Weaving the Web, 3: Worldbuilding

[lolmac]

In my last post on this subject, I rambled in general terms about the storytelling opportunities the novel offers, as opposed to the TV series itself. This post is much more specific (and spoilery), because it’s about the really interesting and fun opportunity: worldbuilding

Comments

[lothithil]

I remain in awe of your energy and ability, to research and to share the most interesting details of that research in your stories. Don't I know how hard it is to figure out what to tell, and what is too much!

Daniel will be your best ally in telling, with Carter there to explain it to Jack, and Jack and Teal'c will make sure that the impatient and the action-starved readers will be satisfied.

I love the story so far. The myths and peoples that you've chosen to talk about are so interesting to me, because I know very little about them. I'm looking forward to the next installment!

... so... *glances at watch*... I'm waiting! :D

[lolmac]

*looks sheepish* I'm, um, still writing . . . slooooooowly . . .

[lothithil]

Worth waiting for! Please don't think my enthusiasm is critical. I understand the value of anticipation :D

[lolmac]

{{{{{Lothi}}}}} No, I didn't think that at all! I'm just wishing the words would squeeze out faster!

[idlewild_]

I am forever delighted that you are tackling this challenge head on. It makes me want and try to be better in my own writing. Also it makes for a much more entertaining story than the same old retreads of the same bits of Euro mythos forever.

[lolmac]

:) I knew I wanted to use ancient Ghana, but when I stunbled onto the Wagadou-Bida myth, the perfection of it was supreme. Sino-Korean myth turned out to have equally wondrous offerings, one of which I've managed to shoehorn in further on.

And then I ran across the fact that the griot tradition has survived even to today! *squee*

[idlewild_]

I just love that! I totally concur with your scoffing about the search for a European loanword.

[lolmac]

Hah, yes. That gave Daniel a fine linguistic hobbyhorse, and best of all, it's a real one!

I bumped into a couple of articles on that -- focusing, not on the survival of the tradition, but on the damned word. At that point, I'd done a lot of general reading, partly looking for cultural elements, partly looking for character names, partly to immerse myself in the sense of what sounds that language group favours. I'd already come up with an answer to "How would ethnic Koreans pronounce the word 'Goa'uld'?", and I needed to answer the same question for the Ghabans.

So I really winced at the Solemn Linguistic Debate. It just had an amazing Eurocentric Privilege aftertaste, and I'm already too familiar with that aftertaste, since it oozes freely from most 19th century works on mythology. Bleaugh!

[metanewsmods]

Fascinating post: can we link at metanewsfandom?

[lolmac]

Wow, cool! Of course you can!

You may want to link to the whole series, though. This is the third in this set, which are specifically about my current Stargate novel (and are flagged as having spoilers for that novel). All my posts on writing itself are tagged 'toolbox', if that helps, although they aren't all meta.

May I asked how you ran across the post? Pure curiosity; just wondering where the intersection occurred.