I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that both the positive and the negative reviews of my stuff call it "old-fashioned." So many of my writing contemporaries (Jay Lake, Doug Lain, Tim Pratt) are trying so hard to push the envelope and say new things in new ways, while I'm just trying to tell a solid, entertaining story. Sometimes it makes me feel... unambitious? Inadequate in some way, anyway.
But I find that I just don't like the modern, literary, experimental stuff found in such places as Polyphony and Strange Horizons, so though I would love to be published in those markets I don't think there's a good congruence between my tastes and their editors'. On the other hand, I also dislike the clunky, antiquated prose of Analog.
I guess what I like is the good old stuff, done right. Kind of like our kitchen, and indeed much of the rest of our house: traditional designs reimplmented with the best modern materials and infrastructure.
Don't feel too bad about having an un-unique voice. David Hartwell reassured me at Clarion that my straightforward style would do better in the marketplace than it did at Clarion (and, indeed, this has proven to be so) and I don't feel that I have a very strong voice at all. Just write about what you care about and the passion will come through.
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Date: 2005-03-21 09:19 am (UTC)But I find that I just don't like the modern, literary, experimental stuff found in such places as Polyphony and Strange Horizons, so though I would love to be published in those markets I don't think there's a good congruence between my tastes and their editors'. On the other hand, I also dislike the clunky, antiquated prose of Analog.
I guess what I like is the good old stuff, done right. Kind of like our kitchen, and indeed much of the rest of our house: traditional designs reimplmented with the best modern materials and infrastructure.
Don't feel too bad about having an un-unique voice. David Hartwell reassured me at Clarion that my straightforward style would do better in the marketplace than it did at Clarion (and, indeed, this has proven to be so) and I don't feel that I have a very strong voice at all. Just write about what you care about and the passion will come through.