... SFWA ...
December 27, 1998
6:45 p.m.
The Cards win! The Cards win! The Cards win! Wow. Can't believe my beloved Cardinals of Louisville managed to beat the Cats of Lexington. And they did it soundly, too, pretty much outplaying them the entire way. What a great Christmas season, eh?   98 day rejection from Amazing. Okay, I'm going to go back on my earlier position on SFWA and requal. For new readers, SFWA is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, a group of writers that seems hell-bent to rip itself up through internal squabbles rather than do anything that remotely resembles fighing for writer's causes. I've been thinking about it a lot. I still think the idea of a tight group of acknowledged professionals would make for an important group of folks within the business. But it's obvious that I've had the wrong vision of what the organization was. See, I thought it was for advancing causes that affect professional writers. Silly me. See, the thing that got me really swayed was actually a letter from an SFWA member that basically said he would resign from the organization if requal was passed merely because it is fundamentally elitist, and that it mirrored the organization's most vocal members in this area. Requal, as originally proposed, was way too weak, and a stronger requal requirement would kick out the very people that the organization is trying to help. That was a slap in the face. I agree. Or at least I see the point. The membership has spoken. The idea of proving yourself routinely is elitist. And the organization has decided that once you're a writer, you're always a writer so long as you pay your dues with a check made out to the organization. Fair enough. But let's just realize that it makes SFWA become an group whose main charter is for disseminating information and thought across the entire range of the world of Science Fiction writers (which is fine). In this fashion, requal is an exclusionary technique and should be scoffed at. Given that the organization is for social advancement of its members (the infamous outrage about convention priviledges), I see requalification as a separating the haves and the have nots. I've seen the light, he says in only a partially sarcastic voice. SFWA's charter is to spread information and to provide perks. Hence, we should expand as far as we can. The more the merrier. Heck, let's go as far as the Romance Writers association and allow our members to be "pre-published" writers. Seriously. Why even have the requirement to sell anything? Personally, I like the charter I had in mind when I first joined the place. But given that I was wrong, I'm quite pleased to support the "Requal is evil" side. Well, the trips have been made, the presents are opened, and the cookies eaten. Now we settle back into a daily cycle. I finally finished a critique I owed Amy, and I think I've finished "Stealing the Sun" again [grin -- is anything really finished?]. I also made lunch today--my specialty, grilled cheese--and did some of the laundry, and "fixed" the toilet (okay, more than you needed to know, but heck, if I can brag about it, I will). I also read two chapters of a book Lisa gave me. Something about self-editing, but whose title slips my mind at the moment. Wonder if she's sending me a signal, eh? Still, there's a billion things that beckon to be done. I'm looking forward to a great week, though. Lots of time for Lisa, and Brigid, and still time to get my writing reined in. Amid all the world's absurdities, Brigid came up to me and Lisa yesterday and put her arms around us. She told us that she loved us, and that we were her favorite Mama and Daddy. I picked her up, and we gave each other kisses. Don't let the little stuff get you down, okay?  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"You were up to the level that your leadership and brother and comrade Saddam Hussein had hoped you would be at ... so God rewarded you and delighted your hearts with the crown of victory," Saddam Hussein in a broadcast on the Qatari satellite television station al-Jazeera |
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