Editorial – July 2025 : Mindset.
Hello everyone
The world is not only in turmoil but getting worse. The real problem is working out who are the good and bad countries anymore, not helped by their leaders’ actions. The civilian deaths, especially of women and children, has become an abomination which is now a war crime across several countries. No need to mention country names. Google is still catching up with our change in server. The fact that you know who I’m talking about without saying it shows how big a problem this has become. Actually, this applies to at least two countries but the same comment applies.
It’s rather ironic that there are supposed to be rules of war that are supposed to be obeyed but aren’t by either side. Oddly, both major wars have turned into territory than cultural differences. A lot of wars turn like that over the centuries. I’m sure someone out there can tot up how many times the aggressing country wins against the time the losing country finally gets independence again. It’s a campaign that rarely has any lasting effect. If ever there’s an argument for the futility of war its that and the loss of so many lives for no real gain. Considering Man is supposed to be civilised, to an outsider we clearly haven’t learnt much over the centuries. If I was a visiting alien race, I think I wouldn’t look at mankind as civilised, I wouldn’t and move on. Why bother? If I was an aggressive alien species and who’s to say they aren’t out there? They might well come in and commit war and win. Predator anyone?
Getting back to reality. The fate of this world is going to be down to less than a dozen people and a few of them with access to nuclear weapons. It might only affect a few countries but the fall-out will affect the rest of world, contaminating the water, air, vegetation and livestock. Oh, and wiping the Internet! Nuclear reactor contamination, like Chernobyl, has shown some animal and vegetation can eventually recover in close proximity but on a wider scale when there’s nowhere to go, I doubt it? Of course, nature will one day recover but not with humans.
It’s always been said that a third world war would be the last because it would be so big and take out everything. The fact that it is going to be several smaller wars with some countries taking advantage of the distraction does not bode well. How can there be commonsense with some leaders with that they’ve done already? No wonder it’s something Science Fiction has rarely contemplated because it is complicated and who do you support? Better to have to opposing forces than multiples.
Of course, it might not go nuclear but that doesn’t mean a third world war still can’t happen with nuclear-armed countries holding back from taking that final step. Even so, it still means a lot of undeserved civilian lives. The media notes them as numbers but really its lives. Real people. Not military. More than just numbers. That should never be forgotten. That should never be forgotten. Most of which would never have wanted a war in the first place.
As a writer, one of the skills needed is to understand other people’s mindsets so they can be depicted correctly in a story or at least so the reader can interpret what you mean. Fortunately, there are plenty of all types making it easier to identify types. We can tell the difference between the rich and the poor simply by the order of wealth and what it can do. Self-made people tend to be highly motivated to make money, often at the cost of other people. The same between honesty and dishonesty. Do you notice some parallels here just with these examples? It’s a lot easier in fiction to work with extremes than somewhere in the middle. Normal tends to be real life. As we’ve become more sophisticated, we can shake and mix different traits together. There’s even levels of dishonesty. Helping yourself to a company’s stationary store isn’t compared to stealing from a shop yet it becomes what is acceptable and what isn’t. All relatable although its rarely used in a story unless it is done to mean something. It invariably becomes character traits, adjusted to what is needed for a story. Now these story element mindsets are in real life in the extremes of power. Damn right it should be scary because it is.
Once upon a time, villains and heroes could be defined by their actions. In the modern world, villains can masquerade as heroes and vice versa. Saying that, the reverse could be done but less so these days unless they were undercover. A lot depends on how it’s dressed up in the story. It also becomes borderline when some villains are liked enough to literally get away with murder if they are to be used again.
If real life could be so easy. Lately, we have too many country leaders willing to go to war and go to extremes thinking their way is the right way and not reach any compromise. Modern weaponry is such that impersonal missiles and drones can be used, causing damage and death at a distance. Not just military targets but civilian. How can such people sleep easily when women and children are killed in their name? At a distance, its only numbers. Between countries going to war, less so. Such psychopathic leadership behaviour in other situations would be arrestable. You go high enough up the political ladder, you literally can get away with murder or genocide. Seeing the real-life ramifications must surely have an influence on how you perceive the characters you watch or read let alone how you write them. Not sure if this leads to pacifist characters as they don’t really sell a story. But you have to wonder at redemption against the crimes committed.
This must surely redefine how we see country leaders these days. It also makes it a lot more difficult to define good and bad. Certainly we should be careful of any country that doesn’t allow the press media to observe their activities and what they are covering up. A country saying its for the common good is only hiding just how bad they are getting.
Thank you, take care, good night and hope there’s a world at the end of next month.
Geoff Willmetts
editor: www.SFCrowsnest.info
A Zen thought: An empty head gives room for thought. Think today.
What Qualities Does A Geek Have: To seek, find and afford.
The Reveal: I now own ‘The Champions Colouring Book’ A hefty price and a few pages coloured in but one popped up. These things happen on my searches. Probably the only one but still unique as it tells a story that would probably have worked in the TV series had it gone to a second season. Shame I’m not interested in reading the Holy Grail.
Observation: With the 1987 ‘Predator’ film, look at the team’s placement in the helicopter on the way in. How can Poncho throw a paper ball at Hawkins directly when further in, Hawkins is sitting next to Dutch and Poncho is on the same side of the chopper further down? Perhaps they were playing musical chairs to the music.
Observation: If the words on tee-shirts represent the names of the wearers, then there are some people with some really shitty names. Other swear words are available.
Observation: The one thing missing from digital card games is the boxes to keep the cards in. I mean, you don’t want the cards to spill out on the screen.
Observation: We all know Superman is vulnerable to kryptonite and magic but he should also be vulnerable to telekinesis so Darth Vader should be able to give him a heart-stopping moment. Other telekinetics are available.
Feeling Stressed: In today’s world, stress is probably not unfounded.
Submissions:-
If you think having free books to review isn’t enough, how about reading them months ahead of everyone? I mean real months. Beats a time machine.
I did think that having a lot of text about submitting material to SFCrowsnest would attract those with a compulsion to read and understand things the geek way. The main problem with the Internet is that it tends to encourage less reading, so time to take a different approach. The original notes will be left on July2009 editorial although the links aren’t likely to work.
With your cover email, tell me something about yourself so I don’t work in a vacuum. The boss in the tower, also called Stephen Hunt, describes me as a ‘Dutch Uncle’ in that I’m good with advice and can explain when I see something that is wrong. Egos should be left at the door as I’m only interested in your talent and how to improve it.
Reviews:-
I always have a clarion call for new reviewers and if you have the yen to learn, you’ll quickly get the ropes if you’re never done it before but you must show me a sample, especially if you can follow my guidelines. We can usually get paper-based books in the UK but if you live abroad, then you might have to stick with ebooks. If you’ve picked a book we haven’t reviewed, then it stands a better chance of being used so use the SFC search engine to see first but I need to see how you would write for us.
The obvious qualification is a desire to read regularly and like to tell others about the book without giving away too many spoilers. The benefit is access to free books for the price of a review.
I want to give you the opportunity to get things right so look up the Review Guidelines link: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/so-you-want-to-write-reviews-for-sfcrowsnest-what-you-need-to-know-by-geoff-willmetts/
Fiction:-
Although we can’t pay for submissions, what we do make up for is exposure. Only the Sci-Fi Channel gets more hits than us so it’s worthwhile getting us on your writer’s CV. Please avoid samplings from book’s you might be writing or have had in print elsewhere as I do check. New original work is best and whether I accept or reject, you will be told of any problems I see so you look your best and a grammar check that is equal to the pro-world. Even the boss finds me scarily accurate.
Flash or One-Page Fiction:-
Speaks for itself. The shortest fiction possible is also the toughest to write as no word must be wasted.
Link here for details: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/one-page-stories-or-flash-fiction-submissions-instructions-by-gf-willmetts/
Short Stories:-
The definition of a short story is anything up to 30 pages and then it becomes a novella. Bear in mind you want other people to read it on-line, stay somewhere between 5-20 pages. At least digitally, you don’t have to go double-line as HTML will do that automatically but think about being concise. If you want to send an attachment with these, then ask first and send as a TXT file as it removes most tetchy virus codes.
Look up the Short Stories Link by linking here: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/so-you-really-want-to-write-an-sf-story-an-update-by-gf-willmetts/
Finally:-
The worse problem I see any samples is poor grammar. Although I don’t want you to think I seek perfection, the less work I have to do, the easier it is to focus on other problems you might have. It will also serve you in good stead if you ever approach paper-based publishers because they will send back any bad grammar samples because it’s not worth their time.
Good grammar is the tool of any writer. Don’t just depend on what you remember doing at school. There are plenty of decent grammar books out there, so remind yourself of the rules. If you think there are far too many to remember, get the major ones right before moving to the next so it becomes second nature.
This link, www.sfcrowsnest.info/the-guide-to-better-grammar-from-the-harrowed-hand-of-gf-willmetts/ will show you the common problems.
To submit, use our email address by joining the spaces as shown here: letters @ SFcrowsnest.info and use the subject matter as to what you’re submitting.
If you have any pastimes that can be used to pass the time in captivity, let me know and we’ll see if it can be turned into an article.
Comments directly to reviews should still work as before.
Good luck
Geoff
