Reading!

[writerspry]

My crazy-ass work and social schedule has not permitted me much time for leisure reading, and that was one of the resolutions I made for 2010, so I've begun a ritual of reading whenever I have a spare moment, and so far it's been rewarding.

At Tycho's recommendation a while back I picked up The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Confession: I am

Comments

[writerspry]

I'm unfamiliar with Gary Stu, so I don't know to make that analogy, but while I was fascinated by Kvothe's ability to learn so many things so quickly, I was apprehensive, because so many authors then have their hero apply those skills and lessons right away, when really life isn't like that.

So what tempered my apprehension a lot is that Rothfuss didn't do the same with Kvothe. After learning all about sympathy as well as swordfighting, Kvothe winds up on the streets of Tarbean and... promptly forgets all of it. He gets his ass kicked, a lot. He uses basic fighting/brawling and resorts to rudimentary vandalism and arson. He doesn't use sympathy. He doesn't intervene in the alleyway fight. He just doesn't apply himself, which is nearly the same as never having all those skills to begin with.

I'm not ever critical of authors who take forever to write their books, because there's just so damn much out there to read, in so many genres, I know I would already be doing good to keep up with everything I enjoy.

The Malazan books, at first blush, sound like the kind of fantasy I detest: Someone's uber-maxed D&D campaign where the power scale is ridiculous and the characters are about as realistic as the fantasy monsters they defeat. But you mention George R R Martin in the same breath, and what I love about his books is that everyone is human, they have problems with which I can identify, and actions have consequences. So I'll take a gander!

[westernwizard]

Gary Stu = Male Mary Sue

Malazan is a bit of both, the power does scale up, but the characters tend to remain believable with real problems as well as ridiculous ones. Soldiers who care about each other and watch out for each other, leaders who worry about their men, and great sweeping change that threatens the entire world.

Note, well liked characters are not guaranteed to be safe, another of the big things you have from Martin. Which is part of why the power levels aren't as silly, just because someone is a massive badass does not mean they will live throughout the whole thing. Even Gods aren't safe.

[westernwizard]

Bah can't edit, so just doing another reply

[writerspry]

I'm comforted by the more detailed description of Malazan's stories.

Having done a crazy amount of writing myself-- this New Line project marks my twentieth feature screenplay, then there are the four hour-long TV pilots, the two unpublished novels, and countless short stories -- I'll say this much on authors constantly rewriting:

The ones with potential do get better, sometimes drastically better, in the middle of a novel. Writing often can limber the mental muscles to the point new ideas or new ways of delivering on old ideas forces writers to go back and rethink what they've done before. This, combined with a sense of perfection and a crippling fear that what you're writing won't be "good enough" for the fans clamoring for the next one, can easily put a writer in a state of near-perpetual revisions.

Is Martin or Rothfuss writing without a story? No, not at all. But in my experience, that story can mature and evolve and change direction as you go, especially if you're writing something like 200k words for it.

So I think they know where the story is going, they just aren't satisfied with their promise of that story, and as they improve their craft in the middle or end of the book and look back on the earlier pieces, they see only the things they can improve with a rewrite. I know I do that with my own scripts.

[westernwizard]

The flip side is sooner or later you have to let go. Just like any other creative activity, it's easy to keep reworking/improving forever. Nothing is perfect.

There's a reason many programmers have to remind themselves of this with the mantra "perfect is the enemy of good." Others may use it as well, but that's where I always see it.

[writerspry]

Ha! This is the mindfuck world that writers live in: A screenwriting newsletter recently went out with the opening quote "Good is the enemy of great." Thanks, David Allen. Goddamnit.

[westernwizard]

Oh you hear some people in software circles say that, but most of them get yelled down these days. Programming, while very much a creative form, has become much more practical. Though perhaps that is because it is part of the "enterprise world" it was forced to, while those who create art/entertainment avoided that. Hm, interesting thought to explore.

Main reason I agree with the idea, though, is because there are always more ideas to work on. Learn from the current one, but finish it so one can tell more great tales. Mind you I'm struggling with this right now, because my current idea for a novel keeps changing on me. The core is still the same, but the primary protagonist's struggle is changing as I ponder the implications of the story I want to tell, and the potential within that story to explore genre combinations (in this case thriller and fantasy, well steampunk fantasy). So I still need to learn to take my own advice ;-)