Yes, folks, I intend to write a science fiction short story. I may or may not submit it for entry into a contest for publication in an anthology. It all depends whether it's gripping enough to keep the reader interested, and doesn't seem to be a rip off of some other work out there. I've read and watched a lot of science fiction, and the plot lines do get a bit trite, even though the costumes change.

If it doesn't keep me interested, it'll never keep anyone else interested, and I'm far from self-absorbed enough to think that everyone must dote on every word I say and enjoy what I write. For my purposes with this story, I really do not need a professional editor, but I absolutely must bounce it off a few people who are good critics. They can spot continuity errors, spelling errors and grammatical errors that I might miss. I usually catch them myself, but every pair of eyes helps. And if the plot really sucks, someone will point it out to me, even if I think it's alright.

Plagiarism isn't something I would do, for two reasons: 1) it's wrong; 2) it probably would take me a lot more time and effort to plagiarize something than it would to thoroughly research my subject and just write my own words. Research sci-fi? It's all made up, right? Sure, why not research it? If story details come down to the name of an LIRR train yard, and you're a lifelong Texan, you might need to research it, so that you could say Sunnyside, Queens, instead of using the name of an MTA subway rail yard elsewhere in Queens or in Brooklyn.

It's a bit different for a math person to go off and write fiction as a sideline, but there is a bit more precision to writing (I think) than most people realize.

Anyway, wish me luck. I'll have little to no time to work on it, but I already have a lot of notes jotted down regarding characters, plot line, and extra-terrestrial "props." It's at the idea stage at this point, but it's a short story, so not all ideas need flesh out, and perhaps half won't, without breaking up the continutity of the story. But it's a fun exercise to keep my mind active.