You can see this trajectory particularly clearly in prolific but not technical-genius fiction writers like Asimov. The genre-busting through-line is visible in the canon, and the technical skills steadily improve over decades, until his last books are technically good too
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I think Asimov's genre-busting innovation was to mash up science and history. By contrast, H. G. Wells and Jules Verne novels seemed to be kinda ahistorical. Asimov didn't just invent a time machine concept like Wells. He offered epic histories of robotics, and psychohistory.
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3 data points from my own experiments:
My first story, Heirloom Lounge, is technically okay for a beginner but clearly a zombie. It busts no genres.
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My second story is technically horribly incoherent and crashes rather than ends, but it did find a genre-busting vector: mashing up consulting and absurdist sci-fi
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My 3rd story, LEAP, which is also chapter 1 of a stalled novel, I think has both ok technical quality and a genre-busting vector (time travel scifi and identity/consciousness metaphysics). I have the plot worked out. It's just beyond my execution rn
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I should also mention a 4th story which got off to a really strong start imo, but I had to abandon because the plot I had in mind was easily far beyond my ability to even begin to execute.
Seoul Station:
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But back to the general point. My own example makes this yin-yang dynamic (genre busting versus technical perfection) painfully, embarrassingly obvious, but it is visible even at the most accomplished and mature levels of the work of people with way more talent and experience.
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And the funny thing is, I have seen almost no good advice on solving or even acknowledging this problem. 70% of fiction writing advice focuses on tactical mechanics. The other 30% tries to finesse the genre-busting problem with color-by-numbers narrative templates.
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One piece of writing advice that stood out to me was from Ian Fleming. He said something along the lines of "write wish fulfillment" and I realized at that moment that the James Bond novels were that for him. They are not even close to wish fulfillment for me.
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Setting out to write wish fulfillment is an interesting guide to what to choose to write. In my case, I think it would lead to genre busting outcomes. Not sure if it would work for other people.
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I think you would have great raw material for allegorical writing given your superpowers and kryptonites.
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Would you please expand on that? What connection did you have in mind between superpowers, kryptonites, and allegory?
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Your a supersmell powers, with the associated downsides! It’s quite amazing. I’m sure you could mine that for general insight by treating it as an allegory for any heightened sensitivity.
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