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Post by marianne on Dec 5, 2004 20:50:41 GMT
Hello Patchers, Anne Bishop will be our next guest but not until end of January/ early February. Anne Bishop is the award-winning author of the Black Jewels Trilogy (Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, and Queen of the Darkness), The Invisible Ring, the Tir Alainn Trilogy (The Pillars of the World, Shadows and Light, and The House of Gaian), and Dreams Made Flesh. Her latest short story was recently published in the anthology Powers of Detection. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, reading, and music. She is currently working on a duology set in a world of altered landscapes. You can visit her at www.annebishop.com. MDP
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Post by Chirugal on Dec 6, 2004 11:07:17 GMT
Wow, steady stream of famous and talented people - this is so cool! ^_^
And I'll be around more for that one! ;D
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Post by marianne on Jan 20, 2005 1:35:20 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Hi all,
Anne Bishop will be visiting us from 25 - 28 January. Only five days away. Spread the word.....
Marianne[/glow]
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Post by Chirugal on Jan 20, 2005 19:33:26 GMT
Cool! *gets ready with questions* EDIT to add: I just realised that I won't be here on the days when Anne is visiting - I'm going home to see my parents for a few days. So I'll leave my questions in advance. I'm really sorry I won't be about to interact properly. First question: I have a little plan in my head to base a story around Japanese Shinto customs, but have it in a fantasy world, where the people and customs wouldn't be referred to as Japanese. I've been doing research for this and so on... do you think it's possible to go over the top with 'copying' a culture? Second question: How much descriptive detail do you think is necessary to flesh out dialogue and plot? I find that when I'm writing I tend to get the story down first and have to add description of a place later - it completely skips my mind when I'm writing a first draft. I know that some writers (for example Tolkien) can go pages and pages describing stuff. What do you think is an acceptable amount? Third question: I read something somewhere, that unless a story involves a central character and two or more courses of action that they are torn between, the piece of writing is only an "almost-story" (their phrase, not mine!). How far would you agree with this? These questions are open to anybody, but especially Anne for being so nice as to come and see us. Hope you enjoy your time on the board, Anne!
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Post by ABishop on Jan 24, 2005 4:12:45 GMT
Testing. Just wanted to make sure I could get here.
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Post by Mouse on Jan 25, 2005 0:01:17 GMT
Amy, you're really on the ball this time aren't you!!
Hello Anne! I'll just start by saying that the Black Jewels Trilogy is easily my favourite fantasy series. So often in fantasy women are typecast as the helpless maidens in distress, but strong women play an important role in both your trilogies and it is one of the things that attracts me to your work. Was it a deliberate decision to write about worlds in which females hold power, or did it just happen?
Another thing that I have always liked about the Black Jewels in particular is how incredibly detailed and well-drawn the society, magic system and landscape is. How much time did it take to develop all of it? Do you have a system for world-building, or is it just something that builds up as you go along?
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Post by ABishop on Jan 25, 2005 0:10:36 GMT
First question: I have a little plan in my head to base a story around Japanese Shinto customs, but have it in a fantasy world, where the people and customs wouldn't be referred to as Japanese. I've been doing research for this and so on... do you think it's possible to go over the top with 'copying' a culture? Yes. Your first sentence is the key: you're basing the story around Japanese Shinto customs, not trying to recreate that culture and plop it in a fantasy world. So first you have to take the world and that culture's place in it into account. I would look at the research as the bones of the culture you're building. Consider who those people are in this new world and what you need to tell their story Then use the things that are useful. If you put a culture in a different world, it's not going to be the same. Take what you need and ditch the rest. (And I'll say now this is just one person's opinion. Other people might have a very different idea of everything I say.) Second question: How much descriptive detail do you think is necessary to flesh out dialogue and plot? I find that when I'm writing I tend to get the story down first and have to add description of a place later - it completely skips my mind when I'm writing a first draft. What do you think is an acceptable amount? The acceptable amount is however much you need to bring the reader into the story. Consider these sentences: She followed the path around the pond. She followed the path around the stagnant pond and shivered when she looked at the bleached, dead trees spearing up from the murky water. She followed the path around the water garden's pond and watched the koi swimming among the water plants like pieces of living gold. Description provides tone, mood, feeling. It also grounds the reader in where the characters are and what their surroundings look like. Doesn't matter if you bring it in during the first draft or add it later, although even if you're writing action and dialogue first to get the bones of the story down, it helps to be able to visualize where a scene is taking place. Third question: I read something somewhere, that unless a story involves a central character and two or more courses of action that they are torn between, the piece of writing is only an "almost-story" (their phrase, not mine!). How far would you agree with this? Nancy Kress once said, "Every story is a war." And it's true. Even the quietest story is about conflict, a struggle to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle or face some kind of danger. If there's no struggle, we, as readers, have no reason to worry over the outcome or cheer for the characters when they succeed--or grieve with them if they fail. Consider the Lord of the Rings. Frodo was having a nice Hobbit life. Then he inherited a ring, and look at all the trouble that came riding up to his door. Conflict. Struggle. Overcoming obstacles. We want characters to succeed, but we want them to work for it. Anne edited for quote-tags - Amy
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Post by ABishop on Jan 25, 2005 0:36:19 GMT
I'll just start by saying that the Black Jewels Trilogy is easily my favourite fantasy series. Thanks! strong women play an important role in both your trilogies and it is one of the things that attracts me to your work. Was it a deliberate decision to write about worlds in which females hold power, or did it just happen? Both. Basically, I write the stories I want to read. And I like stories where there is strength in both genders. Another thing that I have always liked about the Black Jewels in particular is how incredibly detailed and well-drawn the society, magic system and landscape is. How much time did it take to develop all of it? The Black Jewels world grew over several years because I was just playing with the culture for myself. But I probably spent about a year pulling all the pieces into a coherent whole (and figuring out how to explain some of the stuff) before I started writing the story. Do you have a system for world-building, or is it just something that builds up as you go along? Having deadlines means I have to do world-building a whole lot faster than I did with the Black Jewels, but the method is still basically the same. I gather pieces, things that resonate for me and think about them--characters, aspects of the world, what kind of magical system the world/culture/characters have. Then I make notes about everything I know about the place and people and what the story is about. At that point, I have to start writing the story in order to figure out the rest of the world-buildling and who the characters are. So it becomes an organic process. It's both frustrating and exciting to grow a story that way, but that's how my creative process works. Anne edited for quote-tags - Amy
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Post by AJWeaver on Jan 25, 2005 9:14:30 GMT
Description provides tone, mood, feeling. It also grounds the reader in where the characters are and what their surroundings look like. Doesn't matter if you bring it in during the first draft or add it later, although even if you're writing action and dialogue first to get the bones of the story down, it helps to be able to visualize where a scene is taking place. Anne
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Ros
Feral
Posts: 10
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Post by Ros on Jan 25, 2005 13:09:59 GMT
I've just got hold of my copies of The House of Gaian and Dreams Made Flesh, so I've got to choose which to read first. Mmmmmm, decisions.
I've really enjoyed reading the Black Jewels and the Tir Alainn trilogies. But they're pretty dark in places and sometimes uncomfortable reading, especially the bits about Briarwood. What made you decide to deal with subjects like child abuse and torture quite so graphically? Did you have any reservations whilst you were writing it?
Do you consider "What would my mother / great-aunt / granny [insert easily-offended female relative here] think?" when you're writing, or do you have to make a conscious effort not to self-censor?
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Post by firelight on Jan 25, 2005 19:53:37 GMT
Hi Anne, I've been writing since I was a small kid (am now a big kid) but I still tend to do a lot of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. Any tips on how to overcome this weakness?
Besides that, do you have any general advice for new writers? Thanks!
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Post by Chirugal on Jan 25, 2005 19:59:14 GMT
Thank you, Anne! This is really helpful. Do you consider "What would my mother / great-aunt / granny [insert easily-offended female relative here] think?" when you're writing, or do you have to make a conscious effort not to self-censor? I also would love to know the answer to this one - my relatives would all read something I got published, and if I ever wanted to write a sex scene or anything... it doesn't bear thinking about!
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Post by ABishop on Jan 25, 2005 22:41:24 GMT
I'm a dialogue/action person myself and I don't like reading a lot of description so I tend to skip it when I'm writing, then have to go back and add enough detail that the reader can see what I'm seeing. AJ I don't like to slog through a lot of description when I'm reading either, so I tend to write lean. But the value of adding some while you're running with the first draft is that it anchors you in the scene and also influences subtly how characters respond. Take a short bit of dialogue and action and think of the characters being out on a bright, sunny day. Then consider how the tone might change--even though the words are the same--if it's a gray, rainy day. The way things are said and the attitude behind the words may be different, depending on the comfort level of their environment. Just like real people. Anne
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Post by ABishop on Jan 25, 2005 23:01:32 GMT
I've really enjoyed reading the Black Jewels and the Tir Alainn trilogies. But they're pretty dark in places and sometimes uncomfortable reading, especially the bits about Briarwood. What made you decide to deal with subjects like child abuse and torture quite so graphically? Did you have any reservations whilst you were writing it? Do you consider "What would my mother / great-aunt / granny [insert easily-offended female relative here] think?" when you're writing, or do you have to make a conscious effort not to self-censor? It wasn't actually a decision to deal with those subjects. I wrote a story about a group of people at a specific time in their lives, and these were the things that made them who and what they were. At the core of it, I was writing a love story. Not just romantic love, but the other facets of love as well. And it always came down to Daemon and Jaenelle. When I work on a story, I acknowledge that I'm goddess and scribe. Goddess while I'm developing the world and deciding what goes into it. But once the characters begin their journey, I'm the scribe who records what happens to them along the way. That being the case, I make two promises before I start. The first is to the characters: that I will let them be who and what they are, without judgment, and I will record their story honestly. The second is to the readers: that I will tell that story to the best of my ability. So while there are times when self-censorship will raise its nasty little head to try to derail a story that isn't all happy and nice, I've made those promises. And I keep them. Anne
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Post by ABishop on Jan 25, 2005 23:08:13 GMT
I've been writing since I was a small kid (am now a big kid) but I still tend to do a lot of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. Any tips on how to overcome this weakness? Practice. And, again, it's shifting your own mindset. You should be invisible. You don't count. The story does. So you could look at a scene where you're telling what happens (which is passive voice) and translate it into showing (active voice). Visualize. As an exercise, record what the character does, how she looks, how her voice sounds. See through her eyes instead of your own. (You get to see through your own eyes in the second draft.) Anne
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