Introduction to Focus: Fiction's Future

Page 3 July–August 2009 MR. MCGUIRE: I just want to say one word to you—just one word. BEN: Yes, sir. MR. MCGUIRE: Are you listening? BEN: Yes, I am. MR. MCGUIRE: Plastics. BEN: Exactly how do you mean? MR. MCGUIRE: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it? BEN: Yes, I will. MR. MCGUIRE: Shh! Enough said. That’s a deal. It’s difficult to not recall these lines when reading through the extra-ordinary discussion of fiction’s future that follows. It’s difficult not to see some neophyte ABR character akin to Dustin Hoffman’s “Ben” standing poolside, regaled one by one by our entire group of respondents to the question, “Define Fiction’s Future in a word, a quotation, or a sentence.” Think about it: Robert Coover saunters by offering unsolicited advice to some young, as yet unpublished writer. In walks Charles Johnson next, followed by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, then Dagoberto Gilb. Sure, the figures and their words change, but ABR’s Ben still tries valiantly to put it all together— or better yet, tries to pull it all apart. He both wants and does not want to hear about the future from others, wants and does not want an informed opinion concerning fiction’s future, and wants and does not want to decide for himself. Reflecting on these lines, it’s difficult not to conclude that fiction’s future is not just one word. “Are you listening?” “Yes, I am.” “Electronics.” “Exactly how do you mean?” “There’s a great future for fiction in electronics. Think about it. Will you think about it?” “Yes, I will.” “Shh! Enough said. That’s a deal.” And think about it if you will.Aword, a quotation , or a sentence is all you need. Anything more starts to become prescriptive, cutting off the imagination of the reader, and short-circuiting metonymic leaps of fictional faith. Catch a sickness unto death with statements like “THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR FICTION.” Think Wittgenstein-like: “The future of fiction is to chase the fly out of the bottle.” Or Nietszchean. Any aphorism will do. “Fiction ’s future: it’s all made up” anyway. “Think about it. Will you think about it?” While Ben didn’t ask Mr. McGuire about the future (Mr. McGuire volunteered it), we did ask over three hundred writers, critics, and scholars about the future of fiction. Responses varied from one word (James Whorton, Jr.’s “C-SPAN,” Stephen J. Burn’s F I C T I O N ' S F U T U R E THINK ABOUT IT IF YOU WILL. A WORD, A QUOTATION, OR A SENTENCE IS ALL YOU NEED. “Neural,” and Vanessa Place’s “Conceptualism”), to a quote (Brian Evenson quotes Glenn Gould and Samuel Beckett, and Lance Olsen quotes Franz Kafka and Jerzy Kosinski), to a sentence—and sometimes many more (hey, just in case we’re paying by the word, right?). Sylvia Watanabe must have been dialed into our The Graduate-influenced wavelength, for she wrote, “Plastics. The future is in plastics.” And you know what’s said about great minds thinking alike. As well, a host of responses we couldn’t predict came in, amazingly diverse, rich, and suggestive. While many of the responses gravitate around the electronic revolution in writing, many others go in entirely different directions. The willingness of so many to grapple with this beastly task attests to the fact that many of our participants are serious about fiction’s future. They want to see what happens next. They want to make it happen, one might say. And what a varied group, too. You’ll find in these responses writers familiar and new to ABR readers, writers of great renown and up-and-comers. Additionally, you’ll find that there is no consensus. The Focus features as many writers who loathe the coming of Kindle as those who welcome it. Optimism and pessimism stand side by side here. The creative writing workshop finds its champions and its critics. We’ve got links to web pages. There’s even a shout out for the graphic novel! In short, just as the subject...