Tweet of the Day: Information Density and Selecting Planks for
Story Scaffolding At some point in the creation of your
speculative fiction universe you have to decide what are the
outer limits of the powers, abilities or magic that make or are
used in the universe. Some common limits are (following last
week talk on checklists) are as follows: - No
Teleportation/Instant Communications - No Bringing People Back
from the Dead - No Rearranging of Matter at Will (including
creating food/water out of thin air) - No Time Travel (unless
your story calls for such a thing) The reason for these
limitations is simple: once introduced into the universe they
derail any story. Lets take time travel for example. If you can
travel in time at will, you can prevent almost anything from
happening based on your fore knowledge or create more problems
in a series of time loops/paradoxes that never end. If you can
bring people back from the dead, then a major source of tension
in any story is removed and life is cheapened according