Revisions, Revisions, And More Revisions

The science fiction writer Connie Willis, a recipient of several Nebula Awards and Hugo Awards, was asked by a reader on the website Science Fiction Weekly (June 16, 2005) about her writing process. Her response:

"I rewrite everything, long or short, over and over. And it's not a question of a rough draft. It's many, many notes and drafts and cross-outs and retries. When I was done with Doomsday Book [1992], I had three loose-leaf notebooks full of research and two 8 x 12 inch boxes full of rough drafts. I have never written anything in one draft, not even a grocery list, although I have heard from friends that this is actually possible."

An Early Article On "The Twilight Zone"

Charles Beaumont (1929-1967), one of the writers on The Twilight Zone, wrote an article in Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine's December 1959 issue about the now classic sci-fi/fantasy CBS television series, which premiered on October 2, 1959.

Beaumont's article revealed the initial resentment of people in the sci-fi community toward the show's creator, Rod Serling (1924-1975), "the eminent TV writer," who they felt was "an outsider." After Beaumont met Serling, he learned of Serling's "love [for] science fiction and fantasy." And when he read the first nine scripts that Serling wrote for The Twilight Zone and discovered their high quality, "I knew," wrote Beaumont, "that Serling was an 'outsider' in terms of experience; in terms of instinct, he was a veteran."

As it turned out, wrote Beaumont, "a circle of excitement surround[ed] the show. People [actors, directors, writers] want[ed] to be associated with it." Furthermore, "Serling and his associates...[did] their best to make this a first rate production."

And as everyone now knows, their efforts created a memorable, revered, thought-provoking, and timeless anthology series of half-hour dramas that examined human nature. "The Twilight Zone," noted the entertainment website IMDb.com, "featured forays into controversial grounds like racism, Cold War paranoia and the horrors of war."

Beaumont's brief article, if it hasn't by now, deserves to be included as a foreword to a Twilight Zone book. It chronicles the attitudes and expectations about the series from someone who was there as an observer and a participant during its creation.

Is Trump's Space Force Proposal A Farce?

I don't know if any newspapers or magazines plan to publish comments from a dozen or so science-fiction writers like Samuel Delany on President Trump's proposed Space Force, but if they haven't, it would be something worth doing.

By offering their perspectives, pro and con, on establishing this new branch of the military, the general public would be informed in a thought-provoking and non-technical way on the government's national space security policies or the lack of same.

The Return Of "The Twilight Zone"

An update of the iconic sc-fi anthology series The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) will be available for viewers via the CBS Access streaming service, according to Browbeat, Slate's cultural blog. It will be executive produced by Jordan Peele, the director of the hit movie, Get Out. (At this writing I have not seen the movie yet.)

"Peele will be a great fit for a show that blends sci-fi and social commentary," wrote Marissa Martinelli on the blog.

I hope the reboot will be far superior to past Twilight Zone reboots that weren't as good as the original series created by Rod Serling, who wrote most of  the show's scripts.

One suggestion: There is a young African-American writer of  several horror/fantasy books named Brandon Massey, who lives in Georgia. When I was given his book, The Other Brother, to proofread I thought it was another badly written urban-lit book. I was taken by surprise by the quality of the writing as well as the fact that it was in the horror/fantasy genre. I admit that I have not read Mr. Massey's other books but I am looking forward to doing so. In the meantime, I hope Mr. Massey is considered for a writing job on the Twilight Zone reboot.