Following this link reminded me of how art is often based on life and how that cycle–even in sic-fi–can be driven from the opposite direction than what I stated yesterday. The link is to the story of the lost man, which served as the inspiration for the Colorado Kid, which served as the basis of the TV show Haven. At each stage of that cycle more and more creatives are involved and effort to change the original idea/happening more towards what their particular vision is. It therefore is a useful skill to not care too much about what happens to your work after it leaves your hands. In a real sense you are like a trainer raising the work and caring for it to send it out into the world to be loved, corrupted, and perhaps even slaughtered. We writers are like pig farmers that way.
I’ve spent some time thinking more about the idea of ideas and the role of creating a vision of the world. It is still true in my mind that writers help to create the future, but it is equally true that writing is a response to the present and the past and at times a way to reach catharsis of particular events that transpire. There are, for example, hundreds of books that deal specifically with the events of 9/11. They are not premonitory but they are reflective. Some are even highly derivative and some TV series are the same way.
What I think now more than ever is that character is at the central of all this and that we are so often as writers talking about the individuals and how they respond to these events, these mysteries, and these leaps in technology. So, while I still feel that science fiction is and should remain the driving influence of science, I also feel like I should mention that the human response to said science is something that the writing can help us tackle and form an appreciation for…
Some Thoughts:
- 1858 was the first time people were charged money to see a professional baseball game. The first pay-to-watch game was the New York vs. Brooklyn, which the team that would become the hallowed Yankees won 22-18. Meanwhile today NY beat the other LA team 8-2, continuing to dominate and torture those who do not respect the Yankee way…
- In other news, there is a Triple Crown Winner for the first time in a really long time. This ought to absorb a great deal of air time on the sports channels and give horse racing a much needed boost. Who knows what is going to happen to the horse? I suspect lots of sex in the future of that beast…