speculativewriting

Speculativewriting refers to writing that explores possibilities beyond the current reality. It covers fiction and nonfiction that imagine future technologies, alternate societies, or counterfactual events, and deliberately probes what could be rather than what is.

In fiction, speculativewriting includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and alternate history. Authors use worldbuilding, extrapolation, and plausible detail to create immersive settings and to test ideas about science, ethics, politics, and identity.

In nonfiction and critical contexts, speculativewriting covers thought experiments, futurism, and speculative essays that examine hypothetical scenarios, policy choices, and social implications of emerging technologies.

Historically, the practice has roots in utopian and dystopian literature of the 18th–19th centuries and developed into diverse subgenres in the 20th century, such as cyberpunk, climate fiction, and high-concept speculative narratives.

Reception and use: Scholars and writers use the term to discuss works that deliberately imagine alternatives to reality, often to critique contemporary society or to explore ethical questions. Some critics distinguish speculativewriting from realism, arguing it prioritizes possibility over present feasibility.

See also: speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, thought experiment.