Questions
by kateelliott on Sep.20, 2009, under Kate Elliott and Ken Scholes
Coming up next week, Ken and I will have posts “On Writing the Series” and “On Writing The Novel.”
For today, we’d like to open up the discussion to questions. If there is anything you’d like to ask, ask away. We’ll either answer in comments or we’ll pull the question out and give it its own post.
You can ask about writing, reading, or specific questions about any stories or novels or series we’ve written. As always, if you ask a question about specific fiction in a way that might include spoilers, include a warning so folks who don’t like to read spoilers can close their eyes/skip over it/etc.
And if you don’t have any questions, I have one:
If you write (at whatever level), what one writing craft thing are you struggling with most right now?
(I have to think about this, but I’ll answer in comments, too.)
P.S. In case you’re wondering why I’m doing all the posting, it is because Ken and I cleverly thought up topics ahead of time, asked each other questions, and wrote up the answers in advance back and forth via email. Since Ken is wrangling infant twins, I’m doing the posting of the already complete posts every night because, having once had infant twins myself, I know how overwhelming it is.
Related posts:
- Thank You I suspect that Ken is twin-wrangling (my twins just cleaned the house, so all that work in the early years can pay off later). On behalf of both of us, I wanted to hop in to say a heartfelt “Thank you” to Morgan for asking us over to Babel Clash...
- The “third volume produces twins” Syndrome KATE: Ken Scholes and I have arrived here at Babel Clash to blog your second half of September. Ken’s second novel, Canticle (the second of a five book cycle called The Psalms of Isaak) is due out in October, and my own Traitors’ Gate (the third and concluding volume of...
- On Writing the Novel, Part Two KEN: What about you? How do you tackle novels? You’ve published 19 novels over the last 21 years. How was it when you started? How did it evolve over time? Do you find now that you have a consistent process that works or do you still change it up from...
16 Comments for this entry
Leave a Reply
Featured Book
The first novel in the brilliant new Newsflesh trilogy--about an America shattered by a terrible pandemic, and a race for the White House that no one may survive.
September 20th, 2009 on 2:35 am
In reply to your question about what writing craft I am currently struggling with.
My answer:
Writing autobiographical facts (i.e. non-fiction) in my mothertongue in the country where I was born, i.e. Belgium.
A friend suggested, and I quote: “You cannot be a prophet in your own country”.
Thanks for asking.
September 20th, 2009 on 10:13 am
I’m presently struggling with writing a sequel to a novel that I am now marketing.
What the challenge is, is seeing that the “threads” and themes of the first novel are carried forward into the subsequent work.
I’ve just found it’s a darn sight harder to write the second work because it stands on the foundation of the first.
Fun site.
September 20th, 2009 on 11:29 am
How do you know when you have the right # of characters for a series? In an epic fantasy story, the cast can grow very large. How do you know when you’ve added too many and lost the story’s focus? On the flip side, when do you recognize that you have too few to adequately capture the epic scope?
September 21st, 2009 on 12:03 am
Sarah:
“You cannot be a prophet in your own country.”
Yes, that sounds challenging! Thanks for sharing.
Dani,
Writing a second novel set in the same world is tough. I think it’s almost tougher if it is not a direct sequel (like the second book in a trilogy with a story contained across the three books) because, as you say, you have to set the scene without setting the scene, as it were. Good luck!
September 21st, 2009 on 12:04 am
Morgan,
I hope the new post kind of answers your question. I’ll think about it some more, maybe for later in the week. What I find most interesting is how some writers have a huge cast of characters but no one ever seems to complain about how many there are, while another writer, everyone complains there are too many characters. So what is the difference?
September 21st, 2009 on 3:06 am
There’s about a million things I’d like to pick your brains over as writers, but I doubt it would be answered satisfactorily in a blog post - It would probably take a few evenings and several bottles of wine until I was sated…=0)
But one thing on Ken’s recent post caught my eye and it’s been niggling me for a while now.
Why is it that sf/f writers (in general) instant think of trilogies? I apreciate the fact I’m asking two authors who have a 7 and 5 book series to their names, but in the main ‘trilogy’is a word that crops up on the spines of books with great frequency.
Is it the 3 act plan? Is it lazy thinking on a writers part (”I’ve started a series and I’ll make it a trilogy because it’s an easy plan to write too”)? Is it a marketting ploy - ‘trilogy’ is a a well know word? Or is it something more mundane, such as books that outgrow 1 volume have a tendency to fall into a length easily chopped in three??
I’d be fascinated by your thoughts on this, especially as you’re likely to have come in contact with many trilogy writers over the years.
September 21st, 2009 on 7:05 am
Hi Morgan. I think the new post may help with your question but I’ll take a stab as well. I know sometimes because someone will tell me (like my wife pointing out I needed more female characters) and sometimes it grows organically in the writing when a minor character suddenly grabs me and has a story to tell. I try to subjegate that to the larger structure of the story which means some characters I really love won’t get their time on the stage until they’re featured in their own short story, novella or even possibly novel.
Hillsby, I think some of us first think “trilogy” because of the trilogies that have influenced. LotR, Star Wars, the Tripod Trilogy, etc. There may be something about the number three that sticks with us for other reasons, too, or marketing and business considerations I’m not aware of. It does seem like a trilogy fits nicely into a two book plus option contract. In the end, though, five felt more realistic for the size of story. My next series though looks like it will be (gasp) three books.
September 21st, 2009 on 7:09 am
And big thanks to Kate for hangling these posts. Twin Management is a wacky, hard, all-consuming business. If we hadn’t done these in advance, I fear my input may have been far less.
Last week, I went back to work in Ye Olde Day Jobbe. Jen does the same this week. What it means, basically, is an extra hour on each of our commutes on top of the wranging and working and writing books.
On the other hand, the girls started smiling last week. That is some pretty intoxicating stuff to behold.
September 21st, 2009 on 7:10 am
Uh…handling not hangling. Though “to hangle” obviously means to wrangle/handle a situation with extraordinary dexterity and good cheer.
September 21st, 2009 on 11:18 am
Since having it pointed out to me by a very gracious author, I’ve been struggling to “show not tell.” It’s one of those things I’ve heard since middle school (if not longer) but it’s only now making sense.
It’s harder than I anticipated, especially since I did it so poorly in the first novel I wrote.
September 21st, 2009 on 12:47 pm
Hi Ken
I suppose influences would be a big part, just I would’ve thought it’d be a more subconscious effect, such as writing style, rather than in the more conscious plotting part. Do you find it often, when talking to your fellow writers, you hear them planning a trilogy in advance? Or is it more a case of starting a series and marketing/length/contracts force it into three?
September 21st, 2009 on 1:52 pm
I thought you made up “hangling” on purpose. Man, and here I thought you were clever only to find out it was just a typo. I’m bummed.
September 21st, 2009 on 1:56 pm
Hillsy,
So many parts to that question, which is a really good question.
1) yes, I think that for some it may be writing to expectation (a trilogy is a known quantity in our field (we need only mention The Lord of the Rings), plus it is three books rather than one book, always a good thing for a writer who seeks to build and maintain an audience).
2) academic studies of folk tales and myths often (not always) show a typical three part structure in the stories of the hero/heroine a) separation from the world they are a part of b) a state where they are neither here nor there, but are having adventures c) reintegration into society with a new status. All initiation ceremonies follow this basic structure, so it may be something that feels very comfortable for us as readers and writers because it has deep cultural roots.
3) if a story tries to deal on some level with the complexities of human interaction on a grand scale, it may not really fit in a single (short) volume. The Lord of the Rings, for instance, while a single story, could not have been the story it was if it had been 100,000 words.
September 21st, 2009 on 1:58 pm
Adam, I’m still struggling with “show don’t tell” but we will keep up the good fight and keep working on it!
September 24th, 2009 on 2:28 am
Kate, Ken
Thanks for your answers, I’ll start on a trilogy at once…..doh!!!
September 26th, 2009 on 2:05 pm
Hillsy,
now that we have corrupted you, our work here is complete.