Lessons of the Future: Extrapolating the Future (The Handmaid's Tale)

When brainstorming for science fiction stories, we generally think of wondrous worlds and stories that take place in the future. Surprisingly science fiction is never actually about the future but an extrapolation of current technologies and social issues.

When writing for science fiction, we can choose from a variety of elements to start from. We can choose past, present, or future. We can choose any social issues to commentate on. We can predict how a technology will develop for better or worse. Whatever the elements we extrapolate from we generally start from the present. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood started by choosing to extrapolate on women’s issues and misogyny in America towards dreadful possibilities. The Christian religion is used as a tool to manipulate and control women in an authoritarian society that lacks the ability to reproduce. Offred seems to be suppressed but relatively harmlessly until later in the story where she is menacingly controlled by the elder women and men around her. Margaret Atwood used her current understanding of the religious suppression of women as a starting point to create a contrast between now and what could be. The larger the contrast between now and the future, the larger the interest we can generate in our stories.

Keep in mind what elements you want to extrapolate and how much contrast you can create. Higher contrast equals higher interest. When brainstorming, think about current issues and technology. Then how amazing or horrible you could make that technology. These few elements can serve as a good foundation for dystopia or utopia stories whether the story is science fiction or not.