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Does a science fiction author need to be well educated in science?

As an author what skills do we need to burn our head if we plan to write the first story. Suppose one plans to write a crazy mind blowing fiction or fantasy story. Is it necessary for the author to have well knowledge in science concepts before penning down a science fiction masterpiece? Lets dig down in details.

An author definitely need to have a basic scientific knowledge in order to be a sci-fi writer. When you are providing a fictional concept over science , there has to be an underlying logic to support your fiction. It sounds weird – how can both fiction and logic come together. Let me explain with an example.

Suppose you are describing a scene where the protagonist making free fall from a sky. As per science , he should be racing towards the ground by the gravitational force which is quite natural .Now lets define your character is possessing supernatural power which can help him/her fly .It can now defy the gravity by the power of wings . All depends whatever supernatural power the protagonist is endowed with. Now you can construct the scene as a science fiction author as follows .

XYZ(protagonist ) fell from the sky freeing falling towards the earth . As soon as he is reaching towards the ground , he lets his wings pop out and thus saves himself from hitting the ground .

Hope this clears your confusion. This is one basic example .You can take any real life scientific phenomenon and put fiction concept on your writing if you are planning to write a fantasy story. You need to use science in a logical way and fiction concept together which may seem unrealistic initially . But when you realize the combination of both these elements gives a powerful weightage to your story, you can make a great science fiction story.