Editing Robert A. Heinlein (section)

===Writing style===
Heinlein is often credited with bringing serious writing techniques to the genre of science fiction. For example, when writing about fictional worlds, previous authors were often limited by the reader's existing knowledge of a typical "space opera" setting, leading to a relatively low creativity level: The same starships, death rays, and horrifying rubbery aliens becoming ubiquitous.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} This was necessary unless the author was willing to go into long [[exposition (narrative)|expositions]] about the setting of the story, at a time when the word count was at a premium in SF.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

But Heinlein utilized a technique called "[[Exposition (narrative)#Indirect exposition/incluing|indirect exposition]]", perhaps first introduced by [[Rudyard Kipling]] in his own science fiction venture, the [[Aerial Board of Control]] stories. Kipling had picked this up during his time in [[India]], using it to avoid bogging down his stories set in India with explanations for his English readers.{{refn|1=Kipling had learned this trick in India. His original Anglo-Indian readership knew the customs and institutions and landscapes of British India at first hand. But when he began writing for a wider British and American audience, he had to provide his new readers with enough information for them to understand what was going on. In his earliest stories and verse he made liberal use of footnotes, but he evolved more subtle methods as his talent matured. A combination of outright exposition, sparingly used, and contextual clues, generously sprinkled through the narrative, offered the needed background. In ''Kim'' and other stories of India he uses King James English to indicate that characters are speaking in Hindustani; this is never explained, but it gets the message across subliminally.,<ref name=Lerner /> quoted in {{Cite web |title=Rudyard Kipling Invented SF! |website=Armed and Dangerous| date=December 2, 2005 |author=esr |url=http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234 |access-date=December 29, 2022 |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401060459/http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234 |archive-date=April 1, 2017 }}}} This technique — mentioning details in a way that lets the reader infer more about the universe than is actually spelled out<ref>[http://rachelsimon.com/wwg_exposition_v2.php The Writer's Writing Guide: Exposition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203023707/http://rachelsimon.com/wwg_exposition_v2.php |date=December 3, 2016 }} <br />With indirect exposition, the writer gives the reader the data in subtle but clear ways, thereby allowing the reader to be a partner when it comes to laying the foundation of the story. For instance, the narrator of Mona Simpson's story "Lawns" begins by telling us: "I steal. I've stolen books and money and even letters. Letters are great. I can't tell you the feeling walking down the street with 20 dollars in my purse, stolen earrings in my pocket." With this opening, we learn about the narrator's obsession with theft but, equally important, we learn the narrator's gender. This is done indirectly, by referring to the narrator's purse and the desire for stolen earrings.</ref>  — became a trademark rhetorical technique of both Heinlein and writers influenced by him. Heinlein was significantly influenced by Kipling beyond this, for example quoting him in "[[On the Writing of Speculative Fiction]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/157307571/On-the-Writing-of-Speculative-Fiction-Robert-a-Heinlein|title=On the Writing of Speculative Fiction—Robert A. Heinlein—Science Fiction—Science|publisher=Scribd|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=June 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625021927/https://www.scribd.com/document/157307571/On-the-Writing-of-Speculative-Fiction-Robert-a-Heinlein|url-status=live}}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[file:heinlein-competent-man-quote.jpg|thumb|right|Heinlein is famous for his use of the Competent Man as a fundamental character in his stories.]] -->
Likewise, Heinlein's name is often associated with the [[competent man|competent hero]], a character archetype who, though he or she may have flaws and limitations, is a strong, accomplished person able to overcome any soluble problem set in their path. They tend to feel confident overall, have a broad life experience and set of skills, and not give up when the going gets tough. This style influenced not only the writing style of a generation of authors, but even their personal character. [[Harlan Ellison]] once said, "Very early in life when I read Robert Heinlein I got the thread that runs through his stories—the notion of the competent man ... I've always held that as my ideal. I've tried to be a very competent man."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvaIuzLV41gC&q=competent+man+heinlein+character&pg=PA54|title=Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever|first1=Ellen|last1=Weil|first2=Gary K.|last2=Wolfe|date=November 26, 2017|publisher=Ohio State University Press|isbn=9780814208922|access-date=November 26, 2017|via=Google Books|archive-date=June 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605003205/https://books.google.com/books?id=XvaIuzLV41gC&q=competent+man+heinlein+character&pg=PA54|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Rules of writing====
{{See also|On the Writing of Speculative Fiction}}
When fellow writers, or fans, wrote Heinlein asking for writing advice, he famously gave out his own list of rules for becoming a successful writer:
# You must write.
# Finish what you start.
# You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
# You must put your story on the market.
# You must keep it on the market until it has sold.

About which he said:

{{blockquote|The above five rules really have more to do with how to write speculative fiction than anything said above them. But they are amazingly hard to follow—which is why there are so few professional writers and so many aspirants, and which is why I am not afraid to give away the racket!<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/heinleins-rules-introduction/|title=Heinlein's Rules: Introduction|website=Deanwesleysmith.com|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120150222/http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/heinleins-rules-introduction/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Heinlein later published an entire article, "[[On the Writing of Speculative Fiction]]", which included his rules, and from which the above quote is taken. When he says "anything said above them", he refers to his other guidelines. For example, he describes most stories as fitting into one of a handful of basic categories:

* The gadget story
* The human interest story
* Boy meets girl
* [[The Brave Little Tailor|The Little Tailor]]
* The man-who-learned-better

In the article, Heinlein proposes that most stories fit into either the gadget story or the human interest story, which is itself subdivided into the three latter categories. He also credits [[L. Ron Hubbard]] as having identified "The Man-Who-Learned-Better".