...the people who eventually write science fiction are the people who grow up reading science fiction. People start writing literary fiction as they tumble through writing programs at Sarah Lawrence or Bennington or Iowa because that’s what they’re expected to write and they want to impress their professors and fellow students; people start writing science fiction, on the other hand, roughly ten seconds after they set down The Star Beast or Ender’s Game or Snow Crash because they get done with the book and think, holy crap, I want to do that.Read the rest of the post
Monday, December 10, 2007
Since I'm not writing anything for you to read...
...here's a recommendation: Science fiction writer John Scalzi has an interesting post about the durability of Heinlein, controversy in literature, and why people write sci-fi:
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1 comment:
So,
the book that I am currently finishing has a great bit about reading sci-fi, but there is a parallel that is no co-incidence:
They walked into classrooms in Waukesha and Peoria and Cheyenne and Moose Jaw and Redwood City and placed a gentle bomb on the teachers desk. Instead of an apple it was Asimov.
"What's that?" the teacher asked, suspiciously.
"Try it. It's good for you," said the students. "read the first page. If you don't like it, stop." And the clever students turned and went away.
The teachers (and the librarians, later) put off reading, kept the book around the house for a few weeks and then, late one night, tried the first paragraph.
And the bomb exploded.
They read not only the first but the second paragraph, the second and third pages, the fourth and fifth chapters.
There is definitely something instantaneous about science fiction. Applicable, familiar, and instantaneous.
The book this is from is called Zen in the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury. It's a small collection of essays, which I think you would appreciate.
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