Sci Fi world building?

[Truthblade]

I am having a problem. I been into making a sci-fi story, but the problwm is that I am mostly new to the genre, as I have been 85% into the fantasy genre, and I am not sure how to avoid just having another Star Wars or Star Trek (I am only into the former though). What are the do's and don't's for building a sci fi world? What are guide lines for it, or are their any sites that could be useful?

[Knight]

Well, there's all sorts of different kinds of sci-fi. In the same vein of having low and high fantasy, there can be low and high sci-fi. You can have it set on earth 10 years into the future, and the only major changes to the setting might be the advent of advanced robotics, AI, holograms, etc. Or it can be like Star Trek/Wars and have interstellar travel, laser swords, teleporters and tractor beams. You can also have fantasy elements, like Star Wars and the Force and the prophecies and such, and still have sci-fi. The plot can concern itself a lot with the technology and its implications on society, such as in The Matrix or pretty much anything that involves AI, or have the technology just serve as a flavour or background, like in Star Wars or Cowboy Bebop, and have the focus mainly on the characters and the worldbuilding. The important thing is, if you go with the former option, the science and concepts need to make sense and be explained, as the audience needs to accept the main focus of the plot, whereas in the latter, it's not so important because that's not where your focus is.

You also need to think of how cynical or idealistic it is, which is something you need to do in all fiction, but in sci-fi it can affect your story a lot. An idealistic story might be set in the utopian city of the planet whatever where everything is shiny and chrome and everyone gets along. A cynical story might be set in the smoggy underworld of the mechanical planet whatever II which is rampant with crime or terrorism, and the buildings are stained with smoke. It all depends. Sci-Fi gives a lot of range, and I'd recommend looking up all the different styles of it, especially things like cyberpunk, science fantasy, etcetera. Get creative with aliens as well if you're going to have them. You can also blend sci-fi with pretty much any other genre.