(The following material -- which will be posted to other forums
-- is submitted on the theory that I apparently haven't gotten in
*nearly* enough trouble lately. So I may as well go for broke.

jms

John J. Miller
SFWA Secretary
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
(address deleted for privacy)

Dear Mr. Miller:

I am in receipt of your recent letter inviting me to rejoing SFWA.
While others who have either resigned from SFWA or let their
memberships lapse have received similar letters, I note that you
added, in handwriting, the following: "Michael - We're particularly
interested in encouraging writers of your stature and experience to
rejoin."

I'm posting this, my reply, both online as well as in standard mail
to you, because the issues at hand affect others in the industry;
because it is a good subject for public debate; and because SFWA has
to this date refused to publish my letter of resignation from SFWA
in its membership publication; even now, years after the fact, SFWA
does not choose to recognize the boorishness of its behavior toward
those of us who work in television, film and other media.

To recap, for the benefit of those looking on, and for the purpose
of historical accuracy: a number of us were troubled by the fact
that SFWA allowed TV and film scripts in the SF genre to count for
membership, so that our dues could be accepted, but that these very
same scripts were not considered "real" science fiction...and thus
ineligible for consideration for a Nebula Award.

An attempt was made to restore the Dramatic Nebula, given in years
past, in order to achieve equity with other forms of SF. Those
involved in the attempt included myself, Harlan Ellison, David
Gerrold, D.C. Fontana, Michael Cassutt and others. We believed,
foolishly in retrospect, that SF writers -- presumably forward
thinking and progressive -- would understand that stories can take
new and different forms, that SF for television and film was a
perfectly valid form. It's still SF; it simply uses a new kind of
technology to facilitate that storytelling. Since SF is often
about the foolishness of small-minded people when faced with
changing technologies, and generally the impact of technology on
people and art forms, we felt they would agree that the time
was right for the reinstatement of the Dramatic Nebula.

We were wrong.

We were greeted by an outpouring of such virulent bigotry, such
undisguised hostility, and such abuse as to numb the senses. There
was hate mail, name-calling and dead-catting; we were called (in
person, and in SFWA's publication) "hacks" and "no-talents" and
told that scripts aren't stories...obscene and threatening messages
were left on my answering machine...hate mail arrived at my home...
and the most nakedly straightforward one stated, "I work my ass off
for a few pennies a word, while you Hollywood hacks earn big bucks
for turning out crap. You'll never see the Dramatic Nebula back as
long as I'm alive."

To help defuse some of the tempers, many of us were willing to
disqualify ourselves from ever being eligible for the Nebula, should
it be reinstated, to remove any suspicion of a vested interest. It
was the principle that concerned us.

For an organization claiming forward-thinkers, there was more fuzzy
thinking and illogic pouring out of SFWA than at any average meeting
of the Flat Earth Society. "Why should SFWA give scriptwriters a
Nebula if the WGA won't give awards to prose writers?" some yelled
at us, which granted was at least an attempt to put together a
comprehensible sentence.

"Because the WGA is *form* oriented, and SFWA is *genre* oriented,"
we said, "that's why. Any genre script can win a WGA award, as long
as it's in the right form. And any form of SF should be able to be
considered for a Nebula, as long as it's in the right genre."

Our point, in the final analysis, was simply this: If SFWA will not
recognize scripts as SF for the Nebula, then they should not qualify
for membership in SFWA. If SFWA *does* recognize them as SF for
purposes of membership, then they should be eligible for the Nebula.
It was real simple: you can't have it both ways. Pick one.

But that didn't happen...the illogic, the contradiction was allowed
to continue, with SF scriptwriters held as second-class citizens
within SFWA. In theory, a GOR novel could be considered for a
Nebula...but a Babylon 5 script could never even begin to be
considered because according to SFWA, it isn't a story, it isn't
real writing, it isn't literature, it is absent of quality, and
fundamentally, it ain't SF.

It was this issue that finally compelled me to resign from SFWA,
as had others before me. That, and the insults, abuse, veiled
and not-so-veiled threats and harrassment I received from many
in SFWA over this issue.

And now you come to me...and you ask me to rejoin. You say this
is because of my "stature and experience"...but what use can that
be to SFWA if my work and the work of every SF writer working in
television or film is dismissed as lacking in merit by virtue of
the form in which we work? Since the bulk of my work is in TV,
how can SFWA consider what I have to be "stature" if it does not
recognize that there is any quality work in SF being done in TV?

I don't believe in stature, particularly and especially my own.
I'm still the same person I was when I resigned, for good or ill.
The only thing that matters to me, that has *ever* mattered to
me, is the work. The storytelling. This genre. I love SF. I
love the community of fandom that has embraced it, and given it
life. I love the sense of wonder that is SF.

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