LMB news tid-bit of the day
This was announced:
http://www.niutoday.info/2013/08/19/n...
NIU wins the stuff in my basement not for any past association of mine with them, but because Lynne Thomas, the only Hugo-winning librarian I know, offered to drive to my house and get them. Now, that's service.
We're not yet done unloading -- she took what she could fit in during her last two convention trips to Minneapolis. She promises to come back in the fall with a biggerboat van and schlep the rest.
Ta, L.
http://www.niutoday.info/2013/08/19/n...
NIU wins the stuff in my basement not for any past association of mine with them, but because Lynne Thomas, the only Hugo-winning librarian I know, offered to drive to my house and get them. Now, that's service.
We're not yet done unloading -- she took what she could fit in during her last two convention trips to Minneapolis. She promises to come back in the fall with a bigger
Ta, L.
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Mark
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Aug 20, 2013 08:09AM
Awesome. These are the kinds of things that need to be kept. The writing process is obscure and mysterious to most people. Being able to see how the initial concept goes from idea to book. To be able to see how the kernel of inspiration is fleshed out is an opportunity.
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Eh, I'm not so sure. The reason parts of those first drafts were first drafts is because they were substandard in some way, not fit for public consumption. I don't see how bringing them up into the light of day would benefit what there is of my reputation, after all. Illusion, all illusion...Nevertheless, I am a pack-rat -- but in all the years I've hoarded this stuff, I've almost never gone back to refer to it myself; and it will be of even less use to my heirs. And I don't want to move it all if I change houses again. So Lynne relieved me of a dilemma, for which I thank her very much.
Ta, L.
I agree with Mark, awesome!! How wonderful you get it out of your house and future writers and researchers can pick your brain! The librarian me says yay, outstanding and thank you. I only wish I lived closer to NIU to volunteer to help with the cataloging.
I cannot believe my alma mater and my favorite author just got together!!! I must now begin planning a trip back to NIU...
This is wonderful!Even if the drafts weren't up to your standards for the public, there is a lot of useful stuff that can be done with them. I say this as someone with both a bachelor's and master's degree in history.
For example, you mention that your writing has gone from pencil-on-paper to largely computerized. Comparing drafts in different mediums, it would be interesting to see if you as an author were more or less likely to make changes as your tools changed. I can see the paper "Evolving technology and the writing of modern fiction: a case study." There is also historical value in stuff like your correspondence with your publisher and editors, in understanding how the business of publishing has evolved.
Mm, perhaps; but no one will ever see the e-drafts, which happen as a continuous-flow process on a single master file, so there will be nothing to compare.Anyway, what's done with it all after I boot it all from my basement is, as a friend of mine puts it, "from the Land of Not My Problem."
Ta, L.
The University of South Florida also treats SF & Fantasy as a serious discipline. They too have archives, MS collections, and librarians who know their stuff. http://www.lib.usf.edu/special-collec... If only they were closer, I'll bet they would have at least offered. That's a great article from NIU, though.
