Saturday, October 29, 2016

The Pulp Archivist

I shouldn't be telling you this.  It feels a bit like a magician giving away his secrets.  Most of what I write here is a response to or inspired by other bloggers.  If you start reading those bloggers, you might have less use for me.  If that's so, so be it.  Far better for you to get the words straight from the horse's mouth* than to get it through my own off-centered filter.

Fellow traveler and fellow contributor to the Puppy of the Month Book Club, Nathan Housley, has his own blog up and running now.  It's called, The Pulp Archivist, and it's well worth a follow.  I particularly appreciated his pointing to Dean Wesley Smith's analysis of pulp writing speed

Nathan's thoughts helped put the Lester Dent Formula into context for me:
He describes various levels, up to Pulp Speed Six, or 2,000,000 original words per year.  That's more words in one year than G. R. R. Martin has published for the entire Song of Ice and Fire series over the course of twenty years.  Those levels of production explain the pulps' reliance on structures and formulas, as organization assists in creation.  When you're relying on one cent a word to pay the bills, streamlining the creative process is a must.
He also delves into the classic pulp works, both written and spoken.  If you love the pulps, and if you appreciate his detailed write-ups at the Puppy of the Month as much as I do, you should be reading his blog on the regular. 

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