Campbell was easily known for the self-opinionated newspaper column within both issue of the magazine, in which he would periodically argue quite idiotic hypotheses, peradventure designed to set off story ideas. An anthology one column was published within 1966. He besides suggested story ideas to writers extra directly (including, famously, "Write me a creature that thinks as well as a man, or better than a man, but not like a man"), & periodically asked for stories to match handle paintings he experienced already bought.

1954 Dell Paperback Before he became an editor, Campbell had established himself as a noteworthy SF writer. In the early '30s he rivalled E. E. Smith with his Arcot, Morey, and Wade series of space opera novels. He so turned to writing further nuanced stories, like "Twilight" & "Forgetfulness", under a penname "Don A. Stuart" (taken from either his so-wife's title, Dona Stuart). His better known short story is "Who Goes There?", about the class action of South-polar investigator world health organization discover the crashed alien vessel, complete using the malevolent shape-changing occupier. This wwhen filmed as The Thing From Another World (1951) and once more when The Thing (1982). Isaac Asimov another time asked Campbell how come he experienced stopped writing fiction when he became a editor of Astounding. Campbell explained, "Isaac, when I write, I write only my own stories. As editor, I write the stories that a hundred people write." It was when said that Robert The. Heinlein, Campbell's virtually all notable discovery, was only "the pen in Campbell's hand." Heinlein himself strongly disclaimed this assertion.

In the 1950s, Campbell developed strong interests within guide theories that began to isolate him from either a select few of his have mainstream writers like Asimov. He wrote favourably, for example, just about such items when a "Dean drive," the device that purportedly produced a click within violation of Newton's third law, and a "Hieronymous machine," which could purportedly amplify psi powers. In the period of his interest therein latter subject, he published several stories all about telepathy and other psionic abilities. It was inside the period of this period that Campbell besides became concerned in Dianetics, publishing L. Ron Hubbard's first articles on the subject and then writing editorials in support of Dianetics. Prefer numbers of of his more interests this waned inside period & he is typically non believed to keep close at hand ever been the member of the Church of Scientology.

Writing just about a Campbell of this time, a noted science-fiction writer & critic Damon Knight commented in his book Inside Seek of Question: "In the pantheon of magazine science fiction there is no more complex and puzzling figure than that of John Campbell, and certainly none odder." Knight too wrote the 4-stanza ditty all about a few of Campbell's fresh interests. A foremost stanza reads: Between December 11, 1957 and June 13, 1958, Campbell hosted a each week science fiction radio program known as Looking for Tomorrow. A scripts were written by authors like Gordon Dickson and Robert Silverberg. Transcripts of a few softwcome are however available.

The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were named in his honour.