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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7546206" data-attributes="member: 177">I wasn't intending that comment to be the end-all, be-all of why genre fiction today doesn't match Tolkien's style.&nbsp; I was trying to be a bit more demonstrative of how times can change what we prefer in our various media.What you note about short-form programming is relevant, and the causes of that are fairly new.&nbsp; The episodic short form is decades old.&nbsp; The technology to easily time-shift (in the DVR and streaming) and to break away from advertising as the sole basis for revenue (mostly in streaming), have removed barriers that drove the format before.&nbsp; It may take some time before that change influences our written fiction (as, for example, there are more content providers looking to license, will writers start writing with *intent* to license, and what will that mean?).Well, my point is that ideal is not just a free-floating ideal, unconnected to other developments, nor is it The Truth about writing.&nbsp; I'd reiterate that all our art and media is created within a context, and that movements in the arts are going to be connected to movements in the context.For example, we can turn to demographics.&nbsp; What have been the socio-economic changes in the population of pleasure-readers since the time of Tolkien and Hemingway?&nbsp; If more people are reading, but those people have less time for reading, that will put a pressure on the written form - books you can choke a horse with won't sell so well.&nbsp; Similarly, sequels and series are apt to sell better, for as time to read drops, desire for surety that you'll like the resulting work would probably rise.&nbsp; Similarly, economics of the book trade probably matter - Tolkien took 12 years to finish the LotR Trilogy.&nbsp; Today, unless youa re George RR Martin, no publisher is going to wait on you that long.&nbsp; A writer more like Scalzi, who can crank out a book or more a year on a schedule, are likely more what the publishers want to see, and so the forms that allow for this faster production pace are apt to dominate the market, and become what we are used to.But, those are today's socio-economics, and today's market.&nbsp; In another couple of decades, those things may shift again, to favor some other conventions.&nbsp; This is part of the basis of fashion.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 7546206, member: 177"] I wasn't intending that comment to be the end-all, be-all of why genre fiction today doesn't match Tolkien's style. I was trying to be a bit more demonstrative of how times can change what we prefer in our various media. What you note about short-form programming is relevant, and the causes of that are fairly new. The episodic short form is decades old. The technology to easily time-shift (in the DVR and streaming) and to break away from advertising as the sole basis for revenue (mostly in streaming), have removed barriers that drove the format before. It may take some time before that change influences our written fiction (as, for example, there are more content providers looking to license, will writers start writing with *intent* to license, and what will that mean?). Well, my point is that ideal is not just a free-floating ideal, unconnected to other developments, nor is it The Truth about writing. I'd reiterate that all our art and media is created within a context, and that movements in the arts are going to be connected to movements in the context. For example, we can turn to demographics. What have been the socio-economic changes in the population of pleasure-readers since the time of Tolkien and Hemingway? If more people are reading, but those people have less time for reading, that will put a pressure on the written form - books you can choke a horse with won't sell so well. Similarly, sequels and series are apt to sell better, for as time to read drops, desire for surety that you'll like the resulting work would probably rise. Similarly, economics of the book trade probably matter - Tolkien took 12 years to finish the LotR Trilogy. Today, unless youa re George RR Martin, no publisher is going to wait on you that long. A writer more like Scalzi, who can crank out a book or more a year on a schedule, are likely more what the publishers want to see, and so the forms that allow for this faster production pace are apt to dominate the market, and become what we are used to. But, those are today's socio-economics, and today's market. In another couple of decades, those things may shift again, to favor some other conventions. This is part of the basis of fashion. [/QUOTE]

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