Q&A 10--with bonus music!
Apr. 15th, 2009 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
truepennyI woke up this morning with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" stuck in my head. This is actually enjoyable--especially since last week, pursuant to the "Stand by Me" video (and, no, I don't remember how I got to one from the other), I'd found Pat et Stanley (Pat is the hippo). And today, poking around further on YouTube, I found The Tokens (awesome except for the bad decision on the final Alleluia Wimoweh), and that led me to the wikipedia entry on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", which led me to FLORENCOM's YouTube channel, which starts with Solomon Linda's original 1930s "Mbube" and then just keeps going (The Soweto String Quartet totally and completely WINS THE INTERNETS. I'm just saying.)
So here. Have some music with your Q&A.
Also, to the person who commented with a link to your review of Corambis: thank you!
Q: How do you normally develop the plot? Do you plan them all out before you actually write it, or do you just plan the main events, and the details would come to you naturally during the actual writing?
A: Actually, I pretty much make it all up as I go along.
Q: Also, do you read the sentences aloud when you're writing to test how it would sound?
A: Not always, but yes, I frequently do.
Q: Is the village of Mouldiwarp closer to Porpentine or Heronshaw?
A: The village of Moldwarp (please note correct spelling) is actually quite isolated, except for the Lemerii country seat, Copal Carnifex.
Q: What are the roots (both in this world and the world of the Doctrine of Labyrinths) of the Caloxan dialect that Kay uses? I've been fascinated by your explanations for Felix and Mildmay's dialects, and look forward to hearing about his.
A: I talked about the relationship between the Caloxan dialect and early Modern English already, so the other half of the question is clearly up to bat.
Caloxan and Corambin, like Marathine, are descended from Cymellunar, which is why Felix and Mildmay can understand the Corambins and vice versa. (I actually cheated a little bit there, because I could not face dealing with the language problem again--but it turned out to be thematically and narratively necessary for Corambis to be a very self-conscious descendant of Cymellune.) The Marathine dialect has a lot of other influences that have shaped it, whereas Caloxan should be imagined as being pretty close to Cymellunar (like the isolated communities in Appalachia who speak something pretty close to Shakespeare's English). And Corambin is just that same language with more streamlining and modernization.
Q: I love your books, and the way you write fantasy, especially the characterization, has inspired me in my own writing. I'm working on a novel now, but I have the hardest time writing action scenes. I'm more interested in the effect they have on the characters than in themselves. Do you have any advice about how to write Stuff Happening?
A: Oh dear. As I think my books demonstrate, I'm much better at internal action than external. Also, I'm bad at kinesthetics (as hanging around with a very kinesthetic writer like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
matociquala has shown me). So I can tell you what I've learned, on the understanding that I consider action one of my weak points.
1. Don't try to describe everything. Unless you're writing in omni, your viewpoint character won't notice everything.
2. Focus on specific physical sensations. Cannibalize any experience you've had that's relevant. Everyone probably knows the burn of exhausted muscles, for instance.
3. Draw diagrams if that helps.
4. Go ahead and make a fool of yourself. Get up and try to put yourself in the various positions you imagine your character taking.
5. If you have another person available, make them help. I find this particularly useful for anything involving hands. Because I can't visualize accurately.
6. If you have a friend (parent, sibling, child, lover, etc.) who has taken martial arts or done stage fighting or SCA tournaments or or gymnastics or dance or anything that involves learning fighting techniques and/or spatial awareness and proprioception, exploit them shamelessly. Especially, try to get a feel for what is and isn't humanly possible. (I love Dorothy Sayers, but she didn't have a clue in this regard.)
7. Um, honestly? Avoid action scenes as much as possible.
Q: did you know from the beginning that Kay would be blinded?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you ever consider writing the series with Mildmay as the central character and Felix as the secondary one?
A: Nope. Felix came first. I didn't even meet Mildmay (metaphorically speaking) until Felix was already somewhere in Chapter 7 of Mélusine.
[Ask your question(s) here.]
So here. Have some music with your Q&A.
Also, to the person who commented with a link to your review of Corambis: thank you!
Q: How do you normally develop the plot? Do you plan them all out before you actually write it, or do you just plan the main events, and the details would come to you naturally during the actual writing?
A: Actually, I pretty much make it all up as I go along.
Q: Also, do you read the sentences aloud when you're writing to test how it would sound?
A: Not always, but yes, I frequently do.
Q: Is the village of Mouldiwarp closer to Porpentine or Heronshaw?
A: The village of Moldwarp (please note correct spelling) is actually quite isolated, except for the Lemerii country seat, Copal Carnifex.
Q: What are the roots (both in this world and the world of the Doctrine of Labyrinths) of the Caloxan dialect that Kay uses? I've been fascinated by your explanations for Felix and Mildmay's dialects, and look forward to hearing about his.
A: I talked about the relationship between the Caloxan dialect and early Modern English already, so the other half of the question is clearly up to bat.
Caloxan and Corambin, like Marathine, are descended from Cymellunar, which is why Felix and Mildmay can understand the Corambins and vice versa. (I actually cheated a little bit there, because I could not face dealing with the language problem again--but it turned out to be thematically and narratively necessary for Corambis to be a very self-conscious descendant of Cymellune.) The Marathine dialect has a lot of other influences that have shaped it, whereas Caloxan should be imagined as being pretty close to Cymellunar (like the isolated communities in Appalachia who speak something pretty close to Shakespeare's English). And Corambin is just that same language with more streamlining and modernization.
Q: I love your books, and the way you write fantasy, especially the characterization, has inspired me in my own writing. I'm working on a novel now, but I have the hardest time writing action scenes. I'm more interested in the effect they have on the characters than in themselves. Do you have any advice about how to write Stuff Happening?
A: Oh dear. As I think my books demonstrate, I'm much better at internal action than external. Also, I'm bad at kinesthetics (as hanging around with a very kinesthetic writer like
matociquala has shown me). So I can tell you what I've learned, on the understanding that I consider action one of my weak points.1. Don't try to describe everything. Unless you're writing in omni, your viewpoint character won't notice everything.
2. Focus on specific physical sensations. Cannibalize any experience you've had that's relevant. Everyone probably knows the burn of exhausted muscles, for instance.
3. Draw diagrams if that helps.
4. Go ahead and make a fool of yourself. Get up and try to put yourself in the various positions you imagine your character taking.
5. If you have another person available, make them help. I find this particularly useful for anything involving hands. Because I can't visualize accurately.
6. If you have a friend (parent, sibling, child, lover, etc.) who has taken martial arts or done stage fighting or SCA tournaments or or gymnastics or dance or anything that involves learning fighting techniques and/or spatial awareness and proprioception, exploit them shamelessly. Especially, try to get a feel for what is and isn't humanly possible. (I love Dorothy Sayers, but she didn't have a clue in this regard.)
7. Um, honestly? Avoid action scenes as much as possible.
Q: did you know from the beginning that Kay would be blinded?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you ever consider writing the series with Mildmay as the central character and Felix as the secondary one?
A: Nope. Felix came first. I didn't even meet Mildmay (metaphorically speaking) until Felix was already somewhere in Chapter 7 of Mélusine.
[Ask your question(s) here.]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 05:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 06:20 pm (UTC)"I love Dorothy Sayers..."
Date: 2009-04-15 06:02 pm (UTC)Re: "I love Dorothy Sayers..."
Date: 2009-04-15 06:03 pm (UTC)OK...
Date: 2009-04-15 06:09 pm (UTC)Re: OK...
Date: 2009-04-15 06:16 pm (UTC)gotcha...
Date: 2009-04-15 07:21 pm (UTC)Re: gotcha...
Date: 2009-04-17 05:27 pm (UTC)So the tips on how to fight off a Midnight Strangler don't really work? That's too bad. I liked to think I was prepared, just in case.
-- KSC
agreed
Date: 2009-04-17 05:39 pm (UTC)& some of the tips about fending off the strangler are right on- everything he says about the dog collar & about balance seem to be correct. It's just the pressure point (think Vulcan pinch) that is a bit of an urban legend. Sort of like killing someone by twisting their head/snapping their neck. My chiropractor says it JUST DOESN'T work that way.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 07:16 pm (UTC)PS I am very much looking forward to reading whatever you write next.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 07:32 pm (UTC)Also, thank you!
no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 09:23 pm (UTC)Blurriness, elision, and focus on POV mostly save me. Sometimes.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 05:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-17 03:26 am (UTC)