Writers - do you think sci-fi is a breeding ground for amateur authors?
Someone once told me that science fiction is nothing more than a breeding ground for amateur authors.
As writers, I what to hear your take on what that.
I, personally, don't think it is, and here's why: believe that science fiction a very fickle genre. I think it's like a radio, you can tune it and get fuzz, boring stuff, fun stuff, etc. But every now and then you find the station that plays the good and clear stuff that you like. I believe that sci-fi taste is mostly opinion based; not everyone is going to like the same stories.
I think a lot of people either write sci-fi, or start out writing sci-fi is because there are no "rules". You can write anything; no matter how strange, new, or absurd it may sound. You can break the bonds of physics and time. You can cast away reality and make your own up. Science fiction, I believe, is one of the simplest, yet most complex, genres to write. My reason for saying this is that you need to have the mind for it. This is why, again, I believe, there's a lot of terrible books in the genre and a lot of amazing books as well.
So, tell me, writers, what do you think about this?
Adrian2010-11-27T07:21:48Z
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Writing is a breeding ground for amateur authors. There are probably more crappy romance novels and fantasy novels written and published at the moment than sci fi. The REAL problem area for truly amateurish stuff is probably fan-fic. I think you are right in saying that a lot of people start out in sci-fi, for whatever reason, but a lot of people start out in all genres. There is probably not a genre in which I have not written some rubbish.
No, definitely not. I could see why it would appeal to amateurs because you can create you're own time/place setting and not have to do too much research, therefore you're free to just write you're little heart out (the universal 'you' not you specifically). Sci-Fi is probably the broadest genre that there is, it covers vampires, aliens, the future, alternate reality and many more in it's sub-genres. Young writers often start out writing what they like to read and so because it's so broad it possible has the largest reader base, therefore a good chunk of people would start writing some sort of speculative fiction. There a lot of terrible books in every genre, but sci-fi, being as broad as it is, possibly has more books than other genres (save perhaps romance, but romance books tend to be very similar to one another in my opinion, it might just be that I'm not romantic enough to spot the subtleties) so with more good comes more crap.
Whoever said that is either an idiot or a romance writer. I think most amateur authors get a start in romance or, god forbid, vampire/ wannabe Twilight fiction. There are some truly amazing sci-fi authors like Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, Frank Herbert, and many more that don't deserve to have their genre talked down. Their is some sci-fi that is pretty bad, but you pretty much can't go wrong with any of the Hugo or Nebula winners.
People have all these conception over what is professional or acceptable about writing. For example:someone once told me that writing in first person was unprofessional. That person was wrong. If they had said, "first person is hard to get right and requires constant practice" I might have agreed, but honestly writing *anything* requires constant practice.
I agree with Adrian: any genre is a breeding ground for amateur writers. BUT How does one become an experienced writer? Practice. TONS of it.
Personally, I don't love science fiction,(writing or reading) but I do love fantasy(writing or reading), but I am picky who I read from in this genre. I tend to go off of recommendations in this genre rather than plucking a book off the shelf myself and I pick subjects I know something about.
Fantasy/Sci-Fi Authors: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Aspirin, Terry Brooks, Peter David Songwriters: Harry Chapin and Jim Croce; along with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney both as Beatles and individually.