resolution
by uzwi
Always look for a way to express a thing, not sum it up glibly in a couple of words and then smile and mic drop as if labelling it that way has dealt with it. My whole life, genre seems to have been committed to the latter, especially in the conversation about itself, especially in its encounters with human behaviour and perception, and especially if it can imply that to express a thing is merely to repeat a trope, “reinvent the wheel”. In fact the struggle to say is always the struggle to reinvent the wheel–to distinguish the description of an experience from all the other descriptions that might, to the reader, or to another writer, seem similar–not to encapsulate neatly, and thereby categorise & dismiss, before swiftly moving along.
the m john harrison blog 
Is the title from the faux-collection Gibson tweeted about? It’s going to happen. We cannot stop it.
No, I must have missed that. I was going to call it “resolution”, but this title came along by association. The sentiment here is something I’ve been grinding away at for years, trying to find a way to say it without labelling it…
I think he was expressing a similar sentiment. So much sci-fi isn’t even trying to talk about now, though. And, of those pieces that do, so many do exactly what you describe.
I was really thinking about the attempt to capture any experience in writing. Sf tends to encapsulate-and-label, either so that the experience doesn’t get in the way of a “good story”, or so that confronting an experience enough to write it doesn’t upset the author. TV Tropes-style criticism & theory uses this method to help pass off everything anyone ever wrote about as a trope, and tends to produce “writing off”, rather than writing–it’s essentially dismissive.
Maybe I’ll take this down & retitle.
I agree with that sentiment. I was pretty much taught to do that in college. Less so in grad school.
Love this and trying to keep it in mind. Most of my stuff is very character driven and trying to make it personal is the best I can do.
What faux collection is that?
We live in a “smile and mic drop” era. Thanks much for yout thoughts on how to express the deeper experience and to differentiate it from others, instead of blithe labeling or coughing up a trope like a chicken bone. Resolution works for me, as in bringing things into focus.
Text as unique act? You can say that again.
But uncle, uncle: you can buy Gnostic Shower Curtains online – THE emergent bathroom accessory for 2020! Just Google and see!
Truly, these are the Last Days …
hi martm, I’m getting some straight away. happy zozo.
That hit where it hurt (not the genres). I am taking it home. Many thanks.