Unearth: The Magazine of Science Fiction Discoveries—a noble publication dedicated to the encouragement ofnew science fiction writers—began a policy of reprintingfirst stories by professionals in the area, along withintroductory essays by the authors telling how the storiescame to be written and including some advice to beginning writers.

For whatever such a preface may be worth in thisplace, 1*11 cause it to occur between here and the storyitself—

INTRODUCTION

I had wanted to write for many years, but did nothave an opportunity until I had completed my master'sthesis and taken a job with the government. I wasassigned to an office in Dayton, Ohio for training, and Ireported there on February 26, 1962. As I had decidedto try writing science fiction, I spent a week reading allthe current science fiction magazines and some randompaperbacks. I then sat down and began writing, everyevening, turning out several stories a week and sendingthem off to the magazines. I drew a number of rejectionslips, and then in March I received a note from CeleGoldsmith at Ziff-Davis, saying that she was buying thisstory, "Passion Play." It appeared in the August, 1962issue of Amazing Stories.

Whether it actually was or was not, it seemed to mean almost classic case of applied insight, because I haddone something right before I wrote it which I had notdone before. I had gathered together all of my rejectedstories and spent an evening reading through them to seewhether I could determine what I was doing wrong. Onething struck me about all of them: I was overexplaining.I was describing settings, events and character motiva-tions in too much detail. I decided, in viewing thesestories now that they had grown cold, that I would find itinsulting to have anyone explain anything to me at thatlength. I resolved thereafter to treat the reader as I wouldbe treated myself, to avoid the unnecessarily explicit, to