Prototype X - issue 2

[A_Non_Ymous]

Now that Prototype X, issue 1, is nearly ready to go, I want to urge those who plan to submit something to the second issue to start getting the work ready. I am talking about new work, as well as people who submitted a story to PX-1 that Perdix didn't accept for whatever reason.

Just because a story wasn't acceptable the first time doesn't mean it can't be made acceptable with some hard work. If you can manage to fix problems in a work that was rejected, the work is its own reward, however frustrating it can be.

In addition, I have a theory that it may be possible to get Perdix to accept works longer than 6000 words, if they're good enough. It's worth a try.

LSN

[xidrep]

...And the printer lives long enough...

We need that grant... :lol:

[A_Non_Ymous]

Anent the grant, have you already applied for a grant from the arts council? Or are you awaiting the production of the book to use as a sample proof of our "sincerity"?

As for the printer, they DO wear out mechanically with heavy use, of course. Does the printer show signs of succumbing to electro-mechanical fatigue already?

I saw some interesting photos of Langdon Jones from the mid-'60s that had a caption referring to him being at the printing press. Did NW actually use their own press way back when? It seems unlikely. :-]

LSN

[xidrep]

Re: The Arts Council: definitely the latter. I tink a 'pilot' edition will help with proving intent (or put them off forever!) :lol:

No, the printer is fine - v robust, and (Thank God) very fast. Just a bit cartridge-hungry! But it's doing OK. The 'final' 'proof' copy has just come off it today - just a few tweaks, insert the Squid piece, finish the bios and the Sheditorial, wait for the ISBN No, and we're off!

[A_Non_Ymous]

A very reasonable plan, I think.

Is there anyone who can help give the effort a push with the arts council? Perhaps Mr. Moorcock himself? (This seems like asking a bit much, but it might be worth a try, if we can supply him with more Swiss Rolls.)

I'm glad to hear that the printer seems to be holding up. The cost of replacement cartridges is a sore point for many, of course.

LSN

[A_Non_Ymous]

Perhaps we can coax Bill out of poster-retirement if we ask him for a submission to issue 2. Bill posted an appreciation of Etive's "Neurotic Dancer," so we know he has SOME interest in such activities -- we're just not sure HOW much.

I don't know Bill very well, so I'm a little reluctant to send him e-mail on this subject, but will consider it. We'll see.

LSN

[Poetgrrl]

thank you. just what one needs.
MORE pressure. MORE stuff he wants.
yay. just what i needed.

:lol:

actually, i'll poke around here and see what turns up. and thank you once again for being there. 8) *hug*

[devilchicken]

Surgery and immigration worries out of the way, I'm hoping to make a concerted effort to get something in for PX2.

Though I do wonder if my stuff will be a bit too mainstream for the publication. Sadly my tendency is towards the mainstream - in particular the 30's - 50's pulp end of the market (Robert E Howard, Saxe Rohmer, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Richard Matheson etc).

[A_Non_Ymous]

Surgery and immigration worries out of the way, I'm hoping to make a concerted effort to get something in for PX2.

Though I do wonder if my stuff will be a bit too mainstream for the publication. Sadly my tendency is towards the mainstream - in particular the 30's - 50's pulp end of the market (Robert E Howard, Saxe Rohmer, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Richard Matheson etc).

If it's literate and intelligenly executed, it can be done. The problem a lot of people have when they tend to write in such a tradition is that they tend to fall into clichأ©s. Still, it is probably worth a shot.

Ever think, for example, to what degree Leiber's Fahfrd and Grey Mouser stories belong in such a tradition? In the right hands, it can work.

LSN

[devilchicken]

That's really the trick I think. I realised quite a long time ago that if I was going to write anything approaching decent, I would be doing it for myself for a loooong time before I ever considered publication.

Cliche's really are the stuff of the devil, and really so easy to fall into.

I think the key is to finding your own voice as opposed to trying to replicate the voice of other writers. Those writers I mentioned above - what I respect most about them is the way their prose is (in the main) so cleanly descriptive, and yet they are able to convey so much action in a relatively short space of lines. That's also what MM is so good at - maintaining the intensity of a short story over a much larger work.

I guess that's the discipline you develop working for magazine markets with strict word count limits.

[A_Non_Ymous]

An aside: I would agree that Sax Rohmer and Burroughs (Edgar Rice, not William) are more or less the same sort of tradition.

Robert E. Howard, although he comes out of their style to a degree, at his best far surpasses them. (He can out do them in another way at his worst. :-])

I find Richard Matheson to be a completely different sort of writer, more firmly rooted in the '50s and early '60s style of sf / fantasy / psychological horror. He has closer kinship with people like Ray Bradbury than with the others you mentioned.

If what you write reeks of all three approaches, it must be an interesting confection.

LSN

[devilchicken]

Well I've yet to write anything complete yet - its the usual story of ideas started then abandoned, fragments of scenes and undefined characters. I really need to make some real strides in that regard - become a bit more regimented and finding time for myself to write seriously.

I'll actually get a chance to meet Richard Matheson in August if all goes to plan. He's doing a book signing at the store I work at. Apparently he has a new book out (the guy is still writing at nearly 80). His new book got rather terrible reviews - but I'm hoping he'll sign a couple of back titles.

Howard is interesting in that the quality of his stuff ranges so very much - he went from writing some really appalling rubbish, to some rather amazing, clearly inspired 'mood and action' pieces. Worms of the Earth, and Tower of the Elephant spring to mind, to name but two.

In a way its easy to see MM sitting for a couple of days writing intensely, and coming up with something like 'The sailor on the seas of fate'. I've yet to find my 'zone' I think. Or rather, had it and lost it, and am now trying to rediscover it.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

An aside: I would agree that Sax Rohmer and Burroughs (Edgar Rice, not William) are more or less the same sort of tradition.

Robert E. Howard, although he comes out of their style to a degree, at his best far surpasses them.

8O Howard better than ERB!? Blasphemer! Defiler! Heretic!

No, I'm just messing with you, LSN. To each his own. I just happen to be re-reading the John Carter books right now (I'll finish Chessmen of Mars today and be moving on to Mastermind) so, you know, that's where I'm coming from. I suppose if I dug into the Conan books after this, I might come around to agree with you.

I think the key is to finding your own voice as opposed to trying to replicate the voice of other writers.

I've found that my own writing will change slightly as influenced by the author I'm reading, without my even noticing it until I re-read my work. As I said, I've been reading a lot of ERB and it was interesting to note the subtle differences in phrasing evident in my most recent journal entries. Not that I've moved to writing things like, "Would that I could procure better employment" or anything like that; let's just say my grammar is less lax lately. (See, I could have said "of late," instead of "later" but didn't. :))

Anyway, I guess my point is that I would agree that trying to replicate another author's work is a bad move, although being influenced by great writers is, I think, a good thing.

[A_Non_Ymous]

An aside: I would agree that Sax Rohmer and Burroughs (Edgar Rice, not William) are more or less the same sort of tradition.

Robert E. Howard, although he comes out of their style to a degree, at his best far surpasses them.

8O Howard better than ERB!? Blasphemer! Defiler! Heretic!

No, I'm just messing with you, LSN. To each his own. I just happen to be re-reading the John Carter books right now (I'll finish Chessmen of Mars today and be moving on to Mastermind) so, you know, that's where I'm coming from. I suppose if I dug into the Conan books after this, I might come around to agree with you.

:lol:

You know, I go to a certain amount of trouble to put nuances into statements of the sort I made above. This one was no exception. Truth be told, I'm not wild about ERB, Rohmer, or Howard, but looked at objectively, in his best work, Howard hit a pretty high mark. I am not taken with Conan the Barbarian, quite frankly, but some of the stories are exceedingly well done as well as being well-written. (Some of the King Kull stories are more to my taste, but they aren't necessarily better or as good.)

ERB has many positive things about his work, but it's among the best of the pulp tradition; it rarely seems to transcend it.

ERB wrote a LOT more work, of course, so it's easier to pick on.

Ever look at Fritz Leiber's book, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold ? It's an entertaining book, and the ways that Leiber departed from ERB's approach serves (to my thinking) as a sort of critique while perpetuating the original series.

LSN

[PsychicWarVeteran]

ERB has many positive things about his work, but it's among the best of the pulp tradition; it rarely seems to transcend it.

Yeah, see, I happen to love pulp fiction; it's precisely what I like about ERB. That and the honor & romance he adds without coming off like a hack writing bodice-ripper books. His science is often flawed, sure, but for the most part it doesn't matter because the stories are so good.