An Interview with Larry Niven Conducted by Paul Walker* You Say You Don't Want to Get Involved in Any Discussion of Where Sf Is Going
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No. 66 Winter 1976-77 An Interview With Larry Niven Conducted by Paul Walker* You say you don't want to get involved in any discussion of where sf is going. “/ go my own way.” What way is that? How did it begin? And where would you like it to end? Possibly this relates to a greater question: why do you read and write sfat all? I think I started reading science fiction as escape literature. There was a time when I needed a great deal of escape, or thought I did. I think I kept it up because the authors writing stf had a great deal to.teach me . and because I’d learned to like the kind of speculation and problem-solving that forms the bulk of the field. I started writing it because the stories I was daydreaming (and I’d been doing that since boyhood) were coming out as complete stories. And because I had realized that I was never going to be a great mathematician. “I go my own way”—Yes, I said that. I think it’s mainly Heinlein’s way. He outlines an idea, then explores all of the implications to humanity, civilizations, individuals, etc.; and he never igno'res the entertainment aspect of what he’s doing.- There are a few differences. I usually know how a story ends when I begin it. I don’t think Heinlein does. And I try something new every so often, just to prove I’m versatile. Collaborations, non-fact articles, a crime story, a story with multiple endings, a story throughout which the protagonist never so much as twitches an eyelid. I’m still learning, and I bear it constantly in mind. Where am I going? Toward being a better writer. Where would I like it to end? No point in considering that. I’ve never heard of a writer retiring; it’ll end without my consent. But I would like to see some of my stories in film. Say, “Inconstant Moon” for starters. Where do your ideas come from? A character? A scene? How do you carry on from there: do you take notes, outline? What are your working hours? My ideas can come from anywhere. Ringworld started with the structure itself, designed on the principles of a Dyson sphere, and elaborated from the known history of human space. Some other examples: “A Relic of Empire” started with the idea of someone building a campfire, inadvertently, out of stage tree logs (already invented for World of Ptavvs). I wrote Grendel as a modernization of the Beowulf legend, just for the hell of it. “Passerby” started with an insurance ad on TV: a voice background to a charming picture of In the same paragraph you say, “I think I kept it up because the authors writing stf had a a kid solicitously picking a caterpillar from a sidewalk and transferring it to a place of great deal to teach me .. and because I'd learned to like the kind of speculation and safety. “What Can You Say about Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers?” was built around problem-solving that forms the bulk of the field. ” some friends in the LASFS, especially the unique and irreplaceable Tom Digby. I started (a) Addressing the Writer Niven: what did it teach you, and how did you learn from “Flatlander” with no idea where it was going; maybe it shows. I wrote “Wait It Out” after it? How does a writer learn from reading other writers? (b) What is the appeal of speculation Bob Silverberg assigned me to write a story about Pluto; and goddam, that was tough. I’ve and problem-solving? Is it something cold and unemotional? only done that twice. The second was straight speculation: “Flash Crowd,” written to show The Writer Niven speaks: Reading science fiction taught me how to tell stories. Any the effect of teleportation on society. fiction would have done that, and I took a lot of literature and English courses, which also I don’t keep regular hours. I try to do at least 1500 words a day, but even that’s helped. I was also reading some detective fiction. What this and the sf taught me was how to flexible. I do make notes and extensive outlines, and I rewrite and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. solve and, ultimately, to set up puzzles for an astute reader’s solution. I can’t really tell a man who doesn’t like problem stories and other, simpler puzzles, You say you started reading sf as escape literature. “There was a time when I needed a great how to like them. deal of escape, or thought I did, ” When, and why, was that? And did sf provide the escape But there’s nothing cold and unemotional about puzzle-solving, as you would know if you were after? you have ever known someone of this stamp. Chess addicts, crossword puzzle addicts, even Everyone seems agreed that sf is an “escape literature” but it never worked that way mystery fans will spend hours trying to beat the puzzle-formulator. Anyway, puzzle solving for me. Since I began to read it, I have become more involved with people and ideas and is part of living: What did I say that turned her off? Why did he get the promotion instead projects than when I was reading mainstream literature. What do you think ? of me? What the hell could TWA have done with my luggage, and how can I retrieve it in My reading science fiction as escape literature reached its peak in ’58 and ’59, while I time for the charter flight? was at CalTech. Did it help me escape? Yes, it did. I flunked out of CalTech because I was PROBLEM: A good friend and relatively new writer wants me to do an introduction spending too much working time reading sf. Though there were contributory causes. After for a short-story collection that turns out to be largely dreck. Now what? SOLUTION: I that I spent two months moping, to the point where I was packed off to Menningers. write a defense of experimental writing, including the statement that experiments “Nervous breakdown.” They took me off science fiction, then off all fiction. I finished sometimes fail, by definition; and “Three of the stories in this volume are failed stories. college as a day patient at Menningers. Identify them.” If he were a different kind of person, I’d simply have refused. Sf could have gotten me involved with other things and projects and people. It never PROBLEM: Epiditimitis. It leaves no aftereffects, but it feels like someone is repeatedly kicking you in the testicles. Usually it can be cured in a couple of weeks. I had it did, because I wasn’t capable of using it that way. But I was learning nonetheless. for a year. SOLUTION: Wait it out. Stay away from liquor. Avoid cutting my throat, regardless of how it hurts. LUNA (LUNA Monthly combined with LUNA') ADVERTISING RATES: Cold and unemotional? You idiot. Editor: Ann F. Dietz Full page $10.00 Quarter page $2.50 Published quarterly by Frank & Ann Dietz, Half page 5.00 Eighth page 1.50 Speaking of other than “real-life” problems, you say you can’t tell a man who doesn’t like 655 Orchard Street, Oradell, N.J. 07649 Classified advertising: 104 per word them how to like them—but why do you like them ? You speak of problem solving in very Half-tone copy: $6.00 additional SUBSCRIPTION RATES: concrete and dramatic terms, but what of the romance of science and speculation? The Rates are for camera-ready copy. Please request 754 per copy, $1.00 on newsstand Sense of Wonder? What is it? What arouses it in you ? $3.00 per year Third Class mail within U.S. special LUNA layout sheets for setting up copy. $5.50 for 2 years Third Class mail within U.S. Ads requiring preparation should be submitted I have an ability. I’ve never seen it described, and I’m going to try now. in advance for quotation. $4.00 per year Third Class mail worldwide I can take a body of knowledge—regarding, say, the most recent data about Venus, or $7.25 for 2 years Third Class mail worldwide COPY SIZE: (inside margins) the mathematical picture of what happens near a black hole—and from this I can develop a Additional premium for First Class mailing Full page 6" x 9" within U.S. $1.10 per year Half page 3" x 9" or 6" x 4’4" sense-picture in my head. The data may be wrong, or in some cases my conclusions may be Canada and Mexico 254 per year Quarter page 3" x 47," wrong; but it is a five-senses picture, and I can live in it. Subscriptions requiring special invoicing or Eighth page 3" x 2'4” I’m sure most people have this ability to some extent, and stf fans more than most. I billing 504 additional DEADLINE FOR MATERIAL: think this is the basis of the Sense of Wonder. Read Clarke’s “A Meeting with Medusa”; I Back issues: #1 to 49 - 754 each, #50 to 65 - February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1. just finished it a second time. He can make you feel Jupiter. His picture may change in the 504 each, #66 to current - 754 each OVERSEAS AGENTS light of later data, but it’s real and whole. All checks and money orders must be payable to GREAT BRITAIN: Aardvark House, [Events two years later have indeed rendered “A Meeting with Medusa” obsolete.