Bittercon links: AH

[sartorias]

brisingamen finishes up her Bittercon questions with one about fiction and history.

This paragraph will be running through my mind as I do the morning chores in a minute or two, here.

To be a trifle provocative, I might just start by asking what the difference is between history and fiction anyway, given that both seem to me to be all about the narrative,

Comments

[madrobins]

So when we flirt with alternative history, just what are we doing?In most cases we're rearranging furniture

[sartorias]

Yes . . . and it makes sense.

Finally it comes down to whether or not the reader is convinced--whether or not the historian, or storyteller (story being the central concept in both those words) has given convincing detail.

A lot of ah's toss me out because I'm not convinced, the "but what if?" chain reactions overwhelm me so much I'm tossed out of the story they want to tell. If it seems the author has addressed the what ifs in a way that convinces or delights me and keeps me questioning, I get drawn in. And I find that true of history as well as fiction. The thing about getting old, and having read a lot is, one accrues more and more detail so that it is tougher to be convinced. But the payoff is sure fun.

[swan_tower]

And secret history is trying to put some more furniture in the room without moving any of the pieces already there, or having the result look uncomfortably crowded.

[madrobins]

Oh, yes! Brilliant!

[swan_tower]

You created the metaphor; I just applied it to what I'm trying to do with my own work. :-)