This Pixel-Stained Techno-Peasant Wretchedness day business

[anghara]

I think Howard Hendrix's original rant was the most perfectly classic case of shooting oneself in the foot that I've seen in a long time, perhaps ever - because even if he does not have any particular attachment to the Internet he probably knows enough people who DO that he should have realised that he was uttering fightin' words, and that the cyberpeople would stand up and raise cyberbanners in cyber-revolt. Which, in fact, is exactly what happened - and here we all are, on International Pixel-Stained Techno-Peasant Wretch day.

But I'm not entirely sure about having a single dedicated day on which one posts something on the Internet apparently just to prove a point - and why? Because if this is being done to prove that point to Howard Hendrix, (a) he probably doesn't care and (b) he very probably won't be reading any of this. He's said as much - he doesn't DO the 'Net, doesn't want to, doesn't care. And if it is being done to prove a point to the rest of us, well, as far as I am concerned that point has already been made and made and made, many times, and we're kind of preaching to the converted here, really, aren't we? And if, as I've seen in several posts today, this is being done just because we can, because we are writers, because we enjoy it, because we're feeling generous with our words - what is this day saying, that we do this only on one day of the year? What happens tomorrow, or next week, or in six months' time? And I've seen messages around the Internet which say something like, "There, I was first to post, I've beaten everyone else, do I get my SFWA points now?" - which makes me cringe just a bit. We're doing it for SFWA points now?... The message seems a tad... mixed. Or maybe I'm just the token Pixel-Stained Techno-Peasant Cynical Wretch. There always has to be one, I guess. But far be it from me to rain on anyone's parade.

I've had stuff online at my website for a while - you can find the short story that won the BBC Radio 4 competition back in 2000, as well as a couple of essays, here; you can find a sample of the new YA book, "Gift of the Unmage", here. So, if you wander past those places today - happy PSTPW Day. Enjoy.

Comments

[hrj.livejournal.com]

do I get my SFWA points now?

I think the "points" thing has gotten confused along the way somewhere. The original mention was that people who are current SFWA members who post material for IPSTP Day get extra "brownie points" -- not that posting something gives you some sort of nebulous credit towards a SFWA membership. My interpretation of the "extra points" thing was that: A) Since part of the idea was to demonstrate that people who write saleable-quality material are not being hurt by posting material, SFWA membership is one measure of that status; or B) Since the original rant that sparked the idea came from a SFWA officer, participation by SFWA members demonstrates that this is not a position held generally by the organization. At least that was my take on it.

[zanzjan.livejournal.com]

I guess I see the day as a chance to embrace/celebrate the peculiar online community and culture that revolves around (and is made of) creative people of all sorts. I see it as being analogous to open studio tours, where you can wander through a city and stick your head in and see what a bunch of artists you may never have heard of are doing -- a very different, casual sampling of creative expression than going to a gallery or a specific author's website, where you are looking for a particular experience rather than just "surfing". I've been looking at the collection of links posted on papersky's journal and letting curiousity be my guide, rather than expectation.

It's been kinda neat.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's being done to prove a point to anybody so much as to have . . . well . . . a big publicity stunt, in a non-perjorative sense of the phrase. Let's post a bunch of pro fiction, mention it all over the Internets, maybe get some people to read it, maybe snag some new readers . . . and in general, make a communal statement on the matter.