DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Fantasite, v. 2, issue 5, whole 11, May-June 1943

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Fantasite, v. 2, issue 5, whole 11, May-June 1943

Page 16

16......THE FANTASITE

"artistic". All science fiction roday, or at least practically all of it, is commercial. That is, it is written for a market, for financial remuneration. In most cases it is written for an editor who serves a publishing house, who in turn caters to the dictates of his reading subscribers. If the average fan would only remember this, he would be a little less severe with some of his criticisms and less glib with others. 

Now commercial writing is written primarily to entertain. In some cases, of course, this motivation has been deeply amplified to thrill, to startle, or to horrify. But sheer entertainment is its principal feature. It stands to reason, therefore, that a writer who is dependent on his manuscripts for his bread and butter must remain--shall I say, conservative? --and follow the dictates of his editorial purchasers. 

"Yes," the fan will say, "but why doesn't he write exclusively for magazines X and Y? Both of these books publish the better things. Why must he turn hack and turn out this balderdash?"

The answer is, your full-time writer can't afford to serve only two editors. He can sell them an occasional story, and he frequently does. But since he is living in a society where everything has a monetary value, he must write where his efforts will go rewarded.

Show me a writer whose fiction appears regularly and consistently in a dozen or more magazines, and I'll show you a writer some fans take a keen delight in burning in effigy. Show me an off-the-trail story with a cosmic theme and a unique approach, and I'll tun you in to applause from coast to coast. 

Are these fans to be censured for picking out hack material? Certainly not, if they can also discern material which is not merely fantastic.

I remember when I was in high school a fad of wearing one ear-ring which suddenly appeared in the feminine student body. In a few short weeks there was hardly a girl in school who didn't amble between her classes with a single pendant hanging from the lobe of one ear. The fad lasted a month. Today we have ear-rings, but, praise be, the girls wear both of them.

And so with creative writing. If one is an ultra conservative or a modern, a realist or a romanticist there are certain requirements he must follow. This does not mean a sneering villain and a bronze-faced hero, but it does mean a skeleton or framework that constant usage has made correct.

The fantasy or weird fan is in some respects more observant from a literary standpoint than is his brother, the science-fiction fan. Again and again I've seen it poorly written, poorly constructed science story rated "tops" simply because it had a new theme. Again and again I've read unfavorable reports from readers regarding a story by a prolific author that was beautifully written and adroitly handled in development, simply because it was conservative. The weird fan on the other hand, bothers little with this line of thought. He is interested in effect, and he appreciates all the little skillful additions which go to throw an intellectual spell of escape entertainment over him.

Hugh B. Cave (have you read his book, "Fishermen Four"?) once gave me an amazingly simple platitude. Said he: "Writing is the art of omission; not commission." And so it is. Any fool can turn out reams of copy on one subject, leaving nothing to the imagination. The true craftsman uses only what he needs, leaving the reader's intelligence to fill in the remaining details for himself. Clifford D. Simak's stories illustrate this point clearly. Utilizing abrupt transitions, one after another, he blends the whole into a smooth and complete unit.

A great many fans, of course, are skillful critics, which is why the magazines publish their letters. They analyze a story for its story value, and their comments both aid the writer and the editor and also pave the way to a better, finer, fiction of the future.
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16......THE FANTASITE "artistic". All science fiction roday, or at least practically all of it, is commercial. That is, it is written for a market, for financial remuneration. In most cases it is written for an editor who serves a publishing house, who in turn caters to the dictates of his reading subscribers. If the average fan would only remember this, he would be a little less severe with some of his criticisms and less glib with others. Now commercial writing is written primarily to entertain. In some cases, of course, this motivation has been deeply amplified to thrill, to startle, or to horrify. But sheer entertainment is its principal feature. It stands to reason, therefore, that a writer who is dependent on his manuscripts for his bread and butter must remain--shall I say, conservative? --and follow the dictates of his editorial purchasers. "Yes," the fan will say, "but why doesn't he write exclusively for magazines X and Y? Both of these books publish the better things. Why must he turn hack and turn out this balderdash?" The answer is, your full-time writer can't afford to serve only two editors. He can sell them an occasional story, and he frequently does. But since he is living in a society where everything has a monetary value, he must write where his efforts will go rewarded. Show me a writer whose fiction appears regularly and consistently in a dozen or more magazines, and I'll show you a writer some fans take a keen delight in burning in effigy. Show me an off-the-trail story with a cosmic theme and a unique approach, and I'll tun you in to applause from coast to coast. Are these fans to be censured for picking out hack material? Certainly not, if they can also discern material which is not merely fantastic. I remember when I was in high school a fad of wearing one ear-ring which suddenly appeared in the feminine student body. In a few short weeks there was hardly a girl in school who didn't amble between her classes with a single pendant hanging from the lobe of one ear. The fad lasted a month. Today we have ear-rings, but, praise be, the girls wear both of them. And so with creative writing. If one is an ultra conservative or a modern, a realist or a romanticist there are certain requirements he must follow. This does not mean a sneering villain and a bronze-faced hero, but it does mean a skeleton or framework that constant usage has made correct. The fantasy or weird fan is in some respects more observant from a literary standpoint than is his brother, the science-fiction fan. Again and again I've seen it poorly written, poorly constructed science story rated "tops" simply because it had a new theme. Again and again I've read unfavorable reports from readers regarding a story by a prolific author that was beautifully written and adroitly handled in development, simply because it was conservative. The weird fan on the other hand, bothers little with this line of thought. He is interested in effect, and he appreciates all the little skillful additions which go to throw an intellectual spell of escape entertainment over him. Hugh B. Cave (have you read his book, "Fishermen Four"?) once gave me an amazingly simple platitude. Said he: "Writing is the art of omission; not commission." And so it is. Any fool can turn out reams of copy on one subject, leaving nothing to the imagination. The true craftsman uses only what he needs, leaving the reader's intelligence to fill in the remaining details for himself. Clifford D. Simak's stories illustrate this point clearly. Utilizing abrupt transitions, one after another, he blends the whole into a smooth and complete unit. A great many fans, of course, are skillful critics, which is why the magazines publish their letters. They analyze a story for its story value, and their comments both aid the writer and the editor and also pave the way to a better, finer, fiction of the future. ******** ******