Eccentric Flower talk:200907/Lets Have Some Links
From Eccentric Flower
Comments on Eccentric Flower:200907/Lets Have Some Links
Do you think the SF/F mags do that as a barrier to entry? That is, if they make you go to the effort of finding a big envelope and go to the post office to find the right postage, you're more committed to writing that some wanker who never leaves his mother's basement and can spam every slush pile in creation.
I think e-mail specifically and computers generally have improved writing overall. I write socially much more than I did before e-mail, and computers make my writing infinitely better because I can rewrite so easily.
-- 18:41, 6 July 2009 (BST)
Mrissa: I have a confession to make. I am not really as up on other pro publications that take e-subs as I should be. I became aware of that when reading Scalzi's comments and hearing mention of several publications I had never heard of. This is the peril of being a writer who no longer reads very much of the genre he allegedly writes in.
Also, as long as I'm being relentlessly honest - I tend to fixate on shiny objects. For years I focused overmuch on getting a story into F&SF (Analog seemed too hard-SF oriented, even if I did once get a lovely rejection letter from Stanley Schmidt, and Asimov's was out of bounds until Dozois retired.) Then I focused too much on getting a story into Strange Horizons. I'm going to try to make myself more aware of the possibilities forthwith - although, frankly, at this point the problem is more the lack of short, easily encapsulated story ideas than places to send them to.
Robert: Absolutely, but permit me to quote the Scalzi article again:
As for your latter point, my personal feeling is that while the online-writing revolution has improved the writing of people who already knew how to write decently, it has also let in huge hordes of people who can't write for squat (but often think they can). I feel the disadvantages of the lowering of the bar far outweigh the compositional advantages of the medium.
-- 19:21, 6 July 2009 (BST)
See, that's what I get for not following the link!
I agree that the internet has given idiots a platform, but where we differ is that I think the increased quality in signal (among pre-net good writers and in terms of getting news -- Twitters from Iran anyone?) outweighs the increase in noise.
-- 19:30, 6 July 2009 (BST)
but my first thought was "God, some people have way too much time on their hands,"...
Speaking of, have you seen this? It's one of the reasons I'm so glad I'm no longer in public service.
May it lighten your day. The end cracked me up. Sorta wish they'd used Hex, as well.
-- 21:14, 6 July 2009 (BST)
I equate Twitter with the telegraph -- requiring you to send a message in as few words as possible. The telegraph didn't screw up our writing skills, so why would Twitter?
-- 22:23, 6 July 2009 (BST)
"I can't help but feel that you're abusing our customer service policy."
Thanks, Bunny, that was great.
-- 23:11, 6 July 2009 (BST)
Mrissa:
Do you have anything against the other pro publications that accept e-subs? Baen's Universe, for example, or Fantasy?
Also, you're totally right that the former "Big Three" aren't taking notice--Van Gelder made a snarky remark about how he doesn't take e-subs just so that John Scalzi calls them irrelevant, which, y'know, completely misses the point of *why* Scalzi was doing that.
-- 18:31, 6 July 2009 (BST)