The process of being creative in and of itself isn't a democracy. However, afterwards, said product is a democracy in so far as if it doesn't do enough business or isn't received well enough, then it comes to an end if it's being produced for mass media.
A fan can put out good material, look at Ron Moore. A fan can put out bad material, look at John Logan.
If Ron Moore wasn't given a shot on Trek, just because he was a fan, we would've missed out on several good episodes of TNG and DS9, the re-imagined BSG wouldn't be the same, and we'd be deprived of For All Mankind. If you haven't seen FAMK, then I highly recommend it. But anyway...
Harve Bennett watched all 80 episodes of TOS before making TWOK. He wasn't a fan, but he familiarized himself with Star Trek. And, yes, I would say that he became a fan in the process. Far harder to do when there are over 800 episodes. But, if someone becomes familiar enough, they can get by.
I don't mind the idea of a fan as an advisor. Someone who knows enough and can answer questions when asked. I don't mind a fan being in a charge either, as long as they view themselves as a writer first.
As far as premises: VOY sounded more exciting to me, but I ended up liking DS9 better. I liked the way PIC S1 continued things, but I also liked the way PIC S3 continued things. I liked early-DSC but I also liked Michelle Paradise's take.
Nick Meyer himself: Working with an entire writing staff is quite a bit different than writing a script on your own in 12 days based off other people's already-written scripts like he did with TWOK. It's also different from writing with only one other collaborator like he did with Harve Bennett on TVH and with Leonard Nimoy on TUC. He had to work with how many other people there were in the writing staff of DSC and, if that's not how you're accustomed to working, it can seem like too many cooks in the kitchen. And if they all have a different idea than you do, it's easy to feel out-numbered.
From the sound of it, it seems to me like Nick Meyer wasn't a good fit for the DSC Writing Staff because not only was he looking at Star Trek from a different angle than everyone else, but because the level of collaborating wasn't what he was used to. My takeaway is he was out of his element, and he wasn't on the same page. It happens.
Regardless of how things went, I can see some DNA of Nick Meyer's ideas in "The Vulcan Hello" and "Battle at the Binary Stars" because those episodes depict a No-Win Scenario where T'Kuvma wants war with the Federation no matter what. Anything Georgiou, Burnham, or the Admiral would've tried would've ended the same. If it wasn't one thing, it would've been something else. Kobayashi Maru. It's a test of character and Burnham has to pay the price and atone for the rest of the season. Loosely, the pilot of DSC is also a bookend to TUC. In the former, the hostilities with the Klingons begin in earnest. In the latter, they end. In both, the Klingons are worried about the annihilation of their culture.
A fan can put out good material, look at Ron Moore. A fan can put out bad material, look at John Logan.
If Ron Moore wasn't given a shot on Trek, just because he was a fan, we would've missed out on several good episodes of TNG and DS9, the re-imagined BSG wouldn't be the same, and we'd be deprived of For All Mankind. If you haven't seen FAMK, then I highly recommend it. But anyway...
Harve Bennett watched all 80 episodes of TOS before making TWOK. He wasn't a fan, but he familiarized himself with Star Trek. And, yes, I would say that he became a fan in the process. Far harder to do when there are over 800 episodes. But, if someone becomes familiar enough, they can get by.
I don't mind the idea of a fan as an advisor. Someone who knows enough and can answer questions when asked. I don't mind a fan being in a charge either, as long as they view themselves as a writer first.
As far as premises: VOY sounded more exciting to me, but I ended up liking DS9 better. I liked the way PIC S1 continued things, but I also liked the way PIC S3 continued things. I liked early-DSC but I also liked Michelle Paradise's take.
Nick Meyer himself: Working with an entire writing staff is quite a bit different than writing a script on your own in 12 days based off other people's already-written scripts like he did with TWOK. It's also different from writing with only one other collaborator like he did with Harve Bennett on TVH and with Leonard Nimoy on TUC. He had to work with how many other people there were in the writing staff of DSC and, if that's not how you're accustomed to working, it can seem like too many cooks in the kitchen. And if they all have a different idea than you do, it's easy to feel out-numbered.
From the sound of it, it seems to me like Nick Meyer wasn't a good fit for the DSC Writing Staff because not only was he looking at Star Trek from a different angle than everyone else, but because the level of collaborating wasn't what he was used to. My takeaway is he was out of his element, and he wasn't on the same page. It happens.
Regardless of how things went, I can see some DNA of Nick Meyer's ideas in "The Vulcan Hello" and "Battle at the Binary Stars" because those episodes depict a No-Win Scenario where T'Kuvma wants war with the Federation no matter what. Anything Georgiou, Burnham, or the Admiral would've tried would've ended the same. If it wasn't one thing, it would've been something else. Kobayashi Maru. It's a test of character and Burnham has to pay the price and atone for the rest of the season. Loosely, the pilot of DSC is also a bookend to TUC. In the former, the hostilities with the Klingons begin in earnest. In the latter, they end. In both, the Klingons are worried about the annihilation of their culture.
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