technology flaky on the PC ship whenever
the writer feels a sense of heightened drama is required.  The use of false danger to
heighten the dramatic moment or attempt to create dramatic tension where none would
normally exist.

The Edges of Ideas
    The solution to the Info Dump problem (how to fill in the background). The
theory is
that, as above, the mechanics of an interstellar drive (the center of the
idea) is not
important; all that matters is the impact on your characters: they can get to other
planets in a few months, and, oh yeah, it gives them hallucinations about
past lives. Or,
more radically: the physics of TV transmission is the center of an idea; on
the edges of
it we find people turning into couch potatoes because they no longer have to leave
home for entertainment. Or, more bluntly: we don't need info dump at all.
We just need
a clear picture of how people's lives have been affected by their background. This is
also known as "carrying extrapolation into the fabric of daily life."

Extras
    The milling crowd, unwashed masses, or any unnamed bit character that does
not
warrant development.

The Grubby Apartment Story
    Writing too much about what you know. The kind of story where the starving
writer
living in the grubby apartment writes a story about a starving writer in a grubby
apartment. Stars all his friends.

Info Dump
    Large chunk of indigestible expository matter intended to explain the
background
situation. This can be overt, as in fake newspaper or "Encyclopedia
Galactica" articles
inserted in the text, or covert, in which all action stops as the author
assumes center
stage and lectures.  The "Captain's Log" is a tolerable example
of info dump.

Infohiding
    Withholding crucial information from the reader that the POV knows. Used to
create
cheap tension without having a necessarily tense plot. "Bob felt all
his energy focused
as he pried off the heavy lid from the sarcophagus. Bob knew from the hieroglyphics
what he'd find. Upon seeing its wondrous contents, he suddenly knew how he would
wreak his revenge on Anne. He heard a noise. 'Keep back; you know me -- you know I'll
shoot,' Bob warned the advancing figure." This jars the reader out of
the POV's view,
reminding them there's an Author out there pulling the strings. Solution:
tell the reader
outright anything the POV sees/knows that is of relevance; if it's not a
tense item in
itself, chances are it will be a letdown when the reader does find out, so
make the thing
itself tense, and let the reader share it with the POV. Alternatively, if
you need to keep
something hidden, present it from a POV who can't find out what's in there
either; then
the reader is not reminded they're not the POV (though the hidden thing itself should
still be interesting and worthy of being hidden). [suggested by Andrew Burt]

"I've Suffered For My Art" (and now it's your turn) Research dump.
    A form of Info Dump in which the author inflicts upon the reader
irrelevant, but
hard-won, bits of data acquired while researching the story.

McGuffin
    The object or person that drives the plot of a story.  The Holy Grail, the
"Lost Race",
the kidnap victim etc.  The McGuffin is the thing the PC(s) need to find or
interact with
to resolve the conflict in the story.  (See also "Plot Coupons")
(Alfred Hitchcock)

Mary Sue
 1)   The Perfect Protagonist.  In a Trek story she (usually a she, named after
the author
but not necessarily) graduates first in her class and the Academy while at the same
time teaching the Command school and re-writing the curriculum.  She is posted at
once to the Enterprise where her efforts increase the sensor power by five,
adds three
warp factors to the ship's speed and makes better coffee than any one else. Kirk,
Spock, and McCoy et all fall madly in love with her and when the villains
attack she and
she alone can save the ship by sacrificing herself.  (Jay Hailey)
     A Mary Sue character can be a Captain.  But he, or she, is usually a
brooding bad
ass, anti-social type,  who sneers at everyone and has a massive disrespect
for authority and rules.  His ship is usually the new super-dooper
experimental mega space
battleship of which there is no other.  Only Captain Mary Sue and the USS Enormous
Phallus can possibly save the Federation.
     The third form of Mary Sue, and perhaps the most evil is the Perfect
Antagonist "too
cool to lose" (Jezabelle Sue).  The author is thoroughly in love with
his villain and can't
stand to see them lose.  Nothing the PCs can do seems to alter the situation. When by
the vilest of methods they do defeat the wonderful villain, the villain
still gets away to
wreck havoc in the future.  Black Omne of the "Phoenix" books is
a perfect example of
this.  (Garry Stahl)

2)   The protagonists and their ship are the "best of the best". 
The ship is
the latest
experimental faster than heck super- battle- stealth- dreadnaught- etc., capable of
traveling faster than heck, through time, and chocolate pudding with equal ease, that
Starfleet has ever made.  All the crew are Mary Sues as per definition one. This is
usually the clue that the story or stories will be blatant wish fulfillment and power
projection.  Most usually found in "club fiction" where the
author(s) write about the club
members' characters in a Star Trek club.

3)   The way things "ought" to be.  The perfect Society as the
Federation sees
itself,
Prejudice and greed free. Truly equal opportunity and resources for all.
(Garry Stahl)

NPC
    Any other major character.  Minor crew with repeated speaking lines, the
villains, the
Commander that sends the PCs out.  Any character that is not a PC, but warrants some
developmental time, non point of view characters.  Also a term from RPGs.
"Non-Player Character".

PC
    The Protagonist Character(s).  The people in the story the reader is
suppose to
identify with and root for.  In a first person narrative, the character
telling the story.  A
term from role-playing games, the PC or player character.

Re-Inventing the Wheel
    In which the novice author goes to enormous lengths to create a situation
already
familiar to an experienced reader. You most often see this when a highly regarded
mainstream writer tries to write an SF novel without actually reading any
of the existing
stuff first (because it's all obviously crap anyway). Thus you get endless
explanations
of, say, how an atomic war might get started by accident. Thank you, but
we've all read
that already. Also you get tedious explanations by physicists of how the interstellar
drive works. Unless it impacts the plot, we don't care.

Space Western (see "used furniture)
    The most pernicious suite of used furniture. The grizzled space captain
swaggering
into the spacer bar and slugging down a Jovian brandy, then laying down a few credits
for a space hooker to give him a Galactic Rim Job.

Stapledon
    Name assigned to the voice which takes center stage in lecture. Actually a
common
noun, as: "You have a stapledon come on to answer this problem instead
of showing
the characters resolve it."

Used Furniture
    Use of a background out of Central Casting. Rather than invent a background
and
have to explain it, or risk re-inventing the wheel, let's just steal one.
We'll set it in the
Star Trek Universe, only we'll call it the Empire instead of the Federation.


Plots

Abbess Phone Home
    Takes its name from a mainstream story about a medieval cloister which was
sold as
SF because of the serendipitous arrival of a UFO at the end. By extension,
any mainstream story with a gratuitous SF or fantasy element tacked on so
it could be sold.

Booster Plot
     A subplot used to get the characters into the situation the author wants
then in.  This
is not bad, or even undesired in and of itself.  It is only bad if it
becomes a "Plot
Orphan".  (Suggested by Jungle Kitty)

Card Tricks in the Dark
    Authorial tricks to no visible purpose. The author has contrived an
elaborate plot to
arrive at (a) the punchline of a joke no one else will get (b) some bit of
historical trivia.
In other words, if the point of your story is that this kid is going to
grow up to be Joseph
of Arimathea, there should be sufficient internal evidence for us to figure this out.

Conceits  (The Jar of Tang)
    "For you see, we are all living in a jar of Tang!" or
"For you see, I am a
dog!"
Mainstay of the old Twilight Zone TV show. An entire pointless story contrived so the
author can cry "Fooled you!" This is a classic case of the
difference between a conceit
and an idea. "What if we all lived in a jar of Tang?" is an
example of the former; "What
if the revolutionaries from the sixties had been allowed to set up their
own society?" is
an example of the latter. Good SF requires ideas, not conceits.

Deus Ex Machina or God-in-the-Box
    Miraculous solution to an otherwise insoluble problem. Look, the Martians
all caught
cold and died!  Geordi invented some amazing technobabble and the problem vanished.

Hot Box
    A situation in which the characters are forced together not of their own
wills.  The
classic example is the prision cell in which two character of differing
backgrounds and
modivation must learn to deal with each other to get free.  The "hot
box" does not haveo
t be a literal box.  Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat" is a perfect example.

Plot Orphans
     Points of a plot brought up early in the story in seemingly an important
way, and
totally forgotten or unaddressed by the end.  The "Exact Duplicate of
Earth" comment in
the TOS episode "Miri" is a perfect example.  Plot orphans are
sloppy writing and/or
sloppy editing at work.  (Garry Stahl)

Plot Coupons
    The true structure of the quest-type fantasy novel. The "hero" collects
sufficient plot
coupons (magic sword, magic book, magic cat) to send off to the author for
the ending.
Note that "the author" can be substitute for "the Gods"
in such a work: "The Gods
decreed he would pursue this quest." Right, mate. The author decreed
he would pursue
this quest until sufficient pages were filled to procure an advance. (Dave Langford)

The Reset Switch, aka The Reboot  (AKA "BIG RED")
    Any device that allows a writer to completely erase any already-occurred
events of a
story and bring the characters back to a predefined starting point, with little or no
changes to them or their universe. Time travel ("It never
happened"), parallel universes
("It never happened *here*"), unconscious duplicates ("We're
all just clones/simulations/androids of the REAL characters!") and
dream-sequences ("It was
all a dream!") have all been used this way. To be avoided unless the
existence of such
a phenomenon is, itself, the story's or series' central plot point (as in
*The Man Who
Folded Himself* or *The Left Hand of Darkness*). [suggested by Stephen J. Barringer]

The Rug Jerk
    Any gratuitous plot or character twist tossed in solely to jerk the rug out
from under
the reader for the sake of surprise or shock, without sufficient
foundation, foreshadowing or justification (retroactive or otherwise).
Essentially any story twist that
violates Chekhov's principles: "If you fire a gun in Act III, it must
be seen on the wall in
Act I; and if you show a gun on the wall in Act I, it must be fired in Act
III." The Rug Jerk
fires the gun without showing it first or explaining where it came from afterwards.
[suggested by Stephen J. Barringer]


 Other terms are welcome, and will be added as they come up.  Do you have a
good
one?  Share it and it can end up here.









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