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The thing that changed for Gene was that he no longer had a day job. When he was working, he'd get up at 5 am to writer for two hours before leaving for work. T

The thing that changed for Gene was that he no longer had a day job. When he was working, he'd get up at 5 am to writer for two hours before leaving for work. The whole of the Book of the New Sun was written that way. Which meant there was a certain commercial pressure to sell books, and I think his consistency flagged. I worked at Tor in the mid-to-late 1990s. I don't think that Hartwell just accepted anything he sent, the process was a little more complicated than that, because David knew what he was working on. Gene had a tendency to resist editing; once he was done with a thing it was done. I think he had some good books in that period, but there wasn't going to be another Peace or Fifth Head of Cerebus.

deleted 6y ago
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m463 6y ago
that's interesting. I wonder if the stimulus of a day at work with people and interactions and pressure and more could make something more meaningful come out. Sort of like a little external entropy added to the random number generator.
- kinghtown 6y ago
  I think there is some truth to this but I wouldn’t argue to keep a day job as a writer. The vast majority of recording artists are never able to match the music they recorded in their 20’s. I’ve commented on that before here so I won’t get into it further than to say that the world isn’t interested in middle aged musicians which in turn affects the work. I think someone like Thomas Pynchon shows that an author can very well be producing very good work well into the old age. There are rumours about him being both a professor or exCIA but I’m sure he’s been reasonably well off since the late 70s. While I haven’t read Bleeding Edge, his most recent novel, Inherent Vice is wild and excellent. Maybe keeping a job keeps a writer honest or at least in the public watching and note taking. But I don’t think this is always true and it would be heartbreaking to take the dream away from everyone about ever becoming a full-time novelist. I also don’t think making great art is easy. A few family deaths and accumulated illnesses and bad experience can really do a number on people. Not to suggest that this is Wolfe but there are many factors at play.
  - SamoyedFurFluff 6y ago
    Interestingly I think novelists can get better with age, see Ursula le guin or octavia butler. Or even now, jeff vandermeer and nalo hopkinson and nisi shawl.
  - watwut 6y ago
    I dont know about music (my favorite stuff is in older aga range frequently, but I don't know how much anecdotal it is). But, writers commonly get better with age. You see that if you read their later books and then go back to first ones.
- watwut 6y ago
  Probably. But the lifestyle where you wake up at 5 so that you write so that you then work full time job is not sustainable.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

m463 6y ago

that's interesting. I wonder if the stimulus of a day at work with people and interactions and pressure and more could make something more meaningful come out. Sort of like a little external entropy added to the random number generator.

kinghtown 6y ago
I think there is some truth to this but I wouldn’t argue to keep a day job as a writer. The vast majority of recording artists are never able to match the music they recorded in their 20’s. I’ve commented on that before here so I won’t get into it further than to say that the world isn’t interested in middle aged musicians which in turn affects the work. I think someone like Thomas Pynchon shows that an author can very well be producing very good work well into the old age. There are rumours about him being both a professor or exCIA but I’m sure he’s been reasonably well off since the late 70s. While I haven’t read Bleeding Edge, his most recent novel, Inherent Vice is wild and excellent. Maybe keeping a job keeps a writer honest or at least in the public watching and note taking. But I don’t think this is always true and it would be heartbreaking to take the dream away from everyone about ever becoming a full-time novelist. I also don’t think making great art is easy. A few family deaths and accumulated illnesses and bad experience can really do a number on people. Not to suggest that this is Wolfe but there are many factors at play.
- SamoyedFurFluff 6y ago
  Interestingly I think novelists can get better with age, see Ursula le guin or octavia butler. Or even now, jeff vandermeer and nalo hopkinson and nisi shawl.
- watwut 6y ago
  I dont know about music (my favorite stuff is in older aga range frequently, but I don't know how much anecdotal it is). But, writers commonly get better with age. You see that if you read their later books and then go back to first ones.
watwut 6y ago
Probably. But the lifestyle where you wake up at 5 so that you write so that you then work full time job is not sustainable.