How to Include Technobabble in Your Sci-fi Story

For some reason, this post didn’t go up on the usual Saturday, even though I scheduled it (thanks, WordPress), so here’s a Sunday special!

You might have heard of the term “technobabble” when it comes to writing sci-fi. In short, it’s the new terms you use to establish and describe something scientific or technical in your sci-fi story. This is partly to make your story cooler, but also it functions as the “science” for whatever you’re making up. For example, imagine you’re writing a story set on a space colony on Venus, and people travel to Venus by space elevator. Venus space colonies and space elevators don’t exist, so you need to include science-y explanations for how your world works.

But how do you include technobabble in your story? There are definitely wrong ways to go about it. Find out how to create authentic technobabble below!

Also, check this awesome technobabble generator for some inspiration!

Don’t Include Too Much

First things first, don’t include too much technobabble. You want your sci-fi story to have convincing tech, sure, but if you drag readers down with all kinds of new terms, then readers won’t get invested in your plot and characters.

You also want to make sure your sci-fi story avoids two things:

1. Too much exposition about the new world you’ve created (if you have to go into paragraphs about what’s going on because you included so much technobabble, then readers will abandon the story), and

2. Confusing information (readers shouldn’t be confused at any point! If you introduce new information through technobabble, make sure it’s information that readers can understand)

For example, imagine your story takes place on a rocket bound for another galaxy. Presently, we don’t have that tech available, so you need to make up your own. This is where the technobabble comes in. However, spending too much time on how your spaceship works and stuffing your prose with phrases like “delta wave” or “radon cannon” forces readers to lose interest. Only include short descriptions where necessary. And on that note…

Make It Relevant

Now that you have the right amount of technobabble and you’ve established what new ideas you want to include in your story, you need to make it count. You need to make the technobabble relevant. Thankfully, this is simple:

1. Only include it when you describe new tech (for example, how a control panel of a spaceship works when your protagonist uses it)

2. Include it when describing the main tech-centered concept of your story (if your story includes something new, like a space elevator, and that’s most relevant to your story, drop a few bits of technobabble to describe the elevator when necessary)

Need more help with your short story? Check out these tips for writing a sci-fi story.

Make It Make Sense in the Story

Lastly, when you include technobabble, make it make sense. This means using terms in a way that readers could theoretically grasp. Make them say, “Yeah, that sounds like how that would work in real life” when they read. This doesn’t mean you need to be scientifically accurate (unless you’re writing hard science fiction).

For example, suppose you want to include a hyperdrive in your story. Lots of sci-fi stories include this, but to use it well, it needs to make sense when you describe it. A few ways to do that include:

1. Understanding actual science (DO YOUR RESEARCH. A hyperdrive may not be real, but the science behind how it could theoretically work should be. Use the science to your advantage)

2. Using real words (don’t rely on making too much up. You still want your readers to be grounded in science they’ll likely be familiar with. People will know what “molecular” means, more or less, when you include it)

3. Not including too much (this goes back to what I just talked about. Keep the technobabble at a good amount, like you would descriptors).

Need help coming up with a sci-fi story? Check out these 10 sci-fi prompts to get you started!

Now you’re on your way to creating a believable and immersive sci-fi story. Happy writing!

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