Possible Panels for 4th Street 2013
Hey, all!
Fourth Street is coming up in just under two months here, and we wanted to let you see some of the panel topics we're hoping will spark conversations this year.
As ever, the only guaranteed panel topic is...
Another Panel - Have you ever had a moderator close down a tangent that seemed as interesting as the panel at hand with "That's another panel"? Well, Another Panel is where we follow up on those tangents and side conversations.
We typically only have schedule space for ~9 panels, plus Another Panel, so not all of these will make it into the schedule, but we're definitely interested in hearing which of these topics you're most interested in. (And yes, this is why some of these overlap a bit with other topics on the list.)
The theme of this year's Writer's Seminar is journeys, so this year's list starts with three journey-themed panels...
The Heroine's Journey, Revisited - What sorts of differences tend to crop up between heroic narratives based on the protagonist's gender? What sorts of consequences, in terms of tropes invoked and shifts in reader responses, tend to follow when we gender-swap characters, or put women into traditionally "male" roles (e.g. Nyx in Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame Apocrypha) and vice-versa?
Perils of the Deep - Journeys by sea are fraught with danger in fantasy. Piracy, sea monsters, shipwrecks, and slavers are all staples of the genre, and voyages of exploration and Napoleonic naval combat are regularly transplanted to outer space. For all that, however, many sea fantasies stick close to history, or at least its more romanticized representations-- Even China Mieville and Robert V.S. Reddick just scale up our world, with their pirate cities and gargantuan city-ships. Is there something special about seafaring that encourages this, or do we all just really dig Patrick O'Brien and Lord Nelson?
Journey's End - When our heroes settle down, what do they bring home with them from their journeys? The Emperors of Byzantium were defended by Vikings, many of whom lived out their lives in the Varangian Guard, and some argue that Marco Polo and other silk road traders brought pizza and pasta to Italy from China. What examples of religious, cultural, and technological transfer can we think of in fantasy, and what would we like to see?
Challenges and Joys of Syncretist Fantasy - Lots of modern fantasies contain elements from many cultures' myths interacting with each other. What are some of the challenges (both narrative and in terms of being culturally sensitive) associated with this kind of worldbuilding, and what are the rewards for doing the work well?
Intertextuality and Originality - No book exists independent of the literary conversation, no matter how much its author may want it to. Elizabethan faeries are inevitably going to compared to each other, just like dark lords, destined heroes, and vampire-werewolf-mortal love triangles will. Given that very little authors can do will seem novel to experienced readers, how should they approach topics that many readers have been conditioned to read in a certain light? How can works that aim to deconstruct cliches avoid being read as "just X from Y's perspective"?
Taxonomies, Magic, and the Numinous - Geeks love taxonomies. Whether they're enumerating noble houses (Dragaeran or Westerosi), the Ajahs of the Aes Sedai, or schools of magic, secondary worlds are rife with invented hierarchies. In cases such as Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, this can lead to world-building and/or magic that seems more mechanical than numinous. What lies at the root of this love of taxonomies, and how can we scratch that itch without making magic wands feel just like six-shooters? Are there times we want our wands to feel as mechanistic as pistols? If so, how can we do that well?
Idiom, Character, and Worldbuilding - The language and idioms a character uses can provide important clues about them or their culture of origin. These can range from the difference between "See what I mean?", "Hear what I'm saying?", and "Feel me?" to the Mandarin equivalent of "You're welcome" literally meaning "You don't owe me anything"/"You have not incurred an obligation". What are some techniques for using real or invented idioms to communicate nuances of personality or culture to readers? What sorts of challenges do authors who are trying to convey information to readers via idioms have to confront?
Building the Spear - How much work do we have to do for the "big moments" in stories to have the emotional weight they need to hit home? How much can this be planned for, especially in long series?
"Before departing, dig two graves." - Images and ethics of revenge across cultural and historical contexts. Would build on ideas found in Sarah Monette's Apex Magazine article about Hamlet.
History as trade secret - Ways of using it. What bits make it in, and which bits tend to get neglected and why? Are we missing out on whole swaths and forms of history due to narrative conventions or the challenges of expressing certain complexities in (commercial) narratives?
Narrative Conventions - ...and how their pressures shape narrative into certain forms. Are we narrowing the stories we can tell by leaning on familiar story forms and Aristotelian notions of rising action, drama, conflict, and the like? To what extent are western narrative conventions culturally specific, and how much of our media (and media-influenced fiction) is being made to fit time-blocks and act structures in ways that aren't necessarily healthy to export into other forms?
Heresy and Orthodoxy - Portrayals of religion in fantasy, especially syncretism (both historical and modern). People have believed all kinds of interesting (and sometimes incompatible) things throughout history. How can we sensitively depict worlds in which multiple belief systems coexist or intermingle, especially when one or both can be shown to be literally true?
Law & Corruption - "Heaven is high, and the Emperor is very far away." Our depictions of fantastic jurisprudence tend to draw on a fairly narrow range of legal traditions. What are some of the more interesting legal systems in fiction and history? How did they emerge and change over time?
Tell, don't show - Let's talk about exposition! Authors like James Michener, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Francis Spufford have written novels that break all the "rules" about people hating exposition, and sometimes it's better to just come out and tell readers things (c.f. Douglas Adams). What's going on here, and what techniques and insights can we glean from it?
Fantasy of Discovery - Some fantasies (e.g. Pamela Dean's work, and Pat Wrede's Thirteenth Child trilogy) focus less on traditional forms of conflict than on solving mysteries or uncovering how some part of the world works. What are this form's unique challenges and strengths, and why is it less common than more traditionally conflict-focused forms of fantasy? Obviously mystery plays a part in such works, but are genre mysteries really fantasies of discovery in the same sense as The Dubious Hills and other works in that vein?
Large-scale structures and Series Planning - There are lots of ways to jump the rails in long-form fiction, episodic or otherwise. Marie Brennan recently proposed that the creators of long series "pick a structure and stick with it". How much do we agree with this? What do our conclusions imply with regards to planning out the course of a series ahead of time?
Conflict, Threat, and Angst - Writers talk a lot about the mean things they do to their characters. Do frustrated desires, trauma incidents, and looming threats make for drama because they motivate characters to act, or is there more to it? At what point does cranking up the tension and angst cease to drive the narrative forward and become counterproductive?
Do let us know what you think!
Fourth Street is coming up in just under two months here, and we wanted to let you see some of the panel topics we're hoping will spark conversations this year.
As ever, the only guaranteed panel topic is...
Another Panel - Have you ever had a moderator close down a tangent that seemed as interesting as the panel at hand with "That's another panel"? Well, Another Panel is where we follow up on those tangents and side conversations.
We typically only have schedule space for ~9 panels, plus Another Panel, so not all of these will make it into the schedule, but we're definitely interested in hearing which of these topics you're most interested in. (And yes, this is why some of these overlap a bit with other topics on the list.)
The theme of this year's Writer's Seminar is journeys, so this year's list starts with three journey-themed panels...
The Heroine's Journey, Revisited - What sorts of differences tend to crop up between heroic narratives based on the protagonist's gender? What sorts of consequences, in terms of tropes invoked and shifts in reader responses, tend to follow when we gender-swap characters, or put women into traditionally "male" roles (e.g. Nyx in Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame Apocrypha) and vice-versa?
Perils of the Deep - Journeys by sea are fraught with danger in fantasy. Piracy, sea monsters, shipwrecks, and slavers are all staples of the genre, and voyages of exploration and Napoleonic naval combat are regularly transplanted to outer space. For all that, however, many sea fantasies stick close to history, or at least its more romanticized representations-- Even China Mieville and Robert V.S. Reddick just scale up our world, with their pirate cities and gargantuan city-ships. Is there something special about seafaring that encourages this, or do we all just really dig Patrick O'Brien and Lord Nelson?
Journey's End - When our heroes settle down, what do they bring home with them from their journeys? The Emperors of Byzantium were defended by Vikings, many of whom lived out their lives in the Varangian Guard, and some argue that Marco Polo and other silk road traders brought pizza and pasta to Italy from China. What examples of religious, cultural, and technological transfer can we think of in fantasy, and what would we like to see?
Challenges and Joys of Syncretist Fantasy - Lots of modern fantasies contain elements from many cultures' myths interacting with each other. What are some of the challenges (both narrative and in terms of being culturally sensitive) associated with this kind of worldbuilding, and what are the rewards for doing the work well?
Intertextuality and Originality - No book exists independent of the literary conversation, no matter how much its author may want it to. Elizabethan faeries are inevitably going to compared to each other, just like dark lords, destined heroes, and vampire-werewolf-mortal love triangles will. Given that very little authors can do will seem novel to experienced readers, how should they approach topics that many readers have been conditioned to read in a certain light? How can works that aim to deconstruct cliches avoid being read as "just X from Y's perspective"?
Taxonomies, Magic, and the Numinous - Geeks love taxonomies. Whether they're enumerating noble houses (Dragaeran or Westerosi), the Ajahs of the Aes Sedai, or schools of magic, secondary worlds are rife with invented hierarchies. In cases such as Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, this can lead to world-building and/or magic that seems more mechanical than numinous. What lies at the root of this love of taxonomies, and how can we scratch that itch without making magic wands feel just like six-shooters? Are there times we want our wands to feel as mechanistic as pistols? If so, how can we do that well?
Idiom, Character, and Worldbuilding - The language and idioms a character uses can provide important clues about them or their culture of origin. These can range from the difference between "See what I mean?", "Hear what I'm saying?", and "Feel me?" to the Mandarin equivalent of "You're welcome" literally meaning "You don't owe me anything"/"You have not incurred an obligation". What are some techniques for using real or invented idioms to communicate nuances of personality or culture to readers? What sorts of challenges do authors who are trying to convey information to readers via idioms have to confront?
Building the Spear - How much work do we have to do for the "big moments" in stories to have the emotional weight they need to hit home? How much can this be planned for, especially in long series?
"Before departing, dig two graves." - Images and ethics of revenge across cultural and historical contexts. Would build on ideas found in Sarah Monette's Apex Magazine article about Hamlet.
History as trade secret - Ways of using it. What bits make it in, and which bits tend to get neglected and why? Are we missing out on whole swaths and forms of history due to narrative conventions or the challenges of expressing certain complexities in (commercial) narratives?
Narrative Conventions - ...and how their pressures shape narrative into certain forms. Are we narrowing the stories we can tell by leaning on familiar story forms and Aristotelian notions of rising action, drama, conflict, and the like? To what extent are western narrative conventions culturally specific, and how much of our media (and media-influenced fiction) is being made to fit time-blocks and act structures in ways that aren't necessarily healthy to export into other forms?
Heresy and Orthodoxy - Portrayals of religion in fantasy, especially syncretism (both historical and modern). People have believed all kinds of interesting (and sometimes incompatible) things throughout history. How can we sensitively depict worlds in which multiple belief systems coexist or intermingle, especially when one or both can be shown to be literally true?
Law & Corruption - "Heaven is high, and the Emperor is very far away." Our depictions of fantastic jurisprudence tend to draw on a fairly narrow range of legal traditions. What are some of the more interesting legal systems in fiction and history? How did they emerge and change over time?
Tell, don't show - Let's talk about exposition! Authors like James Michener, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Francis Spufford have written novels that break all the "rules" about people hating exposition, and sometimes it's better to just come out and tell readers things (c.f. Douglas Adams). What's going on here, and what techniques and insights can we glean from it?
Fantasy of Discovery - Some fantasies (e.g. Pamela Dean's work, and Pat Wrede's Thirteenth Child trilogy) focus less on traditional forms of conflict than on solving mysteries or uncovering how some part of the world works. What are this form's unique challenges and strengths, and why is it less common than more traditionally conflict-focused forms of fantasy? Obviously mystery plays a part in such works, but are genre mysteries really fantasies of discovery in the same sense as The Dubious Hills and other works in that vein?
Large-scale structures and Series Planning - There are lots of ways to jump the rails in long-form fiction, episodic or otherwise. Marie Brennan recently proposed that the creators of long series "pick a structure and stick with it". How much do we agree with this? What do our conclusions imply with regards to planning out the course of a series ahead of time?
Conflict, Threat, and Angst - Writers talk a lot about the mean things they do to their characters. Do frustrated desires, trauma incidents, and looming threats make for drama because they motivate characters to act, or is there more to it? At what point does cranking up the tension and angst cease to drive the narrative forward and become counterproductive?
Do let us know what you think!