The Measure of Success

Jim Fear and I had a great conversation recently, and this weekend you'll be invited to listen in as he guides me through another sprawling conversation about life, sci-fi, and everything.  One of the topics that came up is the inevitable success of the Pulp Revolution, how to recognize it and how to guard against the normal sorts of political decay that arise from success.  Notice, and this is important, that we talked about our plans for success, not failure.

The day after recording that, a Negative Nancy showed up in my social media feed with a few questions about that.  He wanted to know how I define success and pointed out that the #PulpRevolution is not the only game in town.  He wanted to know what made me think the future is pulp.  Friend-o there pointed out that there might be hundreds or thousands of lonely writers off in the wilds of self-publishing just doing their little thing because it feels right.  He wanted to know what made the Pulp Revolution so special.

Easy: a winner's mindset.

Everybody I interact with in the Pulp Revolution has a winner's mindset.  They are relentlessly positive individuals who channel their energy into their work and into each other.   They don't just work alone, tossing stories into the cold, harsh marketplace.  They have the brains to look back at what worked with the pulps, to take them apart, and put them back together again.  They have the desire to dig down into the roots of sci-fi, even the obscure little off shoots, to learn more about them.  They have the energy - writing their own works, reading, discussing, analyzing, experimenting, all of it in addition to handling the daily stress of their normal lives.  They have the sort of open-mindedness, the willingness to reconsider their beliefs in light of new information, the willingness to listen to enthusiasts of the Campbellian and New Wave revolutions - provided they bring their A-game and present cogent arguments, they have been embraced by the Pulp Revolution. 

The Pulp Revolution has gone from a handful of people to a mob in less than a year.  Just imagine how much further it's going to go in the next year, or two, or ten.  And keep imagining it, because that's how winner's think about the future.

And if you want to hear how winner's talk about the future, listen to Jim Fear's next podcast, because you're going to hear two upbeat, energetic, and downright funny guys go on at length about sci-fi.  It's going to be far more entertaining and educational than any panel you've ever seen at WorldCon, I can guarantee you that.