RELG 2101 Week 6: Trip to Mars

For a change of pace, this assignment asks you to write a “science fiction and religion” story about Terrans visiting Mars. This is a Mars of your own imagining. It may or may not have residents. It may or may not have signs of civilization. Your story might involve an established colony, or a crash-landing, or a war among colonists, or negotiations among colonies, or . . . . In other words, let your imagination roam free. The story must involve some component or aspect of a religion or religions. Be sure to give your story a title. Your story should be a minimum of 750 words–though that is a minimum. The story should be as long as it needs to be. At the end, provide a brief commentary on what you hoped to accomplish in the story, particularly as related to the themes of the course. As always, this assignment must be submitted by midnight Saturday.

RELG 2101 Week 6: Trip to Mars

A few observations about writing stories:

Imagine your reader: what should the reader see/sense/understand about the characters, environment, action? How do you make that come alive?
Stories usually have some conflict that is proposed, acted out, and resolved–or at least some conflict that engages the reader.
Dialog among characters is usually represented by separating each character’s comments into separate paragraphs. Not always. But always make clear who is speaking and to whom. Using dialog is a good idea, though not a requirement because
Stories have a point of view. This can be as simple as being told in third person (he/she/it/they) or first person (I). That point of view is usually consistent in tone and diction (word choice).
Be aware of questions that readers might have about unstated ideas in the story. Like what religion is, in the framework of the story, for example. And it’s always cool to invent a new religion, though that is not a requirement, either.