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Interim Newsletter, November 1949
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INTERIM NEWSLETTER OFFICIAL ORGAN OF SCIENCE FICTION INTERNATIONAL - November 49 - 1/2. DEAR EDITOR......... Science Fiction has the happy knack of stimulating its enthusiasts to express themselves in lengthy letters to the editors of professional or amateur publications. It is unfortunate that the quality of this prolific writing lags hopelessly behind the quantity. This quality hits an all time low in letters to professional magazines in which the writer lists the stories of a previous issue and adds comments after each, such as "Terrific", "Boy! Can he write", "It stinks" and other bons mots. These phrases do not constitute constructive criticism of the story which could be used by the editors to sample the opinion of their readers. Such expressions only give an indication of the state of mind of the mental adolescent at the time he happened to read that story. This brings up the point of what constitutes a good letter or article on science fiction and who is to be elected as a judge. The only person with the authority to exercise any judgement at all is the editor of the amateur or professional magazine and it is upon his judgement that the success or otherwise of the column depends. It is unfortunate that some editors actually go so far as to encourage the writing of inanities and their comments on a sometimes intelligent letter may take the form of doggerel verse or a frivolous remark which contributes little to the discussion. As a start anyhow, we will try to enforce the following:- The editor should print letters which tend to stimulate orderly discussion in the columns of his publication and suppress letters which are dashed off thoughtlessly by the impetuous, who do not consider their brainchild worthy of careful preparation. Grammar, spelling and presentation create a favourable impression if handled properly, and produce a lack of confidence if they are not. Typed letters, double spaced on one side of the paper make easier reading and will command more attention that wretched little notes scribbled on both sides of a street car transfer. As for subject, let it be anything within the scope of the particular publication. The writer should treat one topic, or a sufficiently small part of a topic so as to come to some conclusion within the space of the usual letter. For example: if the writer were to take "Rocket Ships" as his topic he would be very unlikely to finish his essay under novelette length yet if he were (Over page)
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INTERIM NEWSLETTER OFFICIAL ORGAN OF SCIENCE FICTION INTERNATIONAL - November 49 - 1/2. DEAR EDITOR......... Science Fiction has the happy knack of stimulating its enthusiasts to express themselves in lengthy letters to the editors of professional or amateur publications. It is unfortunate that the quality of this prolific writing lags hopelessly behind the quantity. This quality hits an all time low in letters to professional magazines in which the writer lists the stories of a previous issue and adds comments after each, such as "Terrific", "Boy! Can he write", "It stinks" and other bons mots. These phrases do not constitute constructive criticism of the story which could be used by the editors to sample the opinion of their readers. Such expressions only give an indication of the state of mind of the mental adolescent at the time he happened to read that story. This brings up the point of what constitutes a good letter or article on science fiction and who is to be elected as a judge. The only person with the authority to exercise any judgement at all is the editor of the amateur or professional magazine and it is upon his judgement that the success or otherwise of the column depends. It is unfortunate that some editors actually go so far as to encourage the writing of inanities and their comments on a sometimes intelligent letter may take the form of doggerel verse or a frivolous remark which contributes little to the discussion. As a start anyhow, we will try to enforce the following:- The editor should print letters which tend to stimulate orderly discussion in the columns of his publication and suppress letters which are dashed off thoughtlessly by the impetuous, who do not consider their brainchild worthy of careful preparation. Grammar, spelling and presentation create a favourable impression if handled properly, and produce a lack of confidence if they are not. Typed letters, double spaced on one side of the paper make easier reading and will command more attention that wretched little notes scribbled on both sides of a street car transfer. As for subject, let it be anything within the scope of the particular publication. The writer should treat one topic, or a sufficiently small part of a topic so as to come to some conclusion within the space of the usual letter. For example: if the writer were to take "Rocket Ships" as his topic he would be very unlikely to finish his essay under novelette length yet if he were (Over page)
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