There is always a way to find money to spend
01/10/2008 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
If anything, Geoff thinks that we in the Science Fiction community have a greater awareness than we are credited with. Not that he necessarily wants to be gloomy, more from the point of view of some positive aspects that puts us in a better light. Hello everyone
This has been a month for changing editorials at nearly the last minute so excuse any rough edges in my thinking. The subject I was going to cover will be shelved for future use while I seek out something more appropriate to the recession that is affecting the world. To do otherwise would reflect that everything is sugary light and we don't have much regard to the real world. If anything, I think we in the Science Fiction community have a greater awareness than we are credited with. Not that I necessarily want to be gloomy, more from the point of view of some positive aspects that puts us in a better light.
In many respects, I'm very much an optimist than pessimist. There is always some good that is likely to come out of any situation and gives time for some reflection. After all, prices of anything can never continually spiral upwards. They are either going to level off or go down again at some point. In a recession, they just drop down faster than anyone can anticipate. Those looking to buy their first house were getting ready to mortgage their souls to the devil, also called the bank, to afford them. The barbed-tailed banks were also prepared to advance the money with less guarantee that it could be paid back than they should have. This has messed up the system royally when the bubble bursts across the board. With banks buying out other banks who are...er...bankrupted, we also see another demonstration of survival of the fittest. Is it a good lesson? Only time will tell but hopefully this generation will learn not to repeat such mistakes and try to live a little more within their means.
One thing that always comes out of recession is with less money to go around, for those in the material owning world, there should be a lot of bargains to attract your custom. We see it a lot on the Net. How many of you look for the best bargain or wait for the price to drop before going after something? It does indicate the resolve to be patient, cos it just means the price of anything could drop to a price you can afford. For consumables and such during this world recession, companies will be vying for your money...any money. A demonstration of their need for survival again. It might also encourage better deals all the time. If you can afford to wait, prices are going to get very competitive.
With less money to spend, travelling is likely to be reduced and it'll be interesting to see how the planet's carbon footprint will be in a year's time. If nothing else, it's a demonstration that nothing is ever totally bad.
For those of us with the collecting habit where our genre interests are concerned, bargain hunting has suddenly become more interesting as to what you can afford. Or will be. If you want something enough, then there will always be a way. Personally, I've always found being patient before I buy means not only do I bag some good bargains but the quantity of them can go up as well. More things for your bucks as someone would say. This also has to be balanced out with retailers not over-stocking but generally there is always someone out there with what you might want. Considering the value of our genre collections is looking healthier than gold or jewellery, it looks a safer investment, too, providing you look after and insure against damage.
Science Fiction invariably uses our reality as a template and so it's important to understand how it is affected in all types of conditions. Creativity cannot work in a vacuum and SF can examine consequences of actions and ideas in a way that most genres can't. Finance might not be considered the most super-real subject to have in SF but it is part of reality. Something that is often looked over when writing a story is where does the money come for a particular mission or technology? The early stories just made the lead characters independently wealthy or a company with a deep pocket for research. It wasn't deemed important to the story. To some extent its easy to understand why stories were written that way or you'd be wading through chapters of how things were done rather than getting on to the 'interesting' bit. This might also be seen as a similar problem in tackling writing today's SF stories set in current reality. The real trick is in acknowledging the problems of finance to give the necessary realism than to sweep it under the carpet. Unlike earlier generations, we are getting too savvy to ignore it. Without such an acknowledgement, any story can have a sense of unreality to it. A society without money would need a different sort of motivation to get anyone to do work they might not like out of the goodness of their hearts.
Should finance affect stories set on a future Earth? With so many tales set after some catastrophe or apocalypse, money isn't always seen as much of an issue although taking what's available is seen as the best option. The protagonists or antagonists thieve, negotiate at the end of a zap-gun (shades of westerns) or barter. Guinea pigs or rabbits are great for small change by the way. Always capable of growing some more. I do think that a moneyless society is more impractical than some people imagine. At his heart, Man is always something of a capitalist and needs something with which to exchange to buy things or show status. A moneyless society would look utopian and by all accounts, I think humans would be bored after a time in such a place. Money is one of those odd things Man strives to have and then determined to spend. It gives social divisions and the loss of it puts everyone on a more equal footing and a reminder that it isn't such a tangible barrier as some imagine.
Money is said to make the world go around. I always thought it was because we were in orbit around the sun. It might be a nasty lesson for some in how to become shrifty but hopefully our collective governments will knock the bankers on the heads and put more efficient breakers into ensure our recession in the future will never be this involved again. If it isn't then it will go on forever and that's not really a way to run the world.
Thank you, take care, good night, be safe and spend wisely Geoff Willmetts editor: SFCrowsnest.co.uk
Observation: I've always been a little wary of the toy breed of dogs. Mostly because of where the key has to be put to wind them up.
A Zen thought: Wealth is something many strive for but few appreciate when they get it.
Another real Zen thought but this time for potential writers: If you can express an opinion independently of others and aren't likely to bend to the masses then you might show potential as a writer.
Zen for those who are scared by all the instructions below: Many of the instructions are things you should be doing automatically if you're developing your writing skills. If you do them already then focus on the ones that you don't get right. They are there to help you as much as me to get the best writing from you. If you think you're 80% there then I'll help you get the final 20%. Trust me, I'm an editor and I can get things right.
BOOK REVIEWS
Do you love books?
Do you like curling up and reading a book?
Do you have a preference for fantasy, SF or horror? We really could do with some fantasy readers!!!
Do you find it the greatest pastime you have next to being on your computer?
Are you very vocal about what you like and don't like in what you read?
Would you like to share your thoughts with others about books?
Would you like an endless supply of books to do this with?
Do you live in the UK?
Can you spare an hour every day?
Are you finding the recession is hitting your book buying habit?
If you've been nodding your head up to this point then link in below and see if you have what it takes to be a reviewer at SFCrowsnest. If you have that special knack to read and write or want to develop said skill then the only way you're going to find out is to take the plunge yourself rather than wait for others to do it first. Reading a lot of books is a requisite for any writer. Being able to say what makes them good or bad hones your own skills. Even if you're just happy with reading with a little writing on the side then this might be for you. It's got to be better than waiting for the sun to come out in this weird summer. It's also amazing how much you can read in an hour a day.
If you've survived this far in the editorial, let me reiterate something from the website newsletter and the above editorial. As you can see from the main page, we have one of the biggest SF/fantasy/horror monthly reviews columns on the Net. Our success has increased the number of books that comes in and our policy is to read everything and give it a roadtest before giving a review so you have some idea of what you're letting yourself in for. You want the bottom line about what you're going to choose to read. That means we need people actually willing to read the book and tell others they're opinion in reviews. For that, we're always on the outlook for more reviewers.
Do you think you have what it takes to review a book? It's a skill that can be easily mastered and we need a few more. If you love fantasy, we have more than enough to keep you busy for instance.
Apart from the ability to put words into sentences, you also need to know how to précis, do a little research on associated subjects and can express opinions constructively about the good and bad points about the books you read. We even let you choose from our pile of received books rather than foster something on you that you wouldn't normally read. You'll even get a little editorial help in how to write good copy and that can always lead to other things. I'm not as scary as I sound editorially and its better to do the test review and see how you fare than not attempt to see how well you did. I did say you have to love books and willing to read beyond your favourite authors, didn't I?
If you like reading books in the genre and can average two or three a month, can really think and show you can write a decent review and, most importantly, live in the British Isles (sorry, expense, time and distance travelled mostly prohibits elsewhere), then use the link below and see our requirements. We can't pay you but a review for the price and regular supply of new books, this has to be a good incentive to see if you have what it takes.
Do you think you're up to writing a review? If you think you can, then you're really going to think you've landed your hands in the biscuit tin. It won't hurt to try and see if you have the right stuff by sending me a sample review to show me you can write. If you want an added incentive, it can also be good for your CV.
Look up the Review Guidelines by linking here: with a press of a mouse button.
SHORT STORY SLUSH PILE
We always have an interest in short stories which can be anything from one to thirty or so pages long. We're always willing to give short story writers a chance to be seen if they can withstand my scrutiny even if we can't pay for their efforts, your material will be seen by a lot of people. If you can get a short story written well then it'll make it easier to move up to novel-length.
Look up the Short Stories Link by linking here with your mouse.
FLASH OR ONE-PAGE FICTION
We've also a teaching ground of one page stories, so check out the rules elsewhere on the website. It's far too easy to just write and write and hope something good comes out of it. What writing a one page story does is test your ability to control your word count and still tell a story in a concise way. This doesn't mean we don't accept stories of different lengths - a short story can be anything up to 30-40 pages long after all - but opens up the means for really short stories from ideas that don't need as much space.
Flash fiction stories by linking here: with your mouse.
NOVEL-LENGTH SAMPLES IN THE FIRST INSTANCE
For those keeping track, I'm actually now caught up but don't tell everyone as I'm undecided as to whether to keep looking at novel-length story samples, move over specifically to short stories - which we do anyway for the website - or get a couple of my own book projects completed. The latter, I still intend to do anyway.
They are there to help you do some of the right things and reduce the number of times I'm repeating myself over silly grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that you shouldn't be making if you're serious about becoming a writer. It makes editing a lot easier if any editor has less work pointing out poor English which you should have been sorted out in the first place and more focused on other areas of your work that deal with plot and the other serious elements of storywriting. As a writer, it is your command of the English language and its grammar that will show how serious you are about writing.
There might not be much of a wait unless I get a deluge, however those sending in ebook samples, please read the Guidelines by linking here with your mouse here or through the bottom line menu on the opening page of the SFC website.
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WRITING BUT AFRAID TO ASK
General advice for those who want to become writers of any sort: There's an old editorial adage, if you can't aim for perfection why should an editor nurse-maid you to that state? Nominally, my job is to catch minor glitches not total mishaps. If you're a writer, then you should understand the words, sentences and grammar of the job you're supposed to be writing or are you considering it as mundane and boring as any other job to get right? Fall in love with making every sentence the best you're ever written, read up and understand the rules of grammar. Put the time in researching any subject you're using in the story. Be prepared to put a story away for a few weeks and go back to it for a self-edit. Even I do that. You look good. I make you look better but you have to start off with good.
A lot of the time, errors will just stare you in the face when you didn't see them the first time round. Once you know where your weaknesses are, they can be sorted out and allow you to move a little higher up the ladder towards making your material look its best and more importantly, getting your material seen by readers.
The link here will show you the Common Problems Link page and what I see mostly with your mouse. It's the smart writer who doesn't get caught out with these.
Good luck. Geoff |
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