# How to write from an alien perspective?



## InnerFlame00 (Dec 11, 2014)

One of the books I am working on is set in a world with both humans and aliens. I have two main characters: one human and one alien. Despite the fact that I have thought out a lot of the alien culture, history, and temperament I'm at a loss when trying to write from my alien character's perspective.  How do I make it alien enough that it isn't too human and therefor not believable, but not so alien that the reader can't relate?


----------



## Bishop (Dec 11, 2014)

Having written from the perspective of hundreds of aliens, I can tell you there's no formula or right answer. It depends on racial traits, how their society is formed, level of intelligence/sentience, political and religious structures, physiology... all while still making them (on some level) connect to your human audience.

The best advice I can give you is to read fiction with alien characters in. See how they do it, what you like and what you don't.


----------



## Schrody (Dec 11, 2014)

Make them similar to us. They don't have to look human, but give them dreams, feelings... something familiar.  Anyway, that's what I did.


----------



## Morkonan (Dec 11, 2014)

InnerFlame00 said:


> ... How do I make it alien enough that it isn't too human and therefor not believable, but not so alien that the reader can't relate?



Use filters.

Think differently.

Speak to human concerns.

Write comprehensibly.


Alien Culture will play a strong role in how your alien thinks. Their "values", if any, are likely going to be derived from their cultural experiences. Everything that alien witnesses _must_ pass through this filter. Organize your alien's thinking priorities based on such things. For instance, what would an alien think about when being invited to a cocktail party?

The alien might commit suicide. Having no qwrilbits, since it is a solitary refugee within the human's home system, it can not defend its social status when confronted with such a threat. Human "cocktail parties" are serious social combats, each attendant striving to demonstrate their contributions to larger society by competing with others who attend. It has no qwrilbits with which to mark its own social distinction. When faced with the threat of being invited to what practically amounts to "murder of self", the alien walks out an airlock and into vacuum... 

But, what's not important in this example is, in fact, the example itself. Instead, what's important is that we're demonstrating a cultural filter in practice. To be of further use, we'd have to apply this cultural filter of "social relevance" to everything the alien does in the story. And, that's the key - You can't "one off" alien thinking. An alien's thoughts, organized around cultural imperatives, must be consistent and ever-present in situations in which one would logically expect them. For instance, when boarding an elevator, the alien rudely shoves its way to the front. Why is that? Well, it's not because of some human-like inconsiderate behavior. Instead, the alien has no qwrilbits... So, because it can not physically demonstrate its social relevance and it's affirmed positive contributions towards a larger society, it feels that it must act to reflect its social status by acting to possibly "defend" the other occupants of the elevator from anything that may threaten them from the other side of the elevator doors, when they open. In this minor way, the alien can feel it can "survive", for the moment, the social stress it is under by engaging in overt, culturally relevant (in its interpretation of such) behaviors. It will act to "defend" in order to atone for its current lack of qwrilbits and, hopefully, its immediate actions will be recognized by the humans as serving the greater social good, for a time. (No, I don't know what a qwrilbit is, that's for you to decide.)

An alien's senses will necessarily act as a filter, as well. In fact, even over stronger relevance than cultural filters, the filter of an alien's "senses" will define its entire view of reality. Humans are blind to ultra-violet light. However, its very possible than an alien would not be similarly blind to that portion of the spectrum. (Some Earth species are not similarly hampered as humans.) The alien may act on ultraviolet cues present in an environment, even one shared with humans, that would otherwise be indescribable to a human. What about "extra-sensory perception?" I don't mean "ESP" in the form of magical brain powers, though those could also be present. I mean senses for which there is no human analogue for us to empathize with. For instance, what if the alien could sense its physical surroundings without using any human analogue? In total darkness, the alien could sense the presence of nearby objects or even its elevation or current slope. What if the internal magnetic "compass" of many migratory bird species were present in an alien? It would always know which way any particular magnetic field aligned. This would be useful if it was lost, but it might be very uncomfortable if it was passing through a old-fashioned metal detector or if a ship's "screens" relied on magnetic field manipulation.

What if an alien could think faster than us? We're limited by physical law in thinking substantially slower than "the speed of light." But, what of an alien armed with an electronic brain? Or, one with a photo-electric brain or "assisted thinking device?" It would possibly "know" what we were going to do before we did. It might be able to think through complex problems at such a speed that it rivals the infinite wisdom of a mythological god. Its culture would, to us, appear to change rapidly, from inception to something that was incomprehensible in a matter of a few months or years. Writing solely from this point-of-view would be easy, until you had to incorporate slower-thinking human characters... So, what makes this sort of alien thought distinctive if they're just so darn smart that they already know the end of the story? That's when you confront the alien with something that it can't brute-force its way into thinking through. And, you'll do that by handing it your plot... What's being exampled here is the "filter of limitations" that you'll also place within your alien species. Every "alien" has its Achilles heal, no exceptions. As a writer, you can't go about creating "perfect" aliens. Besides being impossible, they're insulting to your human readers.  For all their brilliance or wonderful abilities, human readers find an alien species' limitations the most alluring. We like to feel special. Despite our own limitations, we still believe we are special. So, take that to heart when creating your "alien species." Give them their own limitations and present that as a "filter" as well. What would a brilliant, faster-than-light thinking, alien species be confounded by? How about the human will to survive and to be defiant in its ignorance of the overwhelming possibility of failure and the very real likelihood of a "Black Swan" saving them from total destruction as a result of this act? What does that do? It demonstrates the "limitations" of such a threatening species and reinforces positive human traits that we long to see represented in fiction.

Lastly, while the temptation to enter into unintelligible dialogue _might_ be present, try to avoid it when possible. There's no reason to write a page of "!$TGddgww bobreig2$!% bing blat bong" just because you're trying to speak like an alien or transcribe its thoughts. Sure, use some indecipherable terms, where appropriate, but when addressing things that humans would recognize, it's better to write them so they can be comprehended rather than trying to be "cool" and to obscure them. In order to be "real" the Reader has to be able to comprehend your alien. The Reader has to be able to understand your alien species, even if that species is "fictionally" incomprehensible. (If it was truly incompressible, you couldn't write about it.  ) The alien can still refer to "chairs" as "sitting devices", whether or not they're in a story with other humans. But, it can't go around referring to them as "2t46h2", because then the Reader couldn't comprehend what it was thinking or saying.

I love aliens. They're extremely engaging and fascinating creatures. I even like writing about them.


----------



## InstituteMan (Dec 11, 2014)

When I've done an alien first person POV, a number of iterations have been necessary to figure out the voice and perspective of the alien. I have found that starting with the interestingly alien bit of the character makes the endeavor more fun, but really it takes multiple passes to get human-centric biases out of the writing.


----------



## Plasticweld (Dec 11, 2014)

InnerFlame00 said:


> How do I make it alien enough that it isn't too human and therefor not believable, but not so alien that the reader can't relate?



I don't know if the reader has to relate to how an alien thinks.  If you take the most outrageous action that your alien has, you need only to work backwards to explain the particulars. 
_
The most outrageous thing I can think of, "They kill their first born."
_
Many generations ago, King Thor's first son died as an infant. Thor was later to go on to be one of the greatest leaders of all time. We enjoyed prosperity and victory in war.   When Thor pasted away. His son Char, had healthy family and all his children lived, We endured years of hardship and famine. When Fhor, char's eldest son inherited the kingdom his first born son died, as an infant; we regained  our wealth and went on to be undefeated in war.  Since then the crowned king would sacrifice his first born to ensure prosperity for the people; proving that they the people were more important than his own family, setting an example of what selfless leaders do.


I say think of something that the readers would be fascinated by, use that as a way to add a sub story line and build an understanding of the alien race.   It gives you the perfect vehicle to make them very different yet understood.


----------



## Kyle R (Dec 11, 2014)

InnerFlame00 said:
			
		

> I'm at a loss when trying to write from my alien character's perspective. How do I make it alien enough that it isn't too human and therefor not believable, but not so alien that the reader can't relate?



Sorp wrinkled her forehead and probed the soft cube with her tentacled hand. _This_ was what passed for sustenance? A crimson gelatinous mass? "Is this an attempt at humor?" she asked. "Surely you don't expect me to _eat_ this." 

Tommy huffed and rolled his eyes. "It's called JELL-O, you freak." He waved his spoon at her. "Just try it! You'll like it. I promise."

Sorp blinked both sets of her eyelids. For a bipedal creature, this _Tommy_ sure was bossy. She waved her spoon back at him. "Don't make promises you can't keep, human."

:encouragement:


----------



## Tettsuo (Dec 12, 2014)

It's not possible.

We can only try to create a character that is close enough to human that we could apply our understanding, but outside of the "common" human experience.


----------



## Terry D (Dec 12, 2014)

Tettsuo is right. All of our characters are human because we are human (just in different shapes). All you can do is understand what is important for your readers to get out of the alien character and then find a way to camouflage the humanness. We don't know what's really going on in the minds of the species closest to us, so even our wildest speculation about alien thoughts would be anthropomorphized.


----------



## Bishop (Dec 12, 2014)

Tettsuo said:


> It's not possible.
> 
> We can only try to create a character that is close enough to human that we could apply our understanding, but outside of the "common" human experience.





Terry D said:


> We don't know what's really going on in the minds of the species closest to us, so even our wildest speculation about alien thoughts would be anthropomorphized.



While you're both right, I think it's important for humanity to speculate about these things. It's an exercise of imagination and forces creative empathy on us. Not to mention, it's a butt load of fun.


----------



## Terry D (Dec 12, 2014)

Bishop said:


> While you're both right, I think it's important for humanity to speculate about these things. It's an exercise of imagination and forces creative empathy on us. Not to mention, it's a butt load of fun.



Yes it is, Bishop. This is one of those topics where my interests come to cross purposes. As an amateur astronomer I'm, of course, interested in the chances of life 'out there' and considering what that life would be like (probably not like anything we can imagine). I think about it, as a scientistish person and try not to fall into the trap of anthropomorphism. Often that pragmatism spills over into my writer's brain.


----------



## Kyle R (Dec 12, 2014)

I agree that, realistically speaking, it's unlikely that we'd accurately portray an alien's POV. 

Fortunately, fiction doesn't have to be bound by accuracy or realism. 

To me, it all comes down to freedom of character.

Turning to the dictionary, what is the origin of the word *character*?

Middle English: from Old French _caractere_, via Latin from Greek _kharaktēr:_ "*a stamping tool.*"

From the early sense "*distinctive mark*" arose "*token, feature, or trait*" (early 16th century), and from this "*a description, especially of a person's qualities*," giving rise to "*distinguishing qualities*."

You put your own stamp on your character. You give it your own marks. You give it its own features, traits, and distinguishing qualities.

In short, you can make your alien character think and behave however you want it to be. 

It's _your character_, after all. :encouragement:


----------



## Morkonan (Dec 12, 2014)

Terry D said:


> Tettsuo is right. All of our characters are human because we are human (just in different shapes). All you can do is understand what is important for your readers to get out of the alien character and then find a way to camouflage the humanness.



That's not necessarily always true.

I can't possibly know what you are thinking. I can't know what Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill was thinking during their trials, but I can write biographies about them that are compelling and accurate. Why is it that I can write about people who have experiences and thoughts that I couldn't possibly completely understand, yet bring those very same people "to life" in fiction or biography?

Why can't I do the same thing with an "alien?" What forbids me?

I have a fascination with ethology and animal behavior, especially relating to intelligence and an animal's "consciousness." I know, for instance, that a baboon often must find itself placed within a matrilinial society with competing matrilinial lines of alliances and rivalries. I know that it often makes social decisions based on these ties and its own place within the group. I know that the baboon feels stress when confronted with tricky social situations and a loss of status or potential rivalry with another lineage. Why do I know these things? I know them for the exact same reason that I can deduce the thoughts of any human character - Through the study of behavior and my capacity for empathy.

We are going to anthropomorphize everything, in a way. In order to make some things comprehensible or predictable, we have to be able to "translate" privileged thought into something we can understand. That translation problem will loose some of its relevance, the further removed two species or even two cultures are from one another. But, if it is still valid enough to be able to accurately predict behavior, none of that matters. It's only when it falls apart and no longer works to predict behavior that it is "wrong", even if it wasn't completely accurate to begin with.

There are several different sorts of "alien." Most are simply camouflaged humans in alien-suits. Those are boring and dull aliens. Yes, just about every character one writes about addresses "human" concerns. However, one can certainly write "aliens" without making them into parodies of humans. Science-fiction is about how society deals with the changes that technological advancement force upon it. One can certainly write a story about very alien aliens and how they influence a person or society, at large. One can even come close to describing something that is truly alien, if it is already accepted that, at best, what we are doing is "translating" the behaviors we witness into something that is comprehensible and has predictive value.



> ..We don't know what's really going on in the minds of the species closest  to us, so even our wildest speculation about alien thoughts would be  anthropomorphized.



In some cases, I would agree with this sentiment. However, those would be dealing with specifics and unpredictable portions of their experience that we share no common ground with. For instance, their culture might be largely a mystery to us. We might be able to describe it, somewhat, but we couldn't "grok" it at its most basic level. However, there are things that we would likely have in common. We would share the many of the same experiences, since we're both in the same physical universe. (Not always necessarily true, though.  ) We might even understand that an alien must breath, since we both have cellular respiration. We might understand that an alien is "hungry", since we're both electrochemical factories encased in meat-sacks. An alien will sense its environment and respond to it, like many other living things. These basic things are within our grasp to understand and, perhaps, can even serve as a basis for a common-ground approach to communication. What they "think" doesn't matter, just like what I actually "think" is irrelevant to anyone. It's only what they do or what I do that gives any signs of internal thought.

That being said, writing "internal thoughts" must also be a translation into a form we're capable of comprehending. It's an approximation, some sort of literary hand-waving that says "Yes, I know nobody is actually capable of reading the mind of another, but this is how we do it in writing fiction." That part of writing is just another one of those things that casually accepted by writers and Readers, but its truly extraordinary implications are largely ignored. Everything we write about the thoughts of anyone, whether they're human, alien, dog or dolphin, are "anthropomorphized" in the sense that they're related so that a generic human being who is reading the story can understand it. Always. We hope to give these internal thoughts some individual flavor that makes them distinct, applicable only to the fictional individual who is thinking them. If we can do that effectively with such a wide variety of strange Earthly creatures, we can do that for an "alien."


----------



## ppsage (Dec 12, 2014)

Write it with your off-hand, using a white crayon, from the bottom of the page, on white paper. Standing on one leg, closing your eyes back and forth one at a time and holding your good hand on your forehead spelling out the letters as you go in pantomime. If you practice this until you can do it well, you will have achieved a fairly alien perspective, at least in a single practical aspect. If you translate what you've written into a language which you do not already speak, a second, perhaps more mental, aspect will arise. At this point you will likely be able to write the most convincing aliens on record, and if they've been given something interesting to do, the sky's the limit.


----------



## bazz cargo (Dec 13, 2014)

We are all aliens to each other. I can't get my head around why my work colleagues do what they do, let alone a bug-eyed monster from Lagrangian. 

Are you sure I'm human? What about PP Sage? What about Schrody? Put yourself inside the character and play with it.


----------



## K.S. Crooks (Dec 14, 2014)

You may want to base the perspective on what the aliens value most as a society or their core values. Using Star Trek as an example, what different species do and say is based on their core beliefs. Vulcans- logic and self- control, Klingons- honor and loyalty, Ferengi- profits and acquisition, Human- knowledge and adventure. Decide what the two or three most important things are to the alien society then bases most dialogue and actions off this, at the same time trying to make members of the same species individual. hope this sparks a few ideas.


----------



## Bishop (Dec 14, 2014)

K.S. Crooks said:


> ... alien society then bases most dialogue and actions off this, at the same time trying to make members of the same species individual.



The second part of your sentence is incredibly important. I've read poorly written science fiction where a species is characterized by certain things, and then every member of that species is nearly interchangeable. A people can be known for certain traits that are NOT shared by every single member of the species. Look at different subgroups of humans--there's an infinite level of complexity and diversity in our own race alone, let alone an alien race that can span multiple planets and trillions of people.

Another thing to remember is that if a species (take humans for example) settles on an alien world that's different than our own, over time their bodies will adapt differently to service their environment. It happens over a LONG time, but it's cool when done properly in fiction. Harry Harrison uses this a lot in his novels, where humans have sort of become alien by settling on worlds with varying conditions.


----------

