Misinterpretation

[kevin_standlee]

One of the comments on the Fan Writer Hugo Controversy croggled me sufficiently that I want to quote it here. I'm not meaning to pick on the writer, who comments here and is a BASFA member, but this one sort of surprised me:

...my reading of the WSFS constitution's section on the Hugo awards, taken in its entirety, leads me to believe the purpose of the Fan Writer award is to recognize non-professional sci-fi writers.

Wow. What I'm wondering if this is a widespread opinion -- that "Fan Writer" is taken by a significant number of people as "non-professional, fan-written science fiction." Of course, it's not -- "Fan" doesn't mean "Amateur" in our field; it means "enthusiast," which is not the same thing, and that's why one can be a fan and a pro simultaneously. Nor is "Fan Writer" intended as a category aimed at recognizing "fan fiction." Fan writing is writing about science fiction, fantasy, and fandom. All of the people nominated in that category (and everyone who has been nominated in that category in my memory) have been nominated for their writing about the field, not because of any fiction they've written.

Comments

The other extreme..

[theresamather.livejournal.com]

as I'm a guest of honor farther and farther east, I find that I have some problems based on the fact that I'm not aware of regional peeves and preferences...like I have a million years of extra time to read up on every quarrel members of First Fandom have ever had with each other. Like when I was a guest at a con and the toastmaster chastised me for using the term "sci fi" at the meet the guests panel. I had never heard that that was a bad word I wasn't supposed to use before. I'm a west coast media kid...I mean...it's the "sci fi" channel fer chrissakes! I think it comes down to the amount of time those of us 40 and under have to study all the historic Battles of our Elders. It's simply impossible to keep up on these epics and sagas and the actual fannish things that we love at the same time! :P :P

Re: The other extreme..

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Yep; "sci-fi" means bad science fiction, particularly bad movies, to me. Because that's what I always heard it applied to. It is a vile, ugly, term, anyway. I hate *hate* *HATE* having it applied to the literature I love so much. (Never lived further west than Minneapolis, which is admittedly west of the Mississippi but just barely.)

Re: The other extreme..

[kproche.livejournal.com]

I usually fall back on "SF" for all the varieties (in any medium) of speculative fiction that show some care for the art and craft involved in creating good fiction.

"Scifi" (pronounced Skiffy) I reserve for the bad and schlocky stuff, some of which I still love but for completely different reasons.

"Sci-Fi" sounds like the gadget Captain Kirk would use to play recordings of his favorite makeout music while scoring with this week's alien babe.

Re: The other extreme..

[barry-short.livejournal.com]

Which is, of course, exactly what Forry had in mind. (Well, maybe a few years ahead of Captain Kirk, but you know what I mean.)

I dunno - I'm most definitely a believer in Sturgeon's Law. The whole idea of arguing this terminology seems to me a serious denial of Ted's Universal Truth.

Is that a grenade? JMO. I have a lot better things to do with my emotions than worry about how people choose to abbreviate.

Re: The other extreme..

[kproche.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I tend to just devour it all and then (as in any good digestive process) the part that's good and nutritional is used and the large remainder is left by the roadside. Sturgeon's Law, indeed. :-)

(Of course, I have this perhaps regrettable ability to remember entire passages from the bad stuff as well as I do the good. Handy for trivia, painful for some of my friends)

Re: The other extreme..

[kallisti.livejournal.com]

Sci-Fi...isn't that a brand of brown spread make from ground nuts? :-)

ttyl
Farrell

Re: The other extreme..

[dsmoen.livejournal.com]

Among people who want to publish, I consider someone using "sci fi" as someone not in tune with the field, but that's in part because you have to know what's come before so you won't keep re-writing stories that most people in publishing have read before.

Re: The other extreme..

[davidshallcross.livejournal.com]

Terminology varies from place to place and from time to time. I note that the Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook gives the equivalence (English) "sci-fi" = (Japanese) "esu efu".