Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]


Groups > rec.arts.sf.written > #420676

Re: This morning's crap idea.

From William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com>
Newsgroups rec.arts.sf.written
Subject Re: This morning's crap idea.
Date 2015-08-20 09:55 -0400
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <mr4m4l$m62$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References <mr2cek$4kn$1@dont-email.me> <mr2f0d$f46$1@dont-email.me> <ntCIIr.F3x@kithrup.com> <20150819b@crcomp.net> <ntDvI5.168s@kithrup.com>

Show all headers | View raw


Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <20150819b@crcomp.net>, Don Kuenz  <garbage@crcomp.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote:
>>> In article <mr2f0d$f46$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>> In article <mr2cek$4kn$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Has there ever been a story published where a lousy SF author
>>>>>> time-travels back to the Golden Age to throw his trunk stories over the
>>>>>> transom and into a 1930's slushpile?
>>>>> 
>>>>> There's something like it, a story by Harry Turtledove, let me
>>>>> look up the title.
>>>>> 
>>>>> ...
>>>>> 
>>>>> The title is "Hindsight," and it's collected in _Kaleidoscope_.
>>>> 
>>>> Ah, see, I wake up with an idea that I think is so crappy, I might as
>>>> well post it on usenet; and then you're telling me some guy got a
>>>> publication out of it.  Make my day, why don't cha.
>>> 
>>> Well, you weren't very far off.  It's merely that the writer was
>>> not lousy, and, face it, in the Golden Age really lousy writing
>>> would probably not get bought either.
>>> 
>>> At one point the 1950s writer says, "It's an old theme, go back
>>> in time and make a fortune..." and the time-traveler says, "A
>>> fortune?  At three cents a word?"
>>> 
>>> The nice thing about "Hindsight" is that Turtledove remembers
>>> 1950s California in detail, as I do, and put a lot of little
>>> details in and got them right.
>> 
>> Thank you sharing Dorothy.
>> 
>> "Hindsight" also appears under the pseudonym Eric G Iverson in Analog
>> Science Fiction/Science Fact, Mid-December 1984. "Hindsight" reminds me
>> of "Bob Dylan, Troy Jonson, and the Speed Queen" by F Paul Wilson.
>> 
>> The travelers in both stories take rock music records and turntables
>> back with them in time. And both travelers plagiarize future works.
>> "Hindsight" has literature stolen while "Bob Dylan" has music stolen.
>> 
>> The motives of the travelers also differ. "Hindsight" wants to save the
>> world, while "Bob Dylan" wants to be a rock star. Here's some dialog
>> from "Hindsight" for the lulz.
>>        A couple of people were already waiting by the post
>>    office boxes, and several more came in after Pete and
>>    McGregor. "They can't *all* be writers," Pete whispered
>>    behind his hand.
>>        The editor rolled his eyes. "You'd be amazed."
>> 
>
> Heh.  I can believe it.
>
> Not *selling* writers, but *attempting* writers.

I think that editors like to buy this sort of thing, that talks about 
their lives, but I'm not sure readers want to see it particularly.  A 
lot of stuff like this appears in small press magazines...the editor 
suffers under a curse that forces her to read all the slush, things 
like that.

Back to rec.arts.sf.written | Previous | NextPrevious in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread


Thread

This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-19 12:57 -0400
  Re: This morning's crap idea. Shawn Wilson <ikonoqlast@gmail.com> - 2015-08-19 10:04 -0700
    Re: This morning's crap idea. Kay Shapero <kay@invalid.net> - 2015-08-19 23:40 -0700
  Re: This morning's crap idea. petertrei@gmail.com - 2015-08-19 10:07 -0700
    Re: This morning's crap idea. djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-19 17:16 +0000
  Re: This morning's crap idea. djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-19 17:11 +0000
    Re: This morning's crap idea. petertrei@gmail.com - 2015-08-19 10:17 -0700
    Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-19 13:40 -0400
      Re: This morning's crap idea. Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-08-19 11:22 -0700
        Re: This morning's crap idea. Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-08-19 17:19 -0700
      Re: This morning's crap idea. djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-19 20:06 +0000
        Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-19 16:35 -0400
        Re: This morning's crap idea. Don Kuenz <garbage@crcomp.net> - 2015-08-20 04:35 +0000
          Re: This morning's crap idea. djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-20 13:44 +0000
            Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-20 09:55 -0400
              Re: This morning's crap idea. ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2015-08-20 14:26 +0000
                Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-20 10:35 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Lawrence Watt-Evans <lwe@sff.net> - 2015-08-20 13:12 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-08-20 14:01 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. "Michael R N Dolbear" <me@privacy.net> - 2015-08-21 00:48 +0100
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-08-20 18:18 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2015-08-21 03:26 +0000
              Re: This morning's crap idea. Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-08-20 08:29 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Don Kuenz <garbage@crcomp.net> - 2015-08-20 19:09 +0000
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-08-20 13:23 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Don Kuenz <garbage@crcomp.net> - 2015-08-20 23:19 +0000
              Re: This morning's crap idea. Richard Hershberger <rrhersh@gmail.com> - 2015-08-20 08:29 -0700
              Re: This morning's crap idea. Kay Shapero <kay@invalid.net> - 2015-08-20 16:34 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-08-20 18:41 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Jerry Brown <jerry@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> - 2015-08-21 18:31 +0100
                Re: This morning's crap idea. goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (David Goldfarb) - 2015-08-22 06:58 +0000
                Re: This morning's crap idea. djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-22 13:46 +0000
                Re: This morning's crap idea. "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-08-22 10:27 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. David Harmon <source@netcom.com> - 2015-08-22 16:04 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-08-22 16:30 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Shawn Wilson <ikonoqlast@gmail.com> - 2015-08-22 16:36 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-08-22 17:53 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Shawn Wilson <ikonoqlast@gmail.com> - 2015-08-23 14:56 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2015-08-23 07:55 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-08-23 08:00 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-08-24 08:37 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2015-08-24 07:35 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-23 00:47 +0000
                Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-23 14:42 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-08-23 13:13 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-23 16:54 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> - 2015-08-23 14:06 -0700
                Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-23 17:19 -0400
                Re: This morning's crap idea. Cryptoengineer <treifamily@gmail.com> - 2015-08-22 20:11 -0500
  Re: This morning's crap idea. "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-08-19 17:46 -0400
    Re: This morning's crap idea. ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2015-08-20 00:23 +0000
    Re: This morning's crap idea. Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> - 2015-08-20 10:01 -0700
      Re: This morning's crap idea. goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (David Goldfarb) - 2015-08-21 08:24 +0000
  Re: This morning's crap idea. wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-08-19 20:34 -0400
    Re: This morning's crap idea. Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-08-19 20:59 -0600
      Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-20 10:00 -0400
        Re: This morning's crap idea. Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-08-20 22:25 -0700
          Re: This morning's crap idea. ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2015-08-21 05:40 +0000
          Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-21 11:21 -0400
  Re: This morning's crap idea. Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2015-08-20 15:24 -0700
  Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-27 15:40 -0400
  Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-19 10:37 -0400
    Re: This morning's crap idea. ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2015-10-19 14:45 +0000
      Re: This morning's crap idea. Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-10-19 07:52 -0700
    Re: This morning's crap idea. Walter Bushell <proto@panix.com> - 2015-10-19 17:19 -0400
      Re: This morning's crap idea. Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-10-19 16:09 -0700
        Re: This morning's crap idea. William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-20 01:02 -0400
        Re: This morning's crap idea. leif.roar@dimnakorr.com - 2015-10-20 03:52 -0500
    Re: This morning's crap idea. Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-10-20 21:18 -0700

csiph-web