"This means I must pay close attention to the writing, but equally so to the scientific background - which sometimes means doing fairly involved calculations"
About this Quote
Behind the mild-mannered phrasing is a quiet manifesto about what it takes to do “science” on the page without faking it. Stanley Schmidt isn’t bragging; he’s drawing a boundary. The line insists that craft and credibility are co-equal obligations, and that the easiest shortcut in genre writing - handwaving the hard parts - is also the quickest way to lose trust.
The key move is the symmetry: “close attention to the writing, but equally so to the scientific background.” It’s a sentence built like a balance scale, rejecting the old split between the lyrical novelist and the lab-coated fact-checker. Schmidt’s subtext is that style doesn’t excuse sloppiness, and rigor doesn’t excuse dull prose. The “but equally” is doing the moral work here, framing accuracy as an aesthetic choice, not a pedantic afterthought.
Then comes the deflationary punch: “sometimes means doing fairly involved calculations.” Not “research,” not “consulting experts,” but math. That specificity signals lived experience and a professional standard, the kind you’d expect from an editor steeped in hard SF culture. It also reveals a certain humility: the job isn’t to sound smart; it’s to earn the right to be believed, even if that means disappearing into spreadsheets so the narrative can glide.
Contextually, it’s a snapshot of a mid-to-late 20th century science fiction ethos - genre as a testing ground for ideas, where imagination is strongest when it respects constraints. Schmidt frames diligence as part of the art, not the price you pay for it.
The key move is the symmetry: “close attention to the writing, but equally so to the scientific background.” It’s a sentence built like a balance scale, rejecting the old split between the lyrical novelist and the lab-coated fact-checker. Schmidt’s subtext is that style doesn’t excuse sloppiness, and rigor doesn’t excuse dull prose. The “but equally” is doing the moral work here, framing accuracy as an aesthetic choice, not a pedantic afterthought.
Then comes the deflationary punch: “sometimes means doing fairly involved calculations.” Not “research,” not “consulting experts,” but math. That specificity signals lived experience and a professional standard, the kind you’d expect from an editor steeped in hard SF culture. It also reveals a certain humility: the job isn’t to sound smart; it’s to earn the right to be believed, even if that means disappearing into spreadsheets so the narrative can glide.
Contextually, it’s a snapshot of a mid-to-late 20th century science fiction ethos - genre as a testing ground for ideas, where imagination is strongest when it respects constraints. Schmidt frames diligence as part of the art, not the price you pay for it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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