5. The importance of abeyance.

Much of science fiction is not jargon, but it might stump a reader as much as if it were.

In Orson Scott Card's book on writing science fiction, he quotes the first sentence from Octavia Butler's novel, Wild Seed:

"Doro discovered the woman by accident when he went to see what was left of one of his seed villages."

Butler did not explain what she meant by a "seed village" before going on.  I haven't read the book, so I don't know that she ever did explain it.  I doubt that she did.

Reading science fiction is like reading a mystery novel - waiting for an explanation provides a little mystery and makes the story more interesting.  Not getting the explanation, but being expected to try to figure it out yourself makes the story even more interesting and engaging - it allows the reader to participate in the story, instead of just setting there like a bump on a log.  The participation required by abeyance is a vital part of both mystery and science fiction stories.

"What is it?" in a science fiction story is much like "Who done it?" in a mystery.