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HOMILETICS

Algis Budrys, writing in the October 1981,
"Fantasy and Science Fiction":

   ... over the years the one sort of story that
   almost never makes it is the story in which
   no one "learns better".  ... the story in
   which the process of learning better is
   particularly visible and particularly easy to
   express as a homily is the story that stands
   the best chance.

   Homiletics of course is the residue of
   experience... Such aphorisms as "A rolling stone
   gathers no moss" ... are the result of what
   must have been very extended processes of
   observation... There must have been a time when
   they were less refined...  [Fannish SF] is
   notably fond of scenarios testing such
   propositions as "You shouldn't bottle up
   anger," "You'd better be sure what you're
   sure of," "Pride creates mistakes," and
   any number of such variously profound
   open-ended statements ...

   ... Fans tend to become engaged with the least
   precisely formed proto-aphorisms because they
   have caught them early in their development.

   Since such imprecise maxims are what the
   protagonist in a [Fannish SF story] must work
   _towards_ discovering ... [Fannish SF]
   protagonists can often seem particularly
   limited and unpreceptive, since even where
   they get to is often a rather elementary
   and circumscribed enlightenment.




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