Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
In fact, this has always been the case in literature: For every great author, there are hundreds or thousands of others, churning out material that will not last the year.
That's why it is not writing that is revered... it is great writing that is revered, and those who are capable of producing it are to be encouraged in every way possible, not stifled.
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Sure, but all the other guys and girls ride on their coattails, just because the form is the same. That said, I doubt they are "encouraged in every way possible." I rather suspect that, just as in the movie and music industries, they adapt to the form that seems to be selling best at the moment (such as historical fiction, for example), and that quite a few are even encouraged to do so by their muses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
In addition, a planet of 7 billion people means a planet of 7 billion opinions. Suppose I think Tolstoy is a hack... that is my opinion. That does not mean I do not have a right to obtain the books I like, say, The Life and Times of Samurai Jack, because the majority of others think Tartakovsky is not as good as Tolstoy.
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Oh, come now. Even if there might be debate about whether certain fringe phenomena (pastiche etc.) should count as "art" rather than kitsch, you're surely not advocating '80s relativism, where everyone's opinion, no matter how unsubstantiated and unmotivated, was just as good as anyone else's?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
At any rate, the alternative is a much smaller source of all writing material, since most people in this world are simply too busy to write for nothing. Is that a world to look forward to?
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I could do without all the porn novels, the Browns, etc., just as well as I could do without singer X, who doesn't write her own music, but just sings the lyrics she's told to sing to "the best of her ability."
Anyway, there's no need for the false dichotomy between "survival of the fittest where we allow everyone to write through paying all of them" and "having a world where only the idle can write", as I never said copyright should be abolished; I just said that I don't really think today's publishers really deserve to keep existing in their current form.