You see, I used to do a certain amount of market research by going to the local drugstore and seeing what the truck drivers would put up. Now it's all just copies from the latest best-seller list and damn little of anything else. Jerry Pournelle amountcopydamn share on social
I think it takes about a million words to make a writer. I mean that you're going to throw away. Jerry Pournelle makemilliontake Change image and share on social
I have more information in one place than anybody in the world. Jerry Pournelle informationplaceworld Change image and share on social
I started in this racket in the early '70s, and when I was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America, of which I was like the sixth president, I was the first one nobody ever heard of. Jerry Pournelle 70samericaearly Change image and share on social
And in down times it shakes a lot of the bad SF out, a lot the stuff that was bought for literary reasons, which is neither entertaining nor great literature. Jerry Pournelle badbuyentertain Change image and share on social
Because Tom Doherty and people like that are not stupid. If they could have streamlined their operation more to get more money out of it, they would have done it. It's not like they're a bunch of idiots. Jerry Pournelle bunchdohertyidiot share on social
So, I guess the answer to your question is very few people can bring off a novel of the future because it's just so damn hard to make it look like the future. Jerry Pournelle answerbringdamn Change image and share on social
You no longer have much in the way of knowing what to do in a big, epic novel about the future, because nobody knows what the hell is going to happen. Jerry Pournelle bigepicfuture Change image and share on social
Write a lot. And finish what you write. Don't join writer's clubs and go sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it. I set those rules up years ago, and nothing's changed. Jerry Pournelle agochangeclub share on social
The importance of information is directly proportional to its improbability. Jerry Pournelle directlyimportanceimprobability Change image and share on social