Turkey City Lexicon

[mmcirvin]

Whenever I read the Turkey City Lexicon I start squirming, realize how many listed items appeared in the last story I wrote, and think that I shall never be able to write again.

Of course, this is not a wise reaction. Looking for mention of the Lexicon on Google Groups will soon reveal that real live science-fiction writers argue about it a lot, and many find it harmful. I think it's fundamentally harmless but often misapplied; it's a list of jargon used as a shorthand when critiquing manuscripts in workshops, not a list of absolute rules about things one must avoid at any cost. You can get away with many of the "story type" items if they don't seem too artificial—indeed, you can hardly avoid hitting them to some degree when writing SF—but the jargon provides a way of talking about them when they do seem too artificial. (I'd avoid most of the "words and sentences" items, though.)

And the critiques of the Lexicon in turn make me feel a little guilty, because I was involved in the Usenet thread that begat John Van Sickle's Grand Cliché List, which is a similar undertaking written more from an exasperated reader or viewer's point of view. I imagine this could absolutely terrify novice writers. Well, at least he rates them by degree of objectionability (though I don't agree with all of his ratings).

And: Here's a fantasy one.

Comments

[jwgh]

I think ARK would be destroyed forever if this one were used too much:

Squid in the Mouth

The failure of an author to realize that his/her own weird assumptions and personal in-jokes are simply not shared by the world-at-large. Instead of applauding the wit or insight of the author's remarks, the world-at-large will stare in vague shock and alarm at such a writer, as if he or she had a live squid in the mouth.

Since SF writers as a breed are generally quite loony, and in fact make this a stock in trade, "squid in the mouth" doubles as a term of grudging praise, describing the essential, irreducible, divinely unpredictable lunacy of the true SF writer. (Attr. James P Blaylock)