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Maxxed out?
Fri, Feb. 4th, 2005 08:41 amSeveral weeks back, I filled out the 3-part initial Norwescon programming survey. I don't think I've ever gotten a survey quite so thorough and systematic in its three-partness. Then, this week, I received an invitation to join a Yahoo group about Norwescon programming, where I discovered that the panel listings could be found. I was to select the top ten panels I wanted to appear on and e-mail the list to the committee. And something really interesting happened.
I scanned the lists (the nearly 20 categories of lists) and found myself feeling just . . . exhausted. Feeling as though I'd discussed anything I was really interested in ad infinitum ad nauseum and didn't want to talk about anything anymore. I mean, really, how many times do we need to wonder whether or not category labels on book spines are important? How many years do we need to carry on the discussion about doorstop fantasy novels? How often do we need to discuss books that died despite everything (a panel I've seen on the Norwescon program survey for, I think, the last 3-4 years running).
There are some topics that are ever-changing given the growth and development of the market and the genre. As long as the internet exists, e-publishing in all its forms will be a worthwhile topic; the conversation has evolved in significant ways over the last 10 years because the medium has evolved. Small and independent presses continue to be more important in a market that has steadily moved away from publishing the quirky, the literary, the short story collection; discussing that publication avenue is important. These, however, are topics I'd need to sit out of because I don't have the fluency required to speak about them authoritatively.
I find that, generally speaking, I'm just not getting excited about talking about publishing and writing on panels anymore. I'm almost . . . irritated by some of it. Maybe it's overexposure. I overindulged in conventions this past fall in a pretty significant way. It may have been too much to do WorldCon and Foolscap and OryCon (which makes me question my decision to do NASFiC this year, or Foolscap or OryCon, but that's another discussion for another time). I'd promised myself no conventions this year before Norwescon, but I'd forgotten about the planning beforehand. Some of it's exhaustion. Some of it's overexposure. Some of it feels like I'm rubbing at skin that's already raw.
Maybe I need to rethink the convention-going for the year. If it's not making me happy, if I'm not excited about doing it, should I be? There are people I really want to see (waves at folks from out of town who know who they are); do I need to do the convention to see them? It certainly makes it all easier. Hm... hm.... Must consider this more.
I scanned the lists (the nearly 20 categories of lists) and found myself feeling just . . . exhausted. Feeling as though I'd discussed anything I was really interested in ad infinitum ad nauseum and didn't want to talk about anything anymore. I mean, really, how many times do we need to wonder whether or not category labels on book spines are important? How many years do we need to carry on the discussion about doorstop fantasy novels? How often do we need to discuss books that died despite everything (a panel I've seen on the Norwescon program survey for, I think, the last 3-4 years running).
There are some topics that are ever-changing given the growth and development of the market and the genre. As long as the internet exists, e-publishing in all its forms will be a worthwhile topic; the conversation has evolved in significant ways over the last 10 years because the medium has evolved. Small and independent presses continue to be more important in a market that has steadily moved away from publishing the quirky, the literary, the short story collection; discussing that publication avenue is important. These, however, are topics I'd need to sit out of because I don't have the fluency required to speak about them authoritatively.
I find that, generally speaking, I'm just not getting excited about talking about publishing and writing on panels anymore. I'm almost . . . irritated by some of it. Maybe it's overexposure. I overindulged in conventions this past fall in a pretty significant way. It may have been too much to do WorldCon and Foolscap and OryCon (which makes me question my decision to do NASFiC this year, or Foolscap or OryCon, but that's another discussion for another time). I'd promised myself no conventions this year before Norwescon, but I'd forgotten about the planning beforehand. Some of it's exhaustion. Some of it's overexposure. Some of it feels like I'm rubbing at skin that's already raw.
Maybe I need to rethink the convention-going for the year. If it's not making me happy, if I'm not excited about doing it, should I be? There are people I really want to see (waves at folks from out of town who know who they are); do I need to do the convention to see them? It certainly makes it all easier. Hm... hm.... Must consider this more.
