Err... Chris?  This was kinda uncalled for, doncha think?

Weinberg-san made some very valid points... SI's have a unique set of
pitfalls that can make them bad, as stories... or make them GOOD as
stories... and the writer has to be aware of those.

Zen generally does not read/like SI fiction... for MANY of the reasons that
Bast pointed out.  If Zen DOES like an SI fic, it's because the author,
knowingly or not, wrote the story in accordance with a number of the points
in this essay.

And there are a number of SI fics that Zen very much enjoys.  (Though none
of them follow ALL of the guidelines in this essay, all of them follow SOME
of them)

At the very least, these essays provide a means for people to analyse their
own stories and maybe explain why they get certain responses... and take
steps to alter those responses in future installments.

Further, your point about it working as a story being the critical factor
is incorrect - at least in Zen's opinion...

Janet Kagan wrote a Star Trek novel called 'Uhura's Song'... the STORY is
*excellent* - but one character IN the story (who goes by the name of Dr.
Evan Wilson) simply REEKS of every BAD Self Insert cliche in the book -
pure Mary Sue-ism.  She's a *textbook* example of the type of character
that Bast refers to.  And the really sad part is that it's so uneccessary.
The story doesn't NEED her.  If she were toned down to realistic levels, it
would improve the READABILITY of the novel by orders of magnitude - though
she could be dropped all together without serious problems.

Essays like this are a legitimate aspect of writing fan fiction.  After
all, the whole point of this list is about how to make one's writing
better.  And that's what essays like this are presented for.

You don't have to AGREE with everything someone says in an essay like
this... after all, it's opinion... but you should at least acknowledge
their rights to share those opinions.

It's certainly not 'silly'.


Zen no Itan-sha
Apprentice to the Angels of the Apocalypse