About Star Trek Storytelling: From Star Trek: The Original Series to Star Trek: Picard – Do You Have What it Takes to Write in the Roddenberry Universe? by Dr. Joseph D. Di Lella:
Gene Roddenberry may have created Star Trek, but he relied heavily on others who understood how to write science fiction stories for television. Gene surrounded himself with brilliant men and women, several of which were science fiction legends, such as Harlan Ellison and Theodore Sturgeon, who were also great storytellers. Among the most important people on staff from the start were D.C. Fontana, Gene L. Coons, and others who helped shape the future of the iconic franchise to what is today: a juggernaut that produces nuanced stories about humanity rather than mere explosive space battles or heroic leaders defeating evil villains.
As Ray Bradbury, Stephen King and other world renown literary giants have promoted, the use of metaphor is most important in writing science fiction and fantastic stories. In the many incarnations of Star Trek (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and others), the best storiesshow the potential of our civilization. By developing memorable characters, complex plot lines and very human stories, writers like Michael Taylor (The Visitor, Things Past, and In the Pale Moonlight in DS9 for example) have shown us the many shades of grey in Trek characters, and most importantly, how real life problems are dealt with by all of us today. Michael Taylor’s stories, and other prominent writers in multiple Trek series, such as Ronald D. Moore, Ira Steven Behr, Micheal Piller, Jeri Taylor, Peter Allen Fields, to name a few, have revealed the very best and worst humanity is today, but also the hopefulness it holds for us in the future.
As you read this book, you will learn how to become a better storyteller like those featured in the Star Trek franchise over the past 57+ years.
