Ok, one of the arguments I was in lately in regards to writing is one gentleman's argument that most good writers stop being good writers once they've written more than 3 books. After that it becomes nothing more than "pulp fiction". IE, books written that have no other purpose than to sell lots of copies and make a lot of money, but really are very low quality writing, and in many cases a waste of the paper they're printed on. Hence the name "pulp fiction".
With that in mind, at what point do you think an author's works stop being original and start being nothing but "pulp fiction"? Two examples I know of right off the top of my head are Clive Cussler and Orson Scott Card. Now some fans of these authors might shoot me for suggesting that, but let me explain first. I like Cussler, and I think his stuff is great. But the originality and quality of his books sorta peaked at "Fire Ice" and then have been in a steady decline towards pulp fiction ever since, with a few scattered beacons of quality in the midst.
Orson Scott Card however is an odd one. He wrote an awesome novel when he did Ender's game. Speaker for the dead was alright, but nowhere near the quality of Ender's game. The rest just went down the pooper from there. Oddly though, he seems to have seen what he did wrong and completely redeemed himself with his shadow series. There are some other examples I could put forward of that list, but those are the two I'll start out with. With those in mind, what's your thoughts on the point when an author stops making good fiction, and starts just churning out mindless pulp fiction?
(puts on flame proof suit ^_^;;
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