Hi everybody. It's been awhile since I've written because I've been reading and practicing my prose. Hopefully one day I'll be ready for a publisher (Hippocampus??) but not anytime soon.

From this perspective I've arrived at an important topic;conformity.

How ramped is conformity in today's publishing world? I assume quite high. I haven't read every modern author,and nobody's calculations are perfect, but from what I've seen the style and focus seem to be the same? And you wouldn't believe the type of crap I've seen in writing forums and what young up and coming authors have to deal with. The cocky established ones pick on them with a razor sharp tongue, saying to change their style or write about this and not that. Everybody needs to improve their style. But to tell them what style and what to write about is wrong. How much is literature suffering because of it?

Today so called authors would probably tell Smith to stop writing purple prose and be short and to the point for the slow minds of the 21st century. Is it a crime to write down for a publisher, or the audience of your genre? I think so. Is it a crime to improve your writing and strengthen your vocabulary? Today I think so.

A month ago I had an argument with some yahoo established author. He says today CAS wouldn't sell much. Plus he writes vignettes, not tales. How rude and ignorant. Just because a story isn't character driven doesn't make it dribble. Atmospheric and weird fiction is unique. I agree with what Clark said On Fantasy over in the Non fiction section of this site. He talks about stories where the atmosphere dwarfs the character, and how that is a legitimate part of fiction. A picture of a mood is what H.P. Lovecraft defined weird fiction as. It is just as as potent as character driven stories.

And I bet every reader in this forum knows you have a better chance of getting published if you're famous. Wow! You mean to tell me Paris Hilton can write a book because she is famous and a well rounded unknown has a tougher road? Sad.

I'm glad so many people in the past chose to stick to their guns and write what they believed in. If not we wouldn't have Clark, Lovecraft, Bierce (who could be the poster boy for non conformity), Frank Belknap Long, Poe, Hodgeson, Crawford, Dickinson etc;.

Is there any hope for literature? Will publishing houses start taking chances again? I sure hope so.

By the way I love Clark's story "The Planet Of The Dead". It almost mirrors Lovecraft's "Polaris". But I think Clark's is superior.

I think you are right, CD. I've been involved in the entertainment industry and despite the immense creativity potential there, new ideas are often beaten with a baseball bat (I think there was a skit about this on SNL). It's truly unfortunate, but what sells, sells.

If Stephen King writes a certain way and sells a bunch of books, publishers will be wanting to publish more stories "just like King's" because they have a higher chance of selling. It's just business. It's the same reason 2 or 3 movies on Robin Hood all come out in the same year, or why US TV copies British TV so much, then the US networks copy each other.

I'm sure the book industry is a bit different than Hollyweird or TV but it's still the business of popular entertainment.

I think Paris Hilton is a vapid airhead but she's funny to watch, so I would expect a book by her to be (perhaps unintentionally) humorous. You might write the most stunning story based on your life but on the shelf next to Paris's, which one will people pick up as they stop in Hudson News before their next flight?

Finally, please keep writing. You may have to add "drivel" and "rampant" to your vocabulary (not dribble and ramped)* but considering that the mere act of capitalization and punctuation is a mystifying arcane skill to so many people who are too dumb to realize their computer doesn't fix their typing the way their precious iPhone does, it's nice to see someone who gives a damn. It's astounding to me that someone puts so little effort into what they type yet they expect other people to struggle through it and even appreciate it and respond. I ignore such postings as I find them incredibly crass, but it will not change a thing.

The music industry is much the same way. New rappers are becoming frustrated that the only thing RIAA wants to publish are songs about drinking, popping caps, and smacking hoes, but that's what people bought for a long time (before we all just gave up on buying mainstream music).

*Please take this as constructive criticism given in a tongue in cheek manner.

No problem Madog. You touched upon many truths in your reply. There is nothing anyone can do. The world is the world. We can't change it, but we don't have to accept it. We need to find peace with it and continue on our own life's journey.
Yes I have short comings but during these past few months I've found peace and an urge to improve. All we can do is be the best we can be. Who knows. Maybe our best may change the world one day :). A writer, like an actor, takes many years to improve. Thank god for college in the spring. I've learned to control my enthusiasm and find peace and patience. I believe you are familiar with what I'm talking about, working in the entertainment field. What do you do exactly?

As long as writers such as Quentin S. Crisp, Joel Lane, Mark Samuels, Mark Valentine, R. B. Russell, Reggie Oliver, Caitlin R. Kiernan and Thomas Ligotti exist, there's hope.

Scott

Remember that Clark's work did not even put beans on the table - he wrote because he couldn't help - as one who worked in the world of opera and in training performers years ago - we always told them, "don't be a professional singer unless you can't help it" - "Two men were walking down the street, one was a musician(writer, poet etc), the other didn't have any money either>"

Interesting question, and one that's been percolating in the back of my mind for the past couple of decades.

The fantasy authors whose works resonate with me for their originality ... Dunsany, Eddison, CAS, Leiber, Peake, Howard, Vance, Moorcock, Donaldson among others ... wrote entirely, or at least primarily, before word processors. Their primary motivation was the joy and craftsmanship of storytelling, and sharing ideas with like-minded colleagues -- not making money. They were writers who wrote because they couldn't help it, and would have written even if they never earned a dime from it.

I would posit three primary events led to the homogenization of current fantasy literature:
1) word processors
2) monetization of literature through endless sequels
3) globalization

The invention of the word processor made it nearly effortless to crank out quantity, which tends to detract from quality. Ray Bradbury's quote is apt: "Put me in a room with a pad and a pencil and set me up against a hundred people with a hundred computers -- I'll outcreate every goddamn sonofabitch in the room."

At some point editors and publishers who got into the business because they loved reading exciting literature gave way to those more interested in having authors churn out serialized reams of "product" to generate a profitable "revenue stream". Perhaps they were always part of the game but it seems clear they've taken over. Exhibits A through G are testaments to taking a meager story idea and stretching it out as far as humanly possible in the quest for a buck:

Conan (the Carter / de Camp pastiches)
Shanarra
Thieves World
Dragonlance
Belgariad/Mallorean
Harry Potter

A select few authors have the creativity to generate original, lengthy masterpieces requiring trilogies or tetralogies to unfold; case in point Stephen R. Donaldson's brilliantly iconoclast first and second "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant". However, judging by the slogging pace and lack of originality of his "Final" Chronicles of Thomas Covenant even Donaldson seems to have succumbed to pressure from on high to crank out sequel after sequel of ever-diminishing originality to feed the machine.

While I *love* the Internet and international travel, it seems that over the decades the countries I visit are becoming less unique and authentic as globalized ideas, products, laws and media steamroll local pockets of culture.

The most recent published fantasy author I'm aware of writing with a fresh and unique perspective is Barry Hughart; his Bridge of Birds trilogy is a tour de force of fantasy literature that gives me hope other authors can find their own original and non-conformist paths. Perhaps I'm just out of touch with a new generation of authors? Thankfully we have the works of Smith and other old-timers who saw the world in a different way and blessed us with their fantastic visions.

Sorry if this post is a bummer but the disappointment at the lack of fresh new fantasy voices has been simmering at least 20 years and finally boiled over into words.

Sandor Szabo

Take heart! There are a number of Fresh and talented (some are near the next level beyond talent) who occasionally submit thoughts on this forum - remember Clark was first (and always considered himself) a poet, secondarily, to put beans on the table (his phrase) he began submitting tales to the "zines" - this, along with woodcutting, berry picking, pruning for the fruit farmers kept him going through all those years before he met Carol - also remember, he never submitted a dime to Social security, nor did he ever (insofar as I know) ever submit a tax form to the IRS -
no need - he was always paid in cash - which was more meaningful in Pre-Roosevelt dollars (as he called them) - the mines his father had opened had long since played out and weren't much to begin with - and, not mining was Clark's equivalent of Roy Clark's "I never picked cotton!" -

Hippocampus is great and they take chances. I wrote my second book for them because S. T. encouraged me that they would publish a collection that was made up of mostly prose-poems. I can't think of many publishers that would actually ENCOURAGE me to write such a book. But the small press has those publishers who like the unusual thing and seek out those authors who write such books.

"I'm a little girl."
--H. P. Lovecraft, Esq.

I plan on trying Hippocampus with a book of formalist weird verse, possibly toward the end of this year. Much of it is quite 'CASian,' as he is my primary poetical influence--but I read widely enough so that my verse doesn't 'reek' of CAS--not that that would necessarily be a bad thing ;) I've got a good 50-60 solid ones written, and I plan on presenting a total of 70 or so as a manuscript. I think I'll write till I've got near 100 solid ones, and choose the strongest 70.

Wilum,

I'm most gracious for the suggestion. When my short stories reach completion I will contact HP press. My work, weird, reflects my fears, worries, angers and paranoia's which fill my soul on a daily basis. I both love and loath them.

Also, I've saved an email from Dr. Farmer who originally suggested I try HP press, as well as a statement from HP press giving me the green light to try out when I'm ready. Thank you Dr. Farmer. ;)

What I hope to accomplish is entertaining people, touching them in some fashion with my work. If I've done that then my gifts have been used properly. I'm not looking to be the next Stephen King or anything. Although, it would be nice to be remembered. If someone asks "Who was Charles?", a simple "Oh...he was a writer", then goes about their daily business would be good enough for me. However, as I'm maturing I realize the greatest gift for any writer, in my opinion, is to get lost in their work. Enjoy it for what it is, like a tour of a picturesque valley.

Good for you K_A_. I plan on beating everyone of my stories into shape, over and over until perfection is reached. Then I will present them. Remember the saying from the bible about testing gold in fire? That is what I will do with my stories: burn them in the holy, literary flames until perfection is reached. ;)

Lastly, thanks is in order to everyone for presenting their views to this post. It is very interesting to know I'm not alone in my thinking or disillusioned. Keep 'em coming.