Reason for writing
I began to write fiction in 2024 after retiring as an emeritus professor of marine science and a career of writing non-fiction science. Some of my reasons were personal. I had always been a workaholic and needed to keep busy, and I wanted a hobby that would keep my mind active. I also wanted to inspire my son to write; I think he has a lot to say. Not surprisingly, my first novel, while a post-apocalyptic climate science fiction story, was also about a father-son relationship where the father wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. To date, this aim remains unfulfilled. But I also had a larger purpose for tackling creative writing.
Over the years, I have found it increasingly difficult to communicate the science of environmental problems, particularly climate change, both to the lay public and to students. Even students who understood the concept intellectually often failed to appreciate the risk. Many of them suffered from what is called techno-optimism, i.e., that technology, in particular geoengineering, will get us out of this mess.
Recently, some have suggested that the science behind environmental problems, particularly regarding climate change, might be better communicated using stories rather than purely fact-based narratives. If the lay public gets most of its scientific information from the mass media, they might be more motivated through emotional stories and relatable characters.
The golden rule in creative writing is ‘show, don’t tell.’ Unfortunately, when talking to the public or lecturing to students, especially non-science majors, scientists often resort to telling rather than showing, i.e., rely on data dumps. They might feel the audience will not be interested or does not possess the basic knowledge to understand the methods, or perhaps it’s for expediency. There is a lot of material to cover in general science courses.
So, I set out to write compelling stories about the environmental challenges facing humanity. My goal was to inform my readers about the process of science, as well as the dangers we face. My objective was to create characters that my readers could relate to, seeing themselves or someone in their family in them. I would also construct my plots based on plausible science. Having worked as an environmental scientist for nearly forty years, first as a government scientist and later as a professor, I thought this would be a good fit for me. After all, I had become a teacher-scholar years earlier because I felt I had a knack for taking complex issues and making them understandable.
After writing non-fiction science for so many years, creative writing has been a challenge. The objective in writing science is to be succinct but precise while avoiding flowery language and especially evocative words. If you read my stuff, you will see that I am still working to free myself from these constraints.
Before outlining my first story, I had to decide on the tone for my stories. As a scientist, of course, I did my research. There is considerable debate about the tone of messaging regarding climate change. Some maintain that “fear appeals”, attempting to motivate by emphasizing doomsday scenarios, have led to apocalypse fatigue and climate nihilism, and thus are counterproductive. Others disagree and continue to find fear appeals generate heightened emotional arousal and thus increase risk perception and outcome efficacy. Although it might be conformational bias, I found more studies suggesting that fear appeals remain effective, particularly when readers are also given ways to avoid the negative outcome. Who doesn’t love scary stories?
I confess I chose fear appeal because it also reflects my personality. After all, another rule is—write what you know. I characterize myself as a hopeful pessimist, believing most days that we can still prevent climate change from leading to the collapse of civilization. But I must admit, on some days I feel failure is inevitable. Regardless, even if that’s the case, we still have a moral obligation to our children and grandchildren to keep trying, and so I write.
