Support, advice, and distractions for struggling writers
Category: Distractions
These posts are just distractions from the stress of writing. They include funny stories, photos, jokes, puzzles, book recommendations and reviews, etc.
Happy Thursday, fellow writers! As I said in the anniversary post, I’ve been toying around with the idea of creating a forum for writers which will be affiliated with The Writer’s Scrap Bin. Before I proceed, I want your opinion on the idea.
Like The Writer’s Scrap Bin, this forum will be a place for writers to come together and support each other’s writing aspirations. However, this forum will allow for more direct contact among its members. Members will be able to share resources, give advice to fellow writers, critique each other’s WIP, and more. Best of all, access to the forum will be free.
Here’s a rough outline, which is subject to change as this idea takes shape:
As with The Writer’s Scrap Bin, staff will monitor the forum for spam, trolling, and other inappropriate behavior to unsure the best, most stress-free experience possible for the forum’s members.
At the moment, I plan to allow promotion of members’ works WHEN APPROPRIATE. For example, a writer can announce in the General Discussion section that their new book is available on Amazon. They could also tell others about free book giveaways and other special promotions. However, randomly dropping a link to one’s book in a thread about, say, how to craft a query letter will not be allowed. If members abuse this privilege once the site is live, this policy might be changed.
Unfortunately, The Writer’s Lounge will only be able available in English at first. I hope to expand into other languages as The Writer’s Scrap Bin continues to grow. Right now, though, I can only confidently write in English, and I cannot afford to hire translators. Regardless, that does not mean that only people from English-speaking countries will be able to join. So long as you feel comfortable reading English, you’ll be able to participate.
So, what do you think? Does The Writer’s Lounge get your seal of approval? Or is it another one for the scrap bin? Vote in the poll and share your thoughts in the comments below!
Happy Sunday, loyal readers! Sorry for being absent so long. I thought I wouldn’t be as busy the past couple weeks but boy was I wrong. Anyway, as I mentioned in my review of Mumbai Matinee by Ajay Kaul, March 26th was the one-year anniversary of The Writer’s Scrap Bin. It’s hard to believe that it’s been an entire year since I launched this blog. A lot has happened since then. I discovered Fiverr, started Facebook and Twitter pages for The Writer’s Scrap Bin, and I’ve made some friends along the way. It’s been a stressful year, but a fun one.
So, what’s in store for The Writer’s Scrap Bin in the next year?
Well, as far as I can tell, things are going to continue just as they have the past year. I’ll continue to bring you reviews, writing advice, writing prompts, and more. I might even share some of my thoughts on the Disney franchise. We’ll see.
I do have something cooking behind-the-scenes for this anniversary, though. Many months back, I held a YOP poll in which I asked readers if they would buy merchandise with my logo on it. (You can find the poll and vote on it in the YOP poll archive.) While I haven’t decided exactly how I will proceed with this plan yet, I have been experimented on Vistaprint with some possible designs. I even signed up for their Promobox.
So far I have purchased prototypes for a mug, a pen, and sticky notes, and I’ve bought business cards in bulk. I think that the business cards turned out the best, personally. However, I’m still excited about these other products as well.
Prototype pen with my logo
(I’ll be sure to post more images of both the prototypes and the promobox soon so that all of you can check them out for yourselves.)
I also have my eyes set on starting a forum which will run in affiliation with this blog. This forum will be an area for writers to gather, share advice and success stories/horrible warnings, and for writers to workshop each other’s WIPs. It will most likely be held through Tapatalk, the site through which one of my favorite Dragonriders of Pern role play forums is currently hosted. (Southern Weyr: Overdrive and Renewal for fellow Anne McCaffrey fans who are interested in playing.)
What else is in store for this blog? Well, that will depend on what my readers want. While I’ll have the final say on all decisions about The Writer’s Scrap Bin, I’m also open to hearing your ideas. Feel free to share your thoughts on how you want to see this blog grow following its one-year anniversary. Just drop a line in the comments below or e-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com
As you all know, I am both a writer and a reviewer. It’s a tricky position to be in: I know that I have to be honest with my reviews–I want to be honest in my reviews–but I also don’t want to discourage any budding writers. I know how hard it is emotionally and psychologically to put your work out there for the whole world to scrutinize. At the same time, I feel an obligation to let people know when there’s a flaw in the book that could ruin their enjoyment of it. I also feel a sense of duty to the writer to let them know when there’s a plot hole in their fiction, when their poetry does not flow well, or when their argument in an essay, self-help book, or whatever does not hold up for the reader. Reviewers, after all, need to be as dedicated to the art of writing and the joy it brings as the writers they review.
Which brings me to the heart of this post: the relationship between writers and reviewers. It’s a partnership of sorts. Writers need reviewers to spread the word about their works. Reviewers, well, they don’t necessarily need writers for any other reason than they want the entertainment and/or information their books provide (except, of course, for reviewers paid through magazines and other similar outlets). Still, they want writers around so that they can continue to have a steady stream of reading material.
The relationship should be pretty straightforward: writers write, reviewers read and review what the writers write, everyone’s happy. Right? But when is anything that simple?
As writers, we simultaneously crave and dread reviews. We want to know people like our work, but it hurts to find out what they don’t like about it. Even writers who are just writing technical manuals, self-help books, health books, etc. still form an attachment to their work without realizing it, and so take some offense to anything less than 5 out of 5 stars. (Not to mention it might hurt a writer’s bottom line.)
Now let’s switch to the reviewer’s side. Most reviewers just love to read and want to let others know what’s good and bad about books they read. Some just have an egotistical need to share their opinions, and still others want/need the money they get from publishing reviews in magazines, newspapers, OnlineBookClub.org, etc. Many reviewers–myself included–are a mix of all of the above, depending on the day and our mood.
We aren’t usually out to hurt the writer. Heck, some of our reviews end up more positive than they should because we don’t want to discourage the writer. Other times we don’t sugarcoat it and give the whole, uncensored truth; it’s nothing against the writer (typically), we just want other readers to know how it is.
Then we have the trolls and fluffs. Trolls are reviewers who go around leaving very negative reviews for no good reason. They might not like the topic of the book, they might have something against the writer, or they might be in a bad mood. Some can be trolls just because they’re sadistic enough to enjoy trashing other people and tearing them down. Many troll reviewers don’t even read the book, maybe the summary at best.
Sometimes these keep out trolls, and often they don’t.
Fluffs are the opposite of trolls. They leave overly-positive reviews unjustifiably. They might be a friend or relative of the writer, or they might be the kind of paid reviewer who blindly leaves positive reviews. (Mind you, that’s not all paid reviewers, and as a writer, you must be very careful to distinguish between the two.)
The good things about fluffs? They don’t hurt your ratings and, more likely than not, their reviews aren’t subjected to their mood swings. The bad things? Get too many of them and places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble will get suspicious, which never ends well. More importantly, readers will not only stop trusting the reviewer once they realize the truth but they will probably stop trusting you as well. That will definitely affect your readership.
Sometimes reviewers hassle writers, and sometimes it’s the other way around. Given the anonymity of the online world and the plethora of ways in which to contact someone or spread rumors about them, it’s easier than every for reviewers and writers to be jerks to each other. Is it right? No, of course not. Still, reviewers and writers are human. We get offended and react mindlessly just like everyone else. Sometimes we regret it and apologize, and other times we double-down on our remarks.
Such antics are toxic for the writer/reviewer relationship. Writers and reviewers need each other to keep the writing world afloat. Writers pump out the reading material, and reviewers let people know about these works. If we turn on each other or let the “bad” reviewers get to us, this relationship falls apart and the writing and publishing worlds suffer for it.
At the end of the day, writers just have to keep doing the best they can and reviewers need write the best reviews they can. Reviewers shouldn’t unnecessarily tear a writer down, but writers need to embrace a reviewer’s honesty. We don’t have to be mean to each other; we just have to be honest and respect each other.
What do you think about the writer/reviewer relationship? Are there too many trolls and fluffs out there? Can a reviewer be positive and honest? Do writers take reviews and critique too personally? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Hello, everyone! I want to take some time today to tell you about a kickstarter for a special children’s book called The Present is a Gift by Elchanan Ogorek.
The Present is a Gift teaches children about mindfulness using animals. As you can read on Ogorek’s kickstarter page, these animals teach the readers about several aspects of mindfulness, including:
Living in the moment
Being curious
Paying attention to the little details
Accepting yourself
Staying focused
And more!
On top of these lessons, each animal demonstrates a different yoga pose. As you can see in the picture below, they also provide useful facts for the reader.
Perhaps the best part of this book is the author himself. Elchanan Ogorek is not only a father but also a social worker. As such, he genuinely wants to help young readers and teach them how to apply mindfulness to their lives. That way, they can become happier, more relaxed, and more grateful adults later.
You’re probably wondering why Ogorek has started a kickstarter for this book. What costs could a children’s book incur?
All $5,000 are going to one of the most frustrating yet satisfying parts of the writing process: publication. The money raised from this kickstarter will help to publish, market, and distribute The Present is a Gift.
We all know how pricey indie publishing can be, even for the simplest books. However, I think this book is worth the money and effort. I’ve always been a very anxious person; it’s only gotten worse in adulthood. I think that, like everything children encounter at an early age, this book could instill values and habits into its readers which will help them deal with stress and anxiety later on. I, for one, want the next generation to be a lot less wound-up than mine.
To learn more about The Present is a Gift and contribute money for its publication, check out the kickstarter campaign. But you should hurry–there’s only 11 days left in the campaign!
If you know about any worthy book-related kickstarters or charities, please e-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and it might be featured in a future post.
It seems that our world is becoming more and more electronically-based. Online shopping, Netflix binging, cryptocurrency, it seems that virtually anything can be done with electronics. Heck, we can even live-stream footage from hidden security cameras and yell at potential thieves. There is one particular form of technology which has proven to be a mixed-blessing for writers: eBooks.
Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and now Walmart-Kobo, eBooks and eReaders are everywhere. Why not? You can carry hundreds of books on one device and, so long as your battery is charged, you can access them anywhere. eBooks seem like a reader’s paradise.
Writers can also benefit from this technology. It’s easier now than ever to self-publish works. You can still self-publish print books, but it’s easier and more convenient to set up books online. That’s not to mention that it’s easier to make changes in case of typos or release a new edition based on feedback from reviews. (I’m sure Walt Whitman would have loved to have access to this technology while writing and rewriting Leaves of Grass.)
But does that make eBooks superior to hard copies? Will the electronic phase out print? I wouldn’t go that far.
In fact, the Golden Age of eBooks may have reached a plateau, if not a decline. Let’s look at some statistics from the Association of American Publishers:
In 2016, eBook revenue declined by 32.6% for trade books in the genre of children’s and YA books; adult trade eBooks saw a decline of 13.9%.
That same year, paperback revenue for children’s and YA books was up 0.9% with hardback revenue increasing by 10.7%; hardback revenue was down for adult trade books by 3.7%, but paperback revenue increased by 5.3%.
The AAP itself noted, “Reading preferences continue to shift. Print books saw growth, and for the second consecutive year publisher revenues from eBook sales declined and downloaded audio books grew.”
These trends show a decline in the sale of eBooks and a growth for paperbacks (hardbacks aren’t fairing quite as well). The audiobook rise is also an interesting pattern to explore, but that’s for another time.
Near the beginning of the eBook and eReader craze, the industry seemed so certain that electronic copies would win out. So, what happened? What’s pulling readers back to the print side?
The answer’s quite simple, really: fatigue. The light from LED screens are killing people’s eyes. Doctors have been hounding us about this issue for ages, and people are finally realizing the consequences. They pick up print books in order to give their eyes a rest from phone, computer, and tablet screens. We should’ve seen it coming, considering how we now have our faces in one screen or another close to 24/7.
Of course, some people will argue that it’s just because readers like the feel of print books better. They love to feel the paper run through their fingers, the smell of a new book is intoxicating. That very well may be true for some readers. Others, however, especially in the general population, just need to give their eyes a rest. Frankly, I don’t blame them. (I read eBooks a lot but much prefer print books.)
What does this mean for writers? I think it makes the decision between e-publishing and print publishing a lot harder.
On the one hand, print books are clearly selling better. On the other hand, readers may not want to buy a physical copy of book by a new or little-known writer. Personally, I don’t want to clutter my bookshelves unless the writer has been proven to be worth while, which is why I buy eBooks from new writers more often than their print books.
So, while eBooks may not win in the end, I think that they’re still a new writer’s best bet. This is especially true if they’re self-publishing. Not only is it (relatively) easier to both publish and revise this way, readers may be more likely to buy an eBook by a writer they haven’t heard of. Print will (probably) never die, but eBooks are a great tool that debut writers need to take advantage of.
What do you think? Will eBooks win over the reading population? Or will print keep its title? Which do you prefer? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
TGIF, everyone! I want to start this weekend by telling you about a new writing contest–and when I say new, I mean brand new. This year is the first year of a new annual contest called the Staunch Book Prize. I’m pretty excited because this contest requires writers to really stretch their writing muscles.
What is the Staunch Book Prize? It’s a contest which calls for thriller novels in which “no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered.” If you’re familiar with the thriller genre, you’ll know how often writers fall back on these techniques to make a “thrilling” novel, and that’s why I think this could be a good creative exercise for those willing to try it.
Here are the basic guidelines, beyond the topical concept, for the Staunch Book Prize:
Authors of any nationality who are over the age of 18 on the closing date may enter.
Traditionally-published and self-published books may enter so long as they were provably published within 18 months of the closing date. Works not yet published are also welcomed.
Entries must be in English, but translations are allowed.
Authors, agents, or publishers may submit entries so long as they comply with the submission formatting.
The entry, all in ONE DOCUMENT, should include the first 5,000 words of the manuscript (double-spaced, 12pt font) and a one-page synopsis (single-spaced, 12pt font).
NO IDENTIFYING NAMES OR MARKS ON THE ENTRY; enter in PDF or Word doc format
Completed novels–which should be at least 50,000 words long–will be requested by the end of August.
There is an entry fee of £20 per entry (multiple submissions accepted)
The entry period is February 22, 2018, through midnight BST on July 15, 2018.
The prize is £2,000, and the winner will be announced on November 25, 2018, to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
There is one issue being brought against this contest. Namely, the Staunch Book Prize has been criticized by a writer for The Guardian for supposedly ignoring brutality against women.
I am split on The Guardian‘s opinion. Well, their writer’s opinion. On the one hand, I understand where she (the writer) is coming from. We cannot ignore brutality against women. We need books which represent the all-too-prominent problems of women being beaten, stalked, raped, exploited, etc. On the other hand, I also understand the stance taken by the founder of the Staunch Book Prize. The thriller genre is rather notorious for making women victims and putting them through horrific situations before they can feel empowered. This disproportionate representation doesn’t really seem fair, does it?
I would love to see more thrillers in which women are not tortured like that. Frankly, it’s demoralizing when so many books in a genre depict women that way. Can’t we have as many thrillers that use strong female leads as that explore the horrors that our patriarchal society and rape culture have forced upon us? That’s why I support this contest, so that we as writers can make women feel empowered but also bring attention to the important issues.
When I head out for my local Walmart Supercenter, books aren’t usually on my mind. In fact, I don’t connect Walmart and books at all unless I’m looking for a greeting card. Only then do I see the tiny section of paperbacks nestled at the end of the greeting card aisle. Even then, the only books stocked there are romances and YA novels that had recently been made into movies.
Why, then, would Walmart bother to enter the eBook industry?
By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the new partnership between the American superstore and Rakuten, the Japan-based e-commerce giant and owner of the e-reader Kobo. I know I’ve gotten an earful of it the last week.
From what I’ve gathered, Walmart made this move to get a leg up on their biggest competitor, Amazon. Amazon all but owns the eBook market. Only Barnes & Noble’s Nook comes close to competing with the Kindle in the United States. Walmart hopes to catch up to Amazon in this division by offering eBooks through Kobo.
Still, if you’re a reader or self-published writer, I don’t recommend jumping ship just yet.
The biggest flaw in this plan is also the most obvious: timing. The eBook industry has been around for years. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have firmly sunk their teeth into that market and, like an English Bulldog with its jaw clamped onto its favorite toy, they won’t let go until they want to. Unless you have an angle which really distinguishes you from the other services, entering this race now is a losing proposition.
According to the Association of American Publishers, eBooks might even be declining in popularity. Due to eye strain and technological fatigue, readers have begun to return to good old print books. Easiness on the eyes might win over convenience yet.
If that’s not enough to convince you not to switch, consider this: the Kobo has nowhere near the hold on Americans that Kindle and Nook do. Kobo accounted for less than 1% of eBook sales last fall, whereas Amazon made up about 75%.
Rakuten is betting on its partnership with Walmart to boost Kobo’s American market. At the same time, Walmart has put its money on Kobo giving them decent footing in the eBook industry. On the one hand, this could turn be beneficial for both companies. On the other hand, it could turn out horribly for them as well.
I suppose only time will tell what will become of this partnership. For all we know, Walmart-Kobo (as their new app is called) could be the next big thing for reading. It could also be a slight elevation for the companies, a lateral move, or a financial wreck. If I had to guess, I would bet on a slight elevation for Walmart and Kobo.
Frankly, I think that Amazon Kindle will continue to be king with the Barnes & Noble Nook as its heir. At best, Walmart-Kobo will be the spare. Walmart could give Amazon a run for its money in regards to grocery deliveries, especially since the Rakuten partnership gives them more possibilities in Japan, but unless there’s a miracle, I doubt that Amazon will give up its eBook title any time soon.
For more information on the new partnership, you can check out this article from The New York Times.
What do you think? Does this partnership give Walmart a chance to catch up to Amazon? Or are they joining the party too late? Could Walmart-Kobo be another good outlet for self-published authors, or is it better to stick with the tried-and-true? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
I’m sure that everyone has heard by this time of the unfortunate passing of prolific fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin. She died at age 88 in her Oregon home. No cause of death has been given, but her son says that she had been in poor health for a while. Still, her death was not exactly expected, and it certainly is a blow to the writing community.
Le Guin was the author of the Earthsea series and The Left Hand of Darkness. She’s well-known for the literary depth, political and moral commentary, and feminist sensibility which always weaved their ways into her works. She also published several collections of poetry and short stories, and just last year Le Guin released a book of her essays called No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters.
I’ve discussed Le Guin in multiple posts on The Writer’s Scrap Bin. Last week, in fact, I included a quote from her on fantasy/science fiction and the cover for The Left Hand of Darkness in my post “Fantasy and Science Fiction: Underestimated Genres”.
Why wouldn’t I? Ursula K. Le Guin is arguably one of the most, if not the most, influential female science fiction/fantasy writer of the 20th and 21st centuries (thus far). In 2016, The New York Times called her “America’s greatest science fiction writer.”
Her awards don’t discourage that assertion. She was a joint Nebula and Hugo Award Winner, and she is one of the few women to be named a Grand Master of Science Fiction (an honor shared by my favorite science fiction writer, Anne McCaffrey), which is awarded by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She also received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She has also influenced many notable writers, including Neil Gaiman of American Gods and Coraline fame.
Following her passing, I think that it’s important for us all to study Le Guin’s works and approach to writing carefully, especially fantasy and science fiction writers. She raised these genres to a level of literary brilliance which people often do not attribute to them. She saw the potential in fantasy and science fiction and utilized that potential to explore the more complex aspects of humanity, including morality, gender relations, sexuality, religion, and politics.
I think that the best way we can honor her memory is to continue her work. I don’t mean that any of us should try and write some follow-up to The Left Hand of Darkness or a new installment in the Earthsea series. Instead, I think we should use our own worlds, imaginations, and unique flair to continue the commentary which she started in hers. Whether we agree with Le Guin’s perspective or not, it’s our responsibility to keep the conversation rolling and to not let fantasy and science fiction remain in the obscurity which is “popular fiction.”
You can learn more about this fantasy and science fiction legend on her website.
If you want a lighter way to remember Le Guin, I suggest checking out the rejection letter she received for The Left Hand of Darkness. Defying a publisher’s or agent’s expectations is one of the quickest ways to brighten a writer in a foul or sorrowful mood.
Hello, readers and writers! I’m happy to announce that I’ve added a new page to The Writer’s Scrap Bin, “Stephanie’s Scrap Bin”.
What is “Stephanie’s Scrap Bin”? It’s the place where I will be sharing pieces of my work that I am not confident enough to submit for publication. It is a glimpse into my personal scrap bin, the place where all my unfinished and unpublished work go until I decide they’re worth pursuing again.
This new page will contain my discarded poems, flash fiction stories, and uncategorized works. Keep in mind that the works on this new page are fairly rough drafts. Still, I think it will help other struggling writers who read this blog if they saw the sort of work that I have thrown into my scrap bin, even temporarily. (Plus, this will get some people off my back in regards to seeing some of my work. You know who you are.)
I already state this on the web page and I certainly hope that I won’t have this problem with a community of talented, trustworthy writers, but just for legality’s sake I am going to restate it here:
All pieces posted on “Stephanie’s Scrap Bin” are the original work and property of Stephanie Hoogstad, owner, operator, and lead writer of The Writer’s Scrap Bin. As such, any copying and/or distribution of this work without prior consent and acknowledgement of the source will result in legal action being taken against the offending party or parties.
With that out of the way, I encourage everyone to check out the work on this page. It may not be any good but, hey, we all have work that we think will never see the light of day, right? I just request that you not be too harsh in any comments you make. Critique helps a writer grow, but I don’t want to be ripped apart for work in my scrap bin. None of us really want to be judged by the work that has not made it to publication.
So, please, read and enjoy! And if you have any pieces from your own “scrap bin” or a scrap bin experience that you would like to share, drop a line in the comments below. I’m sure that other struggling writers would appreciate seeing that other writers have missteps and doubts, too.
Fantasy and science fiction are genres very near and dear to my heart. I grew up on fantasy series such as Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia. Late in middle school I developed a taste for science fiction, in particular Anne McCaffrey’s The Dragonriders of Pern and Crystal Singer series. Now, fantasy and science fiction are intricately woven into my life, from what I read to what I watch on TV to how I connect with others.
Despite this love for these genres, however, I still find myself hesitating to tell people that I write such stories. Why? Well, the answer is very simple: these genres are not seen as “literary.”
Keep in mind, the term “literary” is incredibly subjective and difficult to define. For some readers, it merely requires a high standard of writing. For others, the works have to be more character-driven than plot-driven, pedestrian fiction rather than anything more extraordinary, addressing specific socio-cultural or socio-political themes, or, most frustrating to me, only within “realistic” genres.
No matter what the definition, fantasy and science fiction are almost never included. Unfortunately, the more vocal members of the writing community tend to look down upon anything that they do not consider “literary,” thus suppressing works from other genres which could, in fact, change the world.
This bias doesn’t just exist within the writing world and literature. George Lucas was rejected repeatedly by studios when pitching the first Star Wars movie because science fiction was “for children” and a “dead genre.” (Well, George Lucas sure proved them wrong, didn’t he? It almost destroyed him, but he did.)
These genres are considered “popular fiction” and, some argue, “low brow.” Yet when we put down any genre like that, we give into elitism and ignore the possibilities lying in wait.
Fantasy and science fiction give us an empty canvass on which we can paint any story, any socio-political and/or socio-cultural commentary, that we can imagine. The fantastic settings that these genres provide us give us virtually free reign to explore human nature without all of the restraints we face in realistic genres.
I think that Ursula K. Le Guin put it best in an article for Smithsonian Magazine in 2014:
Anything at all can be said to happen [in the future] without fear of contradiction from a native. The future is a safe, sterile laboratory for trying out ideas in, a means of thinking about reality, a method.
Science fiction and fantasy–whether it takes place on a planet far away in the year 3130, a land untouched by technology but ruled by magic, or side-by-side with our own world–allow the writer to explore what matters most to him/her with only the restrictions they put on the worlds they built themselves. The struggle for a planet like Pandora becomes a metaphor for colonization; Middle Earth serves as the battleground between man and nature; and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix illustrates the issues of governmental oppression, censorship, and the injustice of imprisonment without a proper trial.
Many works in these genres take advantage of this potential; even if the writers don’t purposefully include any socio-political/socio-cultural commentary, the themes still slip into the narrative. However, I feel that writers and readers both could recognize and utilize this potential more readily. After all, these genres aren’t just “children’s stuff” or “low-brow popular fiction.” They are virgin worlds waiting to be explored.
What do you think? Do you think that science fiction and fantasy could be used for socio-political and socio-cultural commentary? Do you think that writers take advantage of this potential enough or that readers recognize it? Or do you think that these genres just belong to the world of trade paperbacks, a relaxing read for when you want to escape and be entertained? Is there a happy medium between the two extremes? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
