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   Bethany Black (bethanyblack@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 15-Oct-2023 23:32:02 JST Bethany Black

   in reply to

   • Charlie Stross
   • Quixoticgeek

   @cstross @quixoticgeek once you realise that Atlas Shrugged is written in the style of bad slash/fic where the two protagonists get horny for rail travel the book really improves in entertainment value

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Sunday, 15-Oct-2023 23:32:03 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • Quixoticgeek

     @quixoticgeek Go read late-period Heinlein, Ayn Rand, L. Neil Smith, Tom Clancy ("cummunists bad!") or Terry Goodkind. All of 'em stop the fiction sooner or later so that the hero protagonist can deliver a lecture explaining why their adversaries' ideas—not just their deeds—are fundamentally wrong and misguided.

   • Embed this notice
     Quixoticgeek (quixoticgeek@social.v.st)'s status on Sunday, 15-Oct-2023 23:32:05 JST Quixoticgeek

     in reply to

     • Charlie Stross

     @cstross can you elaborate on what you mean by "battering the reader with ideological talking point" am curious how that would come across in fiction.

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Sunday, 15-Oct-2023 23:32:06 JST Charlie Stross

     #WritersCoffeeClub 15: Should writers be honest about their politics or keep quiet?

     You have politics—I have informed opinions!

     (Insofar as fiction is the examination of the human condition by means of discourse with imaginary friends, and insofar as the personal is political, it's impossible to keep personal politics out of fiction. But there's a huge difference between letting it inform the world-view presented by a story, and battering the reader with ideological talking points.)