The Rediscovery of Fan [Writer]

[kevin_standlee]

John Scalzi has been thinking about the Fan Writer Hugo Award on his blog. Other people have been discussing it. pnh has made some excellent points, and other people have, in my opinion, completely missed the point of what the Award is intended to reward.

I found it especially amusing to read "I would actually hate to see a published writer of commercial SF/F fiction win a Hugo for fan writing." Followed shortly by Patrick pointing out "...this has happened over two dozen times. Nor were all of those Hugos to Dave Langford."

Some of them sure seem to think there is a bright-line definition between "pro" and "fan" and that one can't possibly be both at the same time. This isn't true. It's sort of sad that there are so many people (both pros and fans) who think it is.

Edit, 22:10: Changed subject line when I realized what I'd overlooked in the title.

Comments

[pnh.livejournal.com]

Oh, well, if you consider memoirs to be inside the pale, then we have much less to disagree about.

(The linked essay wasn't mine, however, it was by Teresa.)

[dsmoen.livejournal.com]

"God and I" is one of my all-time favorites. In fact, I re-read it last night.