Neil wrote:
*Anything* can be dull to read, if it's written badly enough. Conversely, almost anything can be interesting to read, if it's written in the right way. Even a story about watching paint dry could be made to work if it was about Avon's thoughts as he watched it drying out. (I'm not saying it would be easy to write, or that it would turn out a deathless classic, just that a perfectly readable story could be made out of the classic epitome of boredom.)
'The Mezzanine' by Nicholson Baker is worth reading for insight into what a good writer can do with unpromising material. A reasonably interesting novel about one man's lunch hour.
As to the SF, a lot depends on how you define it. I would say any fiction set in a hypothetical future is more or less SF of a kind by default. But that leads on to the thorny problem of 'What *is* SF?' for which there are no easy answers.
There's generally some thought that one ought to be exploring the changes in science and technology, either directly or their effects on society or individuals. I would say that I don't write science fiction (even if I write in the B7 universe), though I enjoy reading it.
If you don't know about it, don't write about it. That's why there's never any sex in my stories:)
And I only ever write bad sex...
A degree of imagination appears to be called for? Or even perhaps research? None of us live in the B7 universe (thankfully), none of us actually are Blake, Avon and crew, so there's got to be some imagination somewhere in all B7 fic.
Tavia