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Book IV, that is. Still busy with business stuff (and tax stuff, and Lent-into-Holy-Week music stuff and…so on) but Book IV is now back up the priority ladder and scooting along. 5000 words so far this week. I’m not going to make 10,000, because a) I took time off today to have lunch with friends and b) I’ve invited different friends to dinner Saturday evening, which means I have to do some grocery shopping and spend some time Saturday cooking. But still. Book IV is back on the track and moving.
Exactly where it’s moving I can’t tell you, but I’m finding out a whole collection of facts I will try not to land on you like the world’s biggest infodump. Fascinating, interesting, psychologically relevant, but…as presently written, we have talking heads talking…and talking…and talking.
This will not do, and you will not be bored by them, because they won’t exist in the final version. The Author Has Spoken: Begone. (Though not yet–I’m using them for background.) Meanwhile, there’s the problem of minor characters who do not wish to stay minor. (“You don’t have a POV section; please sit down and wait to be called…” “But I’m INTERESTING! I’m more interesting than HE (or SHE) is.” “That may be, but this is not your story. All the POV parts have been assigned already. You are the fourth bootboy in the stable. X is gracious to you; Z is snotty to you, and the purpose of those brief encounters is to demonstrate X’s graciousness and Z’s snottiness. Now go sit down and wait to be called, or I’ll give your admittedly brief role to Silent Sue.” Silent Sue immediately leaps up and stands right in front of the desk, looking hopeful. )
I was reading a series of posts on writing recently, in which the author laid out a very sensible (albeit complicated) way of creating characters in fiction. But ye gods, the work that method implies.
It’s really quite simple to create characters…you let them come to you, and (as with opening a publishing house) as soon as they know they have an audience, they pour out of your subconscious in thickening streams, all with a story to tell. (Doesn’t everyone walk around with a head full of strangers all eager to tell their stories? Apparently not.) It’s the management that’s hard. Nearly all of them are eager to be used, and some are very, very good at insinuating themselves into more of the book than you’d planned.
And another thing about elves: it’s very hard to get them to answer questions, to talk to their writer (or other characters) except in enigmatic and evasive ways…but once you do it’s impossible to shut them up. (“And another thing–remember I told you [large chunk of infodump]? Well, you really need to know that behind that was this other [large chunk of infodump] because of course it started back when [yet another large chunk of infodump.] Although maybe it was even before that...”) Beings that live thousands of years have a lot of wordage in reserve. And when they have a friendly listener who isn’t saying (out loud, anyway) “How could you have fallen for that?” and “That was stupid!” they open up amazingly.
Dragon is still not telling me everything I want to know in order to finish the story. It was bad enough when Gird (being a drunk young man at the time) leered at me, but Dragon looks me straight in the face and demands to know if I’m wise enough to write this book.
Comment by Confutus — April 7, 2011 @ 12:20 am
What, does Dragon give you the same “You don’t need to know that yet” treatment he does Arian? I’m not greatly surprised.
Comment by Marty M — April 7, 2011 @ 8:15 am
Who can figure out Elves….now you have to deal with a dragon that has a serious issue with answering questions
Comment by Kip Colegrove — April 7, 2011 @ 10:57 am
It’s a busy time of year. Tax day and Easter fall much too close together this year for the comfort of those of us in the clergy trade. I’m glad you’re getting writing done along with the rest of it.
As for the elder races, their normal response to what they see as the headlong ephemerality of humans seems to be taciturnity and indirection. The endless exasperation this causes can really help drive a plot, if skillfully handled. (Is there gonna be a breakthrough *this* time, or will relations remain strained and enigmatic? Gotta keep reading…)
Comment by Jim DeWitt — April 7, 2011 @ 3:23 pm
On Elves:
There’s an apocryphal story about T.S. Eliot, that he read “The Wasteland” to an audience, and was then asked, “Yes, Mr. Eliot, but what does it mean?” And in response, Eliot commenced to read “The Wasteland” aloud again.
Elves explain things as best they can from their world view, but their world view is so different from ours that all they can do is say the same thing again.
Comment by Rachel — April 7, 2011 @ 3:38 pm
Whenever someone wonders if I’m wise enough to complete a task I want to respond with “Are you wise enough to make that call?” Let’s face it, frequently those who consider themselves wise enough to make judgment calls about who is or isn’t worthy to do something are just plain wrong.
Now, could I say that to Dragon? Probably not. But I would sure be thinking it!
Comment by arthur Piantadosi — April 7, 2011 @ 6:25 pm
this Arthur. Got Kings of the North from the library and read it. I just have this to say. . . WOW!!!
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Note from Elizabeth: I had to delete the rest of this post because it was full of spoilers. Reminder to all: Please do not talk about the contents of Kings of the North except in the Spoiler Space thread until further notice.
I hope Arthur posts his observations in the Spoiler Space thread (I’m having some email problems so haven’t yet been able to email his text to him for ease in doing that.)
……………………………………………………………
Comment by Jenn — April 7, 2011 @ 7:04 pm
Elzabeth,
I just love when ever you start on your characters. This is why they seem so alive in your books. It is like you give them free will. Do you ever find that you have to sometime throw a proverbial brick wall in front of them in order to get them to go where you want them to or do you have to change or create other caharacters to do the job you wanted them to do but that they utterly refused to do? Also, do they ever try to argue when they find out they are destined to soon die. Or do they ask to go out in a blaze of glory etc.
Comment by elizabeth — April 7, 2011 @ 7:49 pm
I’m not sure I give them free will, but they sure demand it. For the main characters, I very rarely try to redirect them–and it often doesn’t work. Often it doesn’t work with minor characters. (Throwing brick walls in front of Barranyi in the original Paks books did not work. When there’s a function that must be performed, and one character won’t, then I have to think up one who will.
Important characters dying…is tricky. Usually what it feels like to me is that a character has put on the famous Star Trek red shirt of the away team. Somehow the character is moving towards death and there’s not much I can do about it. (In Sheepfarmer’s Daughter, I did not want Saben and Canna to die…I tried hard to figure out how they might survive being captured…but it just would not jell that way. Afterward (long afterward, in my head) the story-necessity became clear, but it was not clear then and I fought it. I didn’t want Dorhaniya or Aarenha or the Rosemage to die in Liar’s Oath, but that’s what happened. I won’t tell you who has a red shirt on now (or how many) but I’m not sure it’s possible to write an honest book of this type (or maybe any type that covers so much time) without people dying, including people that readers are attached to. It’s part of the reality: friends of mine have died in real life, starting fairly young (my grandfather, a kid my age of polio) and continuing to the present.
When the death is sudden, characters don’t know it’s their death until it happens (nor do I) so there’s no character-pleading. When it’s an inevitable and I see it ahead: “Oh, !**! so-and-so’s going to die in this next mess…” they still usually remain oblivious, or–if they do see it–they want a good one. Sometimes they’re grateful. Dorhaniya did not mind dying–she was old, she knew it was coming, she believed she had done what good she could do.
Comment by elizabeth — April 7, 2011 @ 7:50 pm
That’s certainly part of it, Jim.
Comment by elizabeth — April 7, 2011 @ 7:54 pm
I suspect that early on the elves tried teaching humans things and answering questions–but then the humans died and the next generation asked the same questions. I’ve seen (not the best) teachers exasperated to the point of becoming hostile because year after year students come in asking the same (stupid to them) questions. I think elves may be like that. “How many times do I have to tell you…” “But…that was my great-grandfather you told…and he died and I don’t know what he learned…” (Elf throws up hands and storms out.)
And you’re right, of course, that the reaction of the elves (and to a lesser extent the other elder races) then frustrates the humans.
Comment by elizabeth — April 7, 2011 @ 7:54 pm
Dragon and I have a mutually cautious relationship, Confutus, but…Dragon doesn’t answer all my questions, no.
Comment by elizabeth — April 7, 2011 @ 7:56 pm
Well…Dragon doesn’t say “…wise enough to do X…” but “Wise.” Period. Leaving it to you to ponder what wisdom is.
Dragon will discuss the nature of wisdom with those who have the wit to bring it up. Dragon thoroughly enjoys theoretical philosophy (if any philosophy isn’t theoretical.)
Comment by Anna Puma — April 8, 2011 @ 9:03 am
I got in Kings of the North a week ago. It has been an enjoyable read which forced me to go reread about Luap along with Deed. One week later, I finally look up to see the world.
Only reason I even looked at Luap was for the map to figure out where Paks went galloping off from. That young lady, Aliam complained about Kieri being hard to manage as a squire.
Dragon reminds me of Hodgell’s Arrin-Ken. Immali, ‘we withdrew to consult.’ Jame, ‘that was 3,000 years ago.’
I eagerly await the next installment. Thank you.
Comment by elizabeth — April 8, 2011 @ 3:32 pm
Hi, Anna…are you without a map? The print books have a map in them. A rough version of the same map is on the Paksworld website maps page.
A gentle reminder that the contents of a new book should be talked about only in the Spoiler Space thread (either one; I’m about to open another in case new readers don’t see the old one.) Your spoilers are only minimal, but we need to be careful for awhile longer.
Comment by Moira — April 9, 2011 @ 9:02 am
Another example of your powers, Elizabeth (or perhaps the rambunctious nature of your characters):
I was just working on an image from Death Valley’s Golden Canyon. Except in my mind I kept thinking “Golden Company” instead.
Resistance is futile. 😉
Comment by elizabeth — April 9, 2011 @ 4:46 pm
Moira: Is it the sort of place Golden Company might be ambushed or set up an ambush?
Margaret: Well…in some of his roles, yes. He could certainly play Arvid.
Comment by Moira — April 10, 2011 @ 1:05 am
Perhaps! It’s definitely the kind of place that would force passage via single file at times: narrow, twisty, with steep walls. I’d think it would be a lot closer to Kolobia than Aarenis, though. (But we haven’t seen all of Aarenis, so…)
But I hope not – the poor horses (and troops) in a place that arid! It blows my mind that anyone ever tried to settle in that valley.
Comment by elizabeth — April 10, 2011 @ 7:33 am
There are some canyons here and there in Aarenis, but yes–more in the far west (Kolobia but also other places, including the Southern Waste) and in Old Aare. Golden Company’s commander, Aesil M’dierra, is from western Aarenis.
Comment by Moira — April 10, 2011 @ 2:52 pm
Interesting!
Maybe my mental meanderings aren’t a bad thing after all. 😉