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Open Question Wednesday #1
Apr. 9th, 2008 01:34 pmWelcome to my first weekly Open Question Wednesday. Where I ask a question and hope for comments. I'll keep this up every Wednesday until I forget, lose interest, realize no one's replying, or until the giant sandworms eat me.
Science fiction & fantasy readers, writers, and fans used to hold heated discussions and debate in the forums (fori? forae?) of magazine columns, letters to the editor, snail mail, and conventions. These methods were slow, sometimes sporadic, and often of limited audience.
Now fans, writers, artists, publishers, et. al can get together for small or large discussions at any time, and ideas disperse with viral speed (faster than warp speed, I hear).
How has this had an impact on the homogenization of the genre? Are writers bouncing some of the same ideas around in their heads as other writers and leading to parallel thought processes? Are we losing diversity? Are we missing out on strong originality and creativity? Would one writer alone in the woods in a rustic cabin have a better shot at creating something startling and new?
Science fiction & fantasy readers, writers, and fans used to hold heated discussions and debate in the forums (fori? forae?) of magazine columns, letters to the editor, snail mail, and conventions. These methods were slow, sometimes sporadic, and often of limited audience.
Now fans, writers, artists, publishers, et. al can get together for small or large discussions at any time, and ideas disperse with viral speed (faster than warp speed, I hear).
How has this had an impact on the homogenization of the genre? Are writers bouncing some of the same ideas around in their heads as other writers and leading to parallel thought processes? Are we losing diversity? Are we missing out on strong originality and creativity? Would one writer alone in the woods in a rustic cabin have a better shot at creating something startling and new?
