7-3-I-Search-Shannon

= Tricks of the Science Fiction Genre = by Shannon

**Introduction**
Ever since I wrote my first story during writing class in fourth grade, I realized how much I loved to write. I started to write more and more stories and soon enough decided that I want to be an author when I grow up. I was hit with a problem though. I don't know what books I’m going to write when I do become an author. My research topic is What is the most popular genre in America, and what techniques are used to write that genre? I love to write stories based on the realistic fiction genre. The thing is though, not many people read realistic fiction stories, and the popularity of that genre is going down. Today, the most popular genre read by Americans is science fiction. Polls reveal that the realistic fiction genre isn't even in the top 12 most read book genres in America.

**Search**
When my technology teacher found out that I was wondering about what techniques are used when writing the most popular book genre in America, she told me that she knew someone who writes books in the science fiction genre, since science fiction is the most popular genre in America. From researching and reading a few pages in a science fiction textbook, I found a pattern. Science ficiton is different from ant other book genres. The author gives you information from the very beginning.

I found it interesting that the population of boys and girls can affect the population and the techniques of the author. My research shows that boys and girls have different interests in books, which affects the techniques that the writer uses. Most boys are interested in reading books with the genre of adventure, fantasy, and science fiction. Girls on the other hand are interested in reading genres of fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and science fiction. As you can see, girls read much more than boys do, so authors usually cater more to girls when writing their science fiction books.

I also interviewed many of my friends for my I-Search paper asking them what their favorite book genre to read is and why they like them the best. Two out of five people said that their favorite book genre is science fiction. The other three people said that they liked thrillers, mysteries, and fantasies. I also asked why they liked these book genres so much, especially the kids who said they enjoyed science fiction. Everybody had one thing in common when I asked them. They all said the beginning is always so interesting that it makes you want to read more. When I researched on my topic, I found some polls on the internet. The polls showed that 51% of the voters voted that science fiction was their favorite book genre. Thirty-two percent of the voters voted fantasy as the second favorite genre, and 17% of the voters voted historical fiction as the third favorite genre.

When I interviewed Linn Prentis, an expert on the genre of science fiction, I found out that when writing science fiction books, the author doesn't care about how much information they give the reader. They just care about getting the reader interested in the book. Science fiction is different from any other fiction books because the authors are just focused on putting as much information as possible into the book. Linn Prentis reads books that the author writes, then she edits them. What she finds when she edits these books is that the author makes up most of what they say, since it is science fiction, and gives imformation in all different amounts. Science fiction is different from any other type of genre of book because in most genres, the author gives the main point in the middle of the book. There is sometimes a preface that gives you a hint of what the book is going to be about. Scirnce ficiton is completely different. Again, the main purpose is to inform the reader, no matter where that information is put.

Conclusion
What I learned from writing my I-Search paper was that the science fiction genre is different than any other genre out there. The way that science fiction is written has a different concept than the other genres. It is made to inform the reader. It gives you information the minute you open the book.