'The essence of ideas'

 “Human history in essence is the history of ideas.” – H. G. Wells

“The father of science fiction" (although some argue that it was Jules Verne), Wells was born on this date in 1866.  A prolific writer of novels, history, and social commentary, he authored such classics as The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The War of the Worlds, which got even more famous after a 1938 radio broadcast by actor Orson Welles.

 

 

Born into a poor family, Wells became enamored with books after breaking a leg at age 9 and spending his recuperation time reading.               He decided then and there that someday he would be a writer.  After earning a degree in biology - despite great financial and personal hardship - he used his scientific training to shape his writing.

His “fantastical” stories, as he termed them, became the foundation for a new genre, “science fiction.” Also an artist, Wells made part of his living doing sketches but noted, “I had rather be called a journalist than an artist” since it was also during that time – in his late 20s and 30s – that he started writing social commentary in newspapers and magazines.  But, while he was widely read in other genres, it was his "science" fiction that made him famous.

Wells noted that an author should always strive to make a story as credible as possible, even if both the writer and the reader knows certain elements to be impossible.  "That allows a reader to accept those elements even if they are fantastical . . . making the impossible plausible."

 

 

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