A question about SNW

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I was at the thrift store looking at books to kill time on my job and I found the first two volumes on paperback. despite being the most vast ST series, DS9 got the short shrift (one story is like 3 pages) in both books. is this a trend with other volumes?

 

[Christopher]

It varies from volume to volume, but generally there are fewer stories devoted to DS9 than to other series. Out of all ten volumes, there are 51 TNG stories, 50 TOS stories, 49 VGR stories, 27 DS9 stories, 19 Speculations or miscellaneous stories, and 16 ENT stories. But Volume III has 5 DS9 stories, making DS9 the second-best represented series in that volume (after TNG), and Volumes 08 and 09 have 4 DS9 stories each, which is roughly on a par with the other series' representation in those volumes.

However, the relatively small number of DS9 stories is probably a function of what the entrants submitted, rather than any sort of editorial bias.

 

[Kevin G. Summers]

Not necessarily. Some of the volumes had more DS9 stories than others. It depended on how many publishable DS9 stories Dean received each year. There are 4 in volume 08.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

The early volumes were DS9-lite, yes.

John Ordover said at one point that DS9 comprised maybe ten percent of SNW submissions, while Voyager was about forty.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

strange, since DS9 is a very vast universe thematically

 

[TerriO]

Speaks more about Voyager than DS9, actually.

 

[TGTheodore]

I had a DS9 story that made alternate for both volumes V & VI, so sometimes a DS9 story just didn't "fit" for reasons other than just being a DS9 story.

--Ted

 

[William Leisner]

I found writing DS9 more challenging than the other shows, for whatever reason. *shrug*

 

[TGTheodore]

William Leisner said:
I found writing DS9 more challenging than the other shows, for whatever reason. *shrug*

I found writing serious DS9 harder than the others. Writing humorous DS9 was a snap.

--Ted

 

[T'Bonz]

Towards the end, I found DS9 the most fun Trek to write. Didn't get in, but one of my DS9 stories got cut late.

 

[TheAlmanac]

I found it harder to think of compelling DS9 concepts precisely because the series managed to cover so much ground with its characters...

 

[Scott Pearson]

I had a great DS9 idea I submitted one year, full of conspiracies and plot twists, but--as with many of my story submissions before I actually got accepted--it was at least a 10,000 word idea I was trying to tell in 7,500 words. So it was a bit rushed, and I'm not that surprised it didn't make it in. My two stories that did get in, and one alternate that ended up not making it in on resubmission, were all under 7,500 words at end of first draft. Coming up with story ideas that could be told within the word count is always the hardest part for me. Luckily, Marco let me run long in The Sky's the Limit when I came up with an idea that needed at least 12,000 words, and we were supposed to be writing 10,000.

But back on topic . . . some of us were trying for DS9, but it just didn't work out.

 

[Jim Johnson]

In the seven years I tried for SNW, I sent several DS9 stories every year. Sold two TNG stories for SNW VII and 09 before I sold a DS9 story for SNW 10, so that last sale was really special.

 

[T'Bonz]

TheAlmanac said:
I found it harder to think of compelling DS9 concepts precisely because the series managed to cover so much ground with its characters...

But the characters were so compelling and well-done, that they were pretty easy to write. Characters like Quark and Garak were a writer's dream.

 

[Sakrysta]

TerriO said:
Speaks more about Voyager than DS9, actually.

My thoughts exactly. I could always think of gaffes to fix or holes to fill in Voyager. DS9 covered everything so satisfactorily that it takes more work to find something new and relevant to cover.

TheAlmanac said:
I found it harder to think of compelling DS9 concepts precisely because the series managed to cover so much ground with its characters...

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.

 

[Christopher]

Sakrysta said:
My thoughts exactly. I could always think of gaffes to fix or holes to fill in Voyager. DS9 covered everything so satisfactorily that it takes more work to find something new and relevant to cover.

Not everything. If they hadn't totally abandoned the Quark/Grilka relationship without explanation, I never could've written "...Loved I Not Honor More." In fact, that was the whole idea behind Prophecy and Change -- to tell the stories that fell through the cracks, like how Bashir and O'Brien made up after "Hippocratic Oath" or how Kira overcame her early hostility to Sisko or how Nog got to the point of deciding to enroll in the Academy. DS9 was better at maintaining continuity than VGR was, but it had so many story threads that there were definitely things that got skipped over.

 

[TheAlmanac]

Christopher said:

Sakrysta said:
My thoughts exactly. I could always think of gaffes to fix or holes to fill in Voyager. DS9 covered everything so satisfactorily that it takes more work to find something new and relevant to cover.

Not everything. If they hadn't totally abandoned the Quark/Grilka relationship without explanation, I never could've written "...Loved I Not Honor More." In fact, that was the whole idea behind Prophecy and Change -- to tell the stories that fell through the cracks, like how Bashir and O'Brien made up after "Hippocratic Oath" or how Kira overcame her early hostility to Sisko or how Nog got to the point of deciding to enroll in the Academy. DS9 was better at maintaining continuity than VGR was, but it had so many story threads that there were definitely things that got skipped over.

I did say "harder," not "impossible" (and Sakrysta did say "more work," not "hopeless task"). Of course, one can always find corners here and there to shine a light on...but DS9, as a series, was already better at shining such lights on its own, making it more difficult to find threads to pick up or holes to fill in than Voyager or Enterprise, which had so many just staring you in the face.

After those fine authors in Prophecy and Change got a shot at it, our task was all the more daunting...

 

[KLauderdale]

TG Theodore said:


I found writing serious DS9 harder than the others. Writing humorous DS9 was a snap.

--Ted

I still have the story I submitted to an early SNW, "Where Everybody Knows Your Designation" at the ready if Pocket ever does an all-humor anthology. Quark's Bar, Capt. Morgan Bateson, Morn and his pal Fflic . . .


“MORN!” cried the handful of regulars at Quark’s, as the small mountain that was Morn entered and settled himself at his usual place at the bar.

Quark’s was experiencing the relative quiet that came at the end of each shift. The two dabo girls stood off in the distance. Their wheels still and dark, they idly polished their nails. Almost no noise drifted in from the Promenade. Quark himself was rearranging the bottles into what he hoped was a more attractive (and therefore more enticing) configuration while Rom wiped down the bar top.

“How’s it going, Morn?” asked Quark.

Morn said that it was a targ-eat-targ world, and he was wearing M’lkbn shorts.

“Uh, can I draw you a Gorn pilsner?” asked Rom.

Morn replied that he already knew what they looked like, but Rom could pour him one.


Where can I go to join the WGA?

 

[Turbo]

Oh, just pick any picket line.

 

[Geoff Thorne]

William Leisner said:
I found writing DS9 more challenging than the other shows, for whatever reason. *shrug*

me too. The show had VERY few cracks and, until the Lit-verse did its "extra season," very few unexplored crannies.

I love the show but VOYAGER had a LOT more open space.