I've just been talking to cloudlessclimes about Lotrips stories we loved back in the day, and it reminded me of a topic I wanted to discuss with you all: fannish touchstone stories
( Read more... )
I go back and forth about whether I believe in bellwether theory (i.e., it's the individuals who make the zeitgeist, not the other way around). I do think that certain individuals are more likely to create a Touchstone, and that's it's a combination of personality and talent that makes a person a bellwether. But I don't think that's the whole story. There's also something about the story itself -- it has to have a fresh idea, but not too fresh, and it has to be deeply from the heart -- indulgent, even -- but still not too purple for the current taste (whatever that is).
I can understand being freaked out by the tide of the zeitgeist -- it's a very strange and headless beast. Fortunately, it's not something I have personal experience with.
a lot of my favourites of the stories I've written are the least favoured
Now this is fascinating to me. It's not true of my own work, although I am often surprised by feedback -- things I think of as "very minor works" can get as much feedback as things I poured my heart into and worked layers into and slaved over for months. But the stories I've written that ended up being "least favored" also tend to be my own least favored, FWIW.
I can understand being freaked out by the tide of the zeitgeist -- it's a very strange and headless beast. Fortunately, it's not something I have personal experience with.
a lot of my favourites of the stories I've written are the least favoured
Now this is fascinating to me. It's not true of my own work, although I am often surprised by feedback -- things I think of as "very minor works" can get as much feedback as things I poured my heart into and worked layers into and slaved over for months. But the stories I've written that ended up being "least favored" also tend to be my own least favored, FWIW.
Reply
Leave a comment