Posts Tagged ‘My Writing’
Writing Progress, Lack Thereof and Tropes, Liked by Me
Filed Under: My Writing, Writing Process
I am utterly failing to keep up the pace of writing this week. No words. Not even any revisions. I probably shouldn’t have bought that design book earlier this week. It’s great for the day job stuff, but reading it eats up the time and energy I should be spending working on my next story.
There’s this trope I am examining right now. One of the things about second world fantasy that bothers me is that it’s rarely very ambitious with how different things are from our world. Now, before you burn me at the stake, hear me out.
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More Thoughts on the Depression of Science Fiction
Filed Under: SF Business, Speculative Fiction
Charlie Finlay said in the comments on the last post that, for the past several years, every SF novel he’s read has seemed this way, which is why he’s trended towards fantasy. So I put some thought into what SF novels I had read recently.
The Execution Channel was the most recent one. Holy smokes, was this depressing. So it fits the bill. Postsingular seemed a lot more upbeat. In fact, it was the first near-future SF anything that I’ve read in a while that didn’t mention terrorism. So I haven’t really noticed a trend of depressive elements in my most recent reading of novels, but then, I don’t read a lot of SF novels.
I do know that Gordon has been talking about getting a lot more stories about death for a while now. Maybe I’m just now starting to see those stories being published here and there.
It’s odd, because I’ve spent the past couple of years kind of obsessed with death and the afterlife, and now that I’m coming out of that obsession and starting to feel better, I find death all over the place in my reading. Was it that common of a theme before? Not sure. I don’t remember it being so, but it’s probably a matter of my changed perspective as much as anything else.
Some questions.
1. Does anyone know how relatively optimistic the SF published in China is?
2. I don’t read Baen’s–are they more upbeat?
3. Do you think British writers have been more prone to depressive stuff since their own terrorist attacks recently?
4. Is there a need for upbeat SF? Not necessarily more positive, but maybe less, well, grim?
Why I hate Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, and…
Filed Under: Speculative Fiction, Writing Advice
Why I hate Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, and…
(This is a very tongue-in-cheek entry.)
It’s no secret to regular readers that I loathe so-called generic fantasy. And it is generic, in a very supermarket-product sense. Generic fantasy is a pale imitation of someone else’s original product. It is the yellow box that says CEREAL on the bottom shelf.
Most generic fantasy is wholesale intellectual thievery from J.R.R. Tolkien. Yes, he himself built his world based on mythology, and I am aware that one of his goals was to create a mythology for England. But that does not earn lazy authors any points with me if they write using his basic world-building elements. I don’t care if your elves are doing something nontraditional, like building and racing high performance race cars. I don’t care if they are detectives, paired up with a gruff but lovable dwarf who chomps cigars and quips about unsolved cases. You’re still relying mostly on the hard work that Tolkien did for your characterization and world building.
Stop being so lazy and make up your own worlds! China Mieville, you get an A from me. Even if I didn’t like Un Lun Dun very much (understandable, being a children’s book).
The same goes for you bloody adults that read this stuff. It’s forgivable in the habits of a D&D playing teenager, but you should know better. You’re deliberately impoverishing your brain by reading this stuff. Put down the Robert Jordan and back away slowly. The Sword of Shanara has been read plenty enough times. Terry Brooks, you have your money. Let’s lock all the copies in a big vault and forget about it for a few centuries.
It’s gotten to the point where I can’t even see Tolkien’s work clearly. I am sure he did something impressive and new, once upon a time, but I cannot view his work without looking through the lens created by the garbage that has followed it. I might have been a fan if I hadn’t been exposed to everything that came afterwards. I do enjoy the Hobbit, I guess, but it’s by no means my favorite fantasy novel.
I guess what I am trying to say is, if you write and sell a book that involves a reluctant, small-sized hero being tasked to steal something for the Bigger Folk and facing Mighty Danger, receiving help along the way from the lithe, tall, and earthy people with pointed ears and high chin bones, it gives me the right to punch you in the gonads. You have been warned.
Now I’m off to write up that dwarf-and-elf-they-solve-crime! story.
SF Magazines: Financial Models
Filed Under: SF Business, Speculative Fiction, Top Post
For my own benefit as much as anything else, I’d like to run through the models that I am aware of that can be used to financially support a magazine–whether it is a print or an electronic magazine. Here’s what I got. If I miss any, please let me know and I will continue to update this. These are not mutually exclusive. Many magazines use a combination of these.
Subscription/Pay Model
Giving the content in return for a subscription fee or a cover price. Generally selling a bundle of stories/content. Example: traditional print magazines.
Advertising Model
Selling access to your readers to advertisers, and placing their advertising among your content. Example: most traditional print magazines sell advertising as well.
Patron Model
Supported by a single person or small private group of people from private funds. Example: The Fortean Bureau was primarily our private money. (If you ever donated? You are my hero).
Donation/Fund Drive model
The NPR model, as I’ve heard it referred to. Regular requests for funds from readers, with no set amount. Example: Strange Horizons is the most successful example of this. I believe Escape Pod does this as well, but I haven’t seen any fund drives from them.
Full Site Sponsorship
A single corporate entity, for whatever reason, subsidizes the magazine. Example: SCIFICTION. I seem to think Chizine as well?
Premium Content
Special access to special content. A kind of subscription model. I’m not sure about this one, what do you guys think? Is it different enough? Example: Salon used to do this, but I am not sure if they do anymore.These models are irrelevant as to whether a magazine is nonprofit, hobby, or for-profit. Many of these models are considered failures. Which ones do you think work or don’t? Perhaps the best solution for a sustainable magazine (online or off) would be a combination of 3 or more?
I am not sure that the subscription model is working very well anymore. As Chance pointed out in the comments of the Triad post yesterday, comparing Escape Pod to the Triad isn’t a good comparison because Escape Pod doesn’t have a cost to subscribe. I argued that just because the one has a different model for support than the other doesn’t mean that they can’t be compared as “magazines” with readerships.
Steve, I know you sometimes read this– could you tell me or provide me a link to where you might talk more about the funding model behind Escape Pod? Chance argues that Escape Pod is your hobby, as another reason that the subscriber numbers can’t be compared. I’d like to know more about how Escape Pod affords to function, if you’re comfortable talking about it.
