An Asylum for Writers of Speculative Fiction

An acquaintance of mine sent out a short-story for comments yesterday. (He has a small mailing list of pros and almost-pros and he asks us for advice and input.) He has some good ideas, but with rare exceptions his protagonists fade away into the woodwork when the going gets tough and at the end they are often found holed-up, waiting for someone else to solve their problems. Whether it's demons in the basement or aliens from other worlds, these guys are more intent on saving their own skins than fighting for truth, justice, and whatever. I don't think this is going to sell stories and, in truth, my acquaintance does have trouble placing his pieces. James Gunn points out that science fiction is idea-driven but that it requires interesting characters in interesting situations. I think it needs even more than that. It needs protagonists whom the reader feels can make a difference in life and in the way that things work. The heroic guys and gals don't have to go in blasting like something out of a Captain Future story, or destroy evil galaxies like E.E. Smith's Lensmen, but they should be willing to put something on the line in the fight between good and evil. Sitting around and sucking their thumbs simply is not enough.