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research first, inspiration second
Aug. 21st, 2013 08:55 pmAspiring writers ought to read widely and heavily in history before they find a story idea that needs a particular era's background.
Beside giving a good sense of what societies are like so you get a built-in detector for need to research, it can also provide facts along the way. Like, say, succession.
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Beside giving a good sense of what societies are like so you get a built-in detector for need to research, it can also provide facts along the way. Like, say, succession.
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where there's a will
Aug. 13th, 2013 11:30 pmthere's leeway.
Unfortunately, a good number of writers tend to overestimate how much leeway a testator has.
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Unfortunately, a good number of writers tend to overestimate how much leeway a testator has.
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something I'd like to see. . .
Jul. 30th, 2013 10:13 pmOpened a novel recently and the first scene presented was a woman desperately pleading with a willful princess that she must learn how to sew.
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adventures in inheritance
Jul. 26th, 2013 11:03 pmThe heroine is simple, as she is merely the daughter of two traveling professional letter writers. A freewoman, not a noble, not even gentry, though her status as a clerk does give her some clout. It's the hero of the piece.
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courts of the Middle Ages
Jun. 6th, 2013 09:41 pmWas reading a collection of Poul Anderson's works, and philosophically contemplating the feudal futuristic world of one, and then thinking, no, that's not right. . .
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Why come ye not to court?
May. 9th, 2013 09:32 pmPlugging along at the outline, the heroine returns to the court where she had just arrived in the opening -- and left soon after -- and the queen is telling her that her departure means that she can not receive something. . . .
And the muse starts to fuss about the notion of why she arrived at court when she did, and not a month, let alone years, earlier.
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And the muse starts to fuss about the notion of why she arrived at court when she did, and not a month, let alone years, earlier.
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long arm of the law
Nov. 6th, 2012 09:54 pmWhat happens to the lands after you've driven off the Evil Overlord?
Which brings other questions trailing in its wake.
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Which brings other questions trailing in its wake.
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reproducing society
Aug. 17th, 2012 07:37 pmA further reflection on one of jordan's essays that I've already pondered. . . but two other discussions I've seen have sent me whirling off on a completely different tangent to it.
In it, he observes
Well, in one sense, yes, but in another, it would turn on: are these abilities of theirs hereditary?
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In it, he observes
Superbeings would of necessity in any system of government evolve into a sort of aristocracy.
Well, in one sense, yes, but in another, it would turn on: are these abilities of theirs hereditary?
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adoption over the ages
Jan. 12th, 2012 07:15 pmExactly how counterpart do you want your cultures to be? It can have interesting ramifications, with laws and things, in the oddest corners.
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adventures in plot-twisting
Sep. 10th, 2011 11:11 pmLocal color can be used to make the passage of time clear -- always useful. Some local festivities can include the planting, or the wheat harvest, or gathering apples from the trees. But -- there's always wrinkles.
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Was reading a crit a little while back. A king was solemnly explaining to a woman that he absolutely had to disinherit her under this law (which he was twisting beyond recognition), and the person angrily said that the king could just change the law.
Eep. Eep. Eep.
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Updated: No more discussion of current politics, please. (I may, in fact, delete those comments that discuss it now if they encourage such discussion.)
Eep. Eep. Eep.
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Updated: No more discussion of current politics, please. (I may, in fact, delete those comments that discuss it now if they encourage such discussion.)
suitable to his station
Jan. 23rd, 2010 07:00 pmMy character tend to be gentry. Younger children of minor nobles; children of the younger children of minor nobles; moderately prosperous, respectable, untitled families; educated professionals -- especially the profession of "wizard" or "sorcerer" to be sure.
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Of Crowns and Kings
Sep. 10th, 2008 10:15 pmOne thing you seldom see variety in fantasy kingdoms is in the royal succession. Nevermind the preeminence of kingdoms in fantasy, they all practice primogeniture. Nice, neat, orderly succession by primogeniture, at that. Which, in real life, is generally a sign of a constitutional monarchy where the nominal sovereign is a figurehead. The writers do have a point in that more complex succession can complicate stories. If that's not what the story is about, it can cause it to lose focus. OTOH, succession issues not only offer possibilities, they make a good backdrop of chaos.
For one thing -- are the laws of succession known? A lot of kingdoms have been ruled by customary law. The king succeeds because no one remembers a time when succession went otherwise. But when a king claims that this one or that one is just a happenstance -- or worse, all the usual stuff is not possible, for one reason or another -- trouble ensues. What do you do when no one remembers a time when a king had a living daughter but no living son? And let's not go into what happens when two kingdoms with different laws get joined. . . .
filing off the serial numbers
Aug. 14th, 2008 08:16 pmHow to steal a story. How to file off the serial numbers and make it your own. . . . it's easier when you read a story and think "He threw away that idea." or "Those minor characters are more interesting than the main plot" or "That development was a stupid waste when she could have done this." or "That backstory would be a wonderful story on its own" -- but some of the same tricks may be needed as when you just want to steal the story.
There is nothing like practice. I am glad that my many, many, many pieces of juvenilia were handwritten -- in my virtually illegible hand-writing no less -- but it was good practice all the same.
The first trick is to always change the names. Besides the psychological effect of making them your characters, besides the legal effect of escaping copyright, names have baggage. You may find that Catherine has dark hair, which will change the heroine's hair all on its own. (You can't count on the reader picking up your baggage, but you can find it useful if you write it in.)
It can be like prying a gemstone out of a rock. You may have to take several stabs at it -- put it down and come back a few days later, when you have more distance between you and the original story. It may feel like it can't be done, because the original story all hangs together. But it's a necessary step.
And then you start to look at what else you can change without changing what interested you in the first place.
There is nothing like practice. I am glad that my many, many, many pieces of juvenilia were handwritten -- in my virtually illegible hand-writing no less -- but it was good practice all the same.
The first trick is to always change the names. Besides the psychological effect of making them your characters, besides the legal effect of escaping copyright, names have baggage. You may find that Catherine has dark hair, which will change the heroine's hair all on its own. (You can't count on the reader picking up your baggage, but you can find it useful if you write it in.)
It can be like prying a gemstone out of a rock. You may have to take several stabs at it -- put it down and come back a few days later, when you have more distance between you and the original story. It may feel like it can't be done, because the original story all hangs together. But it's a necessary step.
And then you start to look at what else you can change without changing what interested you in the first place.
( Read more... )
