Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!jcp.jhu@UDel-Relay From: jcp.jhu%UDel-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: writing style Message-ID: <2603@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Mon, 27-Jun-83 15:12:45 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.2603 Posted: Mon Jun 27 15:12:45 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 30-Jun-83 19:58:21 EDT Lines: 31 From: J.C. PatillaApropos of this discussion of style versus content or plot, my husband, who is a write of non-fiction, has asked that I pose this question to digest readers: "How important is writing style - vocabulary, sentence structure, narrative structure, word choice - to you as a science fiction reader ?" If the the moderator indicates that this discussion would be better held outside the digest, then please reply to me directly at this net address - jcp.jhu@udel-relay. My personal feeling is that style is not the most important thing I usually look for. There are enough sf authors that I have read that can actually write in at least a half-assed readable fashion, that I don't go out of my way looking for true stylists. It is always gratifying to find someone who has something to say and can express him/herself very well, and if a book is written so badly that is hurts the brain to get through it, then I don't finish it. Unfortunately, sf seems to have gotten the reputation (out in the "real" world) of being very badly written. I look at the "regular" fiction being written these days and find that there are almost no new ideas or well-discussed ideas out there at all, but because the authors are "names", they get all sorts of money and attention whereas very few new science fiction offerings get any attention. (The Washington Post, by the way, is one big daily which does give some attention to sf reviews, and the reviewer even seems to know something.) j c patilla