RE: Is there such a thing as technical fiction?

["Zvi Gilbert" <zgilbert -at- aw -dot- sgi -dot- com>]

Syed Ahmed wrote:
[re: Geoff Ryman's '253']
> It raised a few questions for me: Was/is the author a Tech 
> Writer? Is this the new millenium's incarnation of the Novel? 

His bio is at:
http://www.ryman-novel.com/info/about.htm

He was working as a New Media Manager at the Central Office of Information;
so while he wasn't exactly a tech writer, he's certainly in the ballpark, or
the cricket pitch.

As for your other questions: I don't think this is a hugely new development.
Quite a bit of science fiction and experimental literature has used literary
conceits from other genres of writing, including non-fiction reference
material. I'm thinking specifically of Joanna Russ's "Useful Phrases for the
Tourist", which is a great short story in the form of a alien Berlitz
Handbook, or "Dictionary of the Khazars" by Milorad Pavic, which presents a
complex story about the medieval kingdom of the Khazars, in the form of a
dictionary, or "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Teritus" by Borges, which is about an
imaginary encyclopedia. Though I've never read a story that uses technical
writing (say, a software manual) specifically as its starting point. That
would be amusing.

One other fun note: a poem by the American poet John Ashberry is directly
inspired by technical writing; it's called 'The Instruction Manual', and
begins:

   As I sit looking out of a window of the building 
   I wish I did not have to write the instruction manual 
     on the uses of a new metal. 
   I look down into the street and see people, each walking 
     with an inner peace, 
   And envy them--they are so far away from me! 
   Not one of them has to worry about getting out this manual on schedule. 

You can read the rest of it at 
http://www.drizzle.com/~ash/9901/imagined/ashbery.html

Best wishes,

--Zvi
zgilbert -at- aw -dot- sgi -dot- com

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