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Originally Posted by Dr. Drib
This is an interesting discussion and I agree with the OP on the placement issue.
But what the hoo, what the hay, what the diggledy-daggeldy day. The discussion thus far is quite interesting.
Can natural talent be improved upon? is an interesting question.
I think if one looks at, say Robert Silverberg, one can definitely say he blossomed in the 70s and became an important writer of genre fiction. He improved in his ability to tell a story and to move his characters upon the stage.
One could even argue for the late- lamented boob-trespassing, microphone-engorging Harlan Ellison. (Although, in my opinion, age and incipient senility finally caught up with him.)
Moving out of the 'SF gutter', mainstream authors too can improve upon their storytelling - when money doesn't get in the way.  |
Smile when you say 'SF gutter', pardner! [is there an emoticon of a gunslinger ready to draw? btw, I hope the reference isn't too obscure]
Absolutely mainstream authors can improve on their storytelling. For example, IMPO, Tom Clancy improved on his craft a lot before he got to be such a big name that he started just churning them out. Of course, part of improving your craft is getting feedback on the craft. That's where an editor comes in handy. You can get the same sort of feedback from beta readers, but it takes a lot of self discipline going that route. A beta reader typically tells you that sometime doesn't work. A good editor tells you both that something doesn't work and _why_ it doesn't work.