Award season is on us once more, and with it a looming need to
manage one's susceptibility to praise. Praise can be intoxicating
(and lead to hubris); it can be overwhelming (and lead to anxiety
and imposter syndrome). Creatives who find themselves faced with
praise may have little preparation for this intoxicating draught.
How are you to deal with the possibly horrific consequences
of egoboo?

Here are ... can you guess the number... five effective methods
creatives can use to manage praise.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/surviving-accolades
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

James Nicoll wrote:

> Award season is on us once more, and with it a looming need to
> manage one's susceptibility to praise. Praise can be intoxicating
> (and lead to hubris); it can be overwhelming (and lead to anxiety
> and imposter syndrome). Creatives who find themselves faced with
> praise may have little preparation for this intoxicating draught.
> How are you to deal with the possibly horrific consequences
> of egoboo?
>
> Here are ... can you guess the number... five effective methods
> creatives can use to manage praise.
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/surviving-accolades

I'm always caught by surprise when it's not a list of stories. Maybe there are five that illuminate these themes.

"His Wife's Deceased Sister" by Frank Richard Stockton for example, on "raising the bar." It fictionalizes his just punishment for writing "The Lady or the Tiger." However, Stockton is only an occasional fantasy and science fiction writer, and neither this story, the story it is about, nor the story within the story are sf.

*Philip Jose Farmer wrote a story, as near as I can figure, "The Last Rise of Nick Adams," about the importance of dealing with praise in the right way.

Not sure what these other stories represent, but they came to mind:

*"A Work of Art" byJames Blish

*"Gladys's Gregory" by John Anthony West

I'm reminded recently of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., but the recognition there was not acclaim.

*"Like Banquo's Ghost" by Larry Niven is a case of qualities singled out that aren't esteemed by the possessors.

There was a story in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction about a person seeking fame and fortune the easy way by having a mad scientist transport him to a universe where he was the best. Several alternate universes later, he he decided to settle for one person who would appreciate him for who he was. Perhaps too obscure, although perhaps a lot of this list is obscure. I notice its authorial pool is heavily weighted to those who wear glasses, so perhaps the fifth place should be reserved for one who doesn't to balance things out.

--
-Jack

In article <7323545f-9dc2-48d6-91b0-74096210bbaen@googlegroups.com>,
Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>James Nicoll wrote:
>
>> Award season is on us once more, and with it a looming need to
>> manage one's susceptibility to praise. Praise can be intoxicating
>> (and lead to hubris); it can be overwhelming (and lead to anxiety
>> and imposter syndrome). Creatives who find themselves faced with
>> praise may have little preparation for this intoxicating draught.
>> How are you to deal with the possibly horrific consequences
>> of egoboo?
>>
>> Here are ... can you guess the number... five effective methods
>> creatives can use to manage praise.
>>
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/surviving-accolades
>
>I'm always caught by surprise when it's not a list of stories.
>Maybe there are five that illuminate these themes.
>
>"His Wife's Deceased Sister" by Frank Richard Stockton for
>example, on "raising the bar." It fictionalizes his just
>punishment for writing "The Lady or the Tiger." However,
>Stockton is only an occasional fantasy and science fiction
>writer, and neither this story, the story it is about, nor the
>story within the story are sf.
>
>*Philip Jose Farmer wrote a story, as near as I can figure, "The
>Last Rise of Nick Adams," about the importance of dealing with
>praise in the right way.
>
>Not sure what these other stories represent, but they came to mind:
>
>*"A Work of Art" byJames Blish
>
>*"Gladys's Gregory" by John Anthony West
>
>I'm reminded recently of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut,
>Jr., but the recognition there was not acclaim.
>
>*"Like Banquo's Ghost" by Larry Niven is a case of qualities
>singled out that aren't esteemed by the possessors.
>
>There was a story in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
>about a person seeking fame and fortune the easy way by having a
>mad scientist transport him to a universe where he was the best.
>Several alternate universes later, he he decided to settle for
>one person who would appreciate him for who he was. Perhaps too
>obscure, although perhaps a lot of this list is obscure. I
>notice its authorial pool is heavily weighted to those who wear
>glasses, so perhaps the fifth place should be reserved for one
>who doesn't to balance things out.

A classic example is, of course, King's Carrie, in which Carrie
is elevated purely to make her subsequent humiliation worse. It
turns out her enemies were unaware of certain crucial details
about Carrie so it didn't work out quite according to plan.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll