Ever since Robert Heinlein coined the word “speculative fiction” in the 1940s, the writing world has struggled to define exactly what it is. Many have placed science fiction and fantasy under this “umbrella” but is this truly accurate? When Mr. Heinlein “created” this word, he was thinking about science fiction and did not considered fantasy to be a part of it. At that time, he as well as many other sci-fi writers, were not particularly happy with the sci-fi genre and its limitations. They wanted to push their writings beyond the traditional boundaries of that genre.
In my mind, speculative fiction isn’t just science fiction and fantasy. It encompasses any work that doesn’t follow the traditional mode of a given genre. In poetry, we called this “experimental.”
What are your thoughts?
my super quick answer is SpecFic is when you play the “what if” game. the longer you play that game, the sooner you realize it is limitless.
I love playing that kind of a game! So many possibilities! So much fun!