by Caroline Murray
Photo by Kayla Peterson.
From leading Columbia College to (almost) winning video games, President Scott Dalrymple is a man of many talents. He recently shared his expertise in one of these many talents: science fiction writing.
The Intergalactic Science Fiction Writer’s Symposium was led by President Dalrymple on Monday, Feb. 16. The symposium included readings of Dalrymple’s short stories as well as sharing his thoughts and experiences as a science fiction writer. The event was very interactive, with the students and community members in attendance guiding the discussion with their questions.
Dalrymple, who has been writing science fiction since he was a teenager, has been published three times. One of his short stories, “Queen of Kanguellas,” was named winner of the 2010 Realms of Fantasy Readers Choice Award.
“Science fiction is a very friendly field,” Dalrymple said. “You can write to your favorite writers and many of them will write back to you.”
With aspiring science fiction writers in the audience, Dalrymple addressed several aspects of science fiction writing, from his biggest creative influences to how to get published to the importance of developing a distinctive voice.
He said with good quality writing and some effort, getting published is not as hard as it may seem.
“If you have good stuff, it takes a minimal amount of work to get noticed,” Dalrymple said. “It is not easy to impress people, but just pick a magazine you like and try to write something you’d like to read.”
The event was sponsored by Alpha Chi honor society and was held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Brixby Lecture Hall at the main campus of Columbia College.