From: mumble@nomail.invalid   
      
   On 06/12/2014 12:38 PM, Remus Shepherd wrote:   
      
   > The rules for fictional   
   > characters are different than the rules for real people.  :)   
      
   Should SF writers play within the rules for reality and thus become   
   badly-paid fact-free journalists, or should reality suck a few clues   
   from the thumbs of SF characters and perhaps become a changed reality?   
      
   To put it differently, is the purpose of writing SF something as mundane   
   as generating an income, or is it a means of tossing either sand or   
   lubricant between some of the cogs of reality?   
      
   If it's just a means of generating income, why are people not more   
   effectively generating income by entering the fast-food industry or even   
   doing something that actually pays a living wage?   
      
   If on the other hand it's a tool that can be used to influence the   
   machine, why are people concerned with conforming to reality's   
   preference-de-jour?   
      
   Given what I read in the media, and what I see on "bestseller" lists and   
   being made into movies, it seems to me that reality is lusting and   
   begging for ideas, however good or bad, that will help it become   
   something else, nearly anything else.   
      
   I wouldn't waste a second on writing that was intended to generate   
   income in a way that was pleasant to me; if I wanted to have fun   
   generating income I'd find a "Gigolo School For Old Lames", or just go   
   to Vegas and scarf up on the free drinks while waiting for the blessings   
   of chance (which might take *lots* of free drinks).   
      
   Some people "need money"; I survived that crap.  Reality on the other   
   hand has yet to be fully survived, and the idea of surviving what   
   currently passes for reality does not much appeal to me.   
      
   So tell me Remus, what does it really matter whether "The rules for   
   fictional characters are different than the rules for real people"?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)