Mental Trap
Oct. 12th, 2004 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrissaAs I said Sunday, I've got a lot of stuff to type in from my paper journal. I'm up to May now, but that still leaves a lot to go. I have lots of notes on Thermionic Night and Sampo, and I'm sure they'll come in handy next week when I start revisions. I haven't been putting much personal stuff in my paper journal, so it's just an endless stream of book notes and story notes and title ideas and all. Lots of typing per page.
I'm a little spooked by all the notes and scenelets for The Mark of the Sea Serpent and beyond (The Alder-Wood Statue, The Vine Princess, Island Duel, and whatever the heck it's called that Kjartan does before it all begins, something with volcano or magma or Sutur in it). They feel good in my head. They feel like the best stuff I've done. But while they stand more or less alone, they're clearly sequels (and a prequel) to Dwarf's Blood Mead. Ummm.
It is not a good idea to write a sequel (or prequel!) to DBM right now. Not, not, not. DBM is currently sitting on the desk of one editor and one agent, and neither of them has said anything even remotely specific about it, and I already have written two books that can't be sold without selling the one before them. It was more or less an accident in both cases. (I had 40K of The Grey Road before I realized how close I was to done, and it's a YA, so that's a big chunk of the total length. And I thought Sampo was one book with Thermionic Night until I was maybe 60K into it, so.) I am not doing it a third time deliberately, not when I have a choice in the matter. I'm doing Zodiac House. It is a children's book, and thus an entirely different set of editors to bother. It can be dealt with independently. This is smarter. And it'll be fun, and it'll be a good book. I really do think so.
But...but...but. I can feel the sound of the Norwegian fiddle just beneath my skin. (It's the sound from the Riders of Rohan's theme in the LotR movies, for those of you unfamiliar with it otherwise.) Meep. I really think DBM is my best book to date. I really, really do. And The Mark of the Sea Serpent opens with Soldrun having to ski cross-country in the middle of the night, and...skiing. Middle of the night. Snow and dark and danger. Pet the book. Love the book. SIGH.
I'm actually spooked by sequels in general, because when I'm not feeling drawn in to The Mark of the Sea Serpent, I'm trying hard to ignore the 40K of Midnight Sun Rising sitting in the corner making faces at me. And I'm telling myself that it would not, in fact, be conducive to editing Thermionic Night and Sampo if I just drafted Winter Wars while doing it, to get more background and motivation for the major characters, because -- everybody repeat after me -- the last thing I need is another YA fantasy! I said no! I already have three! We won't be doing that today! And drafting a novel in order to better edit another novel: this is madness. This is not how one behaves. Any time the brain says "I could just draft X real quick-like," where X is a novel, the brain is not your friend, and you should regard the brain with deep suspicion.
Also, The Grey Road needs a good revision, and I'm fussed that that will draw me into The Tides Between the Worlds. Sequels! Ack! (I have been putting off revisions to The Grey Road for external reasons I prefer not to state in detail here. Someone told me there would be input, and I haven't got that input. But we'll see how long I can manage to hold it off in my head, and if I clean it up a bit before receiving input, so be it.)
Command Line has been leaving me alone. More or less. This is kind of it, but I can't help but wonder if it's because I'm not a science fiction writer any more. I wrote a science fiction story this year sometime, but...yeah. Fantasy, mostly.
Which brings me to why I'm worried about Neal Stephenson: he's written, what, 3500 pages in the same series all in a row? Maybe 4000 pages? One trains one's brain to be a writer in the first place, and then to write the kinds of things one writes, and I can't help but wondering if he's trained his brain into Shaftoe/Waterhouse oblivion. I hope not. I liked The Big U, and Zodiac had a, what's it called, thingy Stephenson books don't generally have...ending. Yes. One of those thingers. And I'd hate to think it's all currency tomes from here on out, though I'm looking forward to picking up another of those currency tomes in the not-too-distant future.
I'm not sure this story has a moral. But the brain, it is tricksy and false, and sequels are not the order of the day until I start getting actual contracts for the books they succeed, and as soon as I'm done sorting and typing notes from the last five months, I'm going to go stick my head in some SF and hope I still remember how to do it. And play something else on the CD player so that the Norwegian fiddle leaves me be for awhile. Maybe. We hope.
I'm a little spooked by all the notes and scenelets for The Mark of the Sea Serpent and beyond (The Alder-Wood Statue, The Vine Princess, Island Duel, and whatever the heck it's called that Kjartan does before it all begins, something with volcano or magma or Sutur in it). They feel good in my head. They feel like the best stuff I've done. But while they stand more or less alone, they're clearly sequels (and a prequel) to Dwarf's Blood Mead. Ummm.
It is not a good idea to write a sequel (or prequel!) to DBM right now. Not, not, not. DBM is currently sitting on the desk of one editor and one agent, and neither of them has said anything even remotely specific about it, and I already have written two books that can't be sold without selling the one before them. It was more or less an accident in both cases. (I had 40K of The Grey Road before I realized how close I was to done, and it's a YA, so that's a big chunk of the total length. And I thought Sampo was one book with Thermionic Night until I was maybe 60K into it, so.) I am not doing it a third time deliberately, not when I have a choice in the matter. I'm doing Zodiac House. It is a children's book, and thus an entirely different set of editors to bother. It can be dealt with independently. This is smarter. And it'll be fun, and it'll be a good book. I really do think so.
But...but...but. I can feel the sound of the Norwegian fiddle just beneath my skin. (It's the sound from the Riders of Rohan's theme in the LotR movies, for those of you unfamiliar with it otherwise.) Meep. I really think DBM is my best book to date. I really, really do. And The Mark of the Sea Serpent opens with Soldrun having to ski cross-country in the middle of the night, and...skiing. Middle of the night. Snow and dark and danger. Pet the book. Love the book. SIGH.
I'm actually spooked by sequels in general, because when I'm not feeling drawn in to The Mark of the Sea Serpent, I'm trying hard to ignore the 40K of Midnight Sun Rising sitting in the corner making faces at me. And I'm telling myself that it would not, in fact, be conducive to editing Thermionic Night and Sampo if I just drafted Winter Wars while doing it, to get more background and motivation for the major characters, because -- everybody repeat after me -- the last thing I need is another YA fantasy! I said no! I already have three! We won't be doing that today! And drafting a novel in order to better edit another novel: this is madness. This is not how one behaves. Any time the brain says "I could just draft X real quick-like," where X is a novel, the brain is not your friend, and you should regard the brain with deep suspicion.
Also, The Grey Road needs a good revision, and I'm fussed that that will draw me into The Tides Between the Worlds. Sequels! Ack! (I have been putting off revisions to The Grey Road for external reasons I prefer not to state in detail here. Someone told me there would be input, and I haven't got that input. But we'll see how long I can manage to hold it off in my head, and if I clean it up a bit before receiving input, so be it.)
Command Line has been leaving me alone. More or less. This is kind of it, but I can't help but wonder if it's because I'm not a science fiction writer any more. I wrote a science fiction story this year sometime, but...yeah. Fantasy, mostly.
Which brings me to why I'm worried about Neal Stephenson: he's written, what, 3500 pages in the same series all in a row? Maybe 4000 pages? One trains one's brain to be a writer in the first place, and then to write the kinds of things one writes, and I can't help but wondering if he's trained his brain into Shaftoe/Waterhouse oblivion. I hope not. I liked The Big U, and Zodiac had a, what's it called, thingy Stephenson books don't generally have...ending. Yes. One of those thingers. And I'd hate to think it's all currency tomes from here on out, though I'm looking forward to picking up another of those currency tomes in the not-too-distant future.
I'm not sure this story has a moral. But the brain, it is tricksy and false, and sequels are not the order of the day until I start getting actual contracts for the books they succeed, and as soon as I'm done sorting and typing notes from the last five months, I'm going to go stick my head in some SF and hope I still remember how to do it. And play something else on the CD player so that the Norwegian fiddle leaves me be for awhile. Maybe. We hope.
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*g*
Date: 2004-10-12 09:24 am (UTC)I'm starting to dread Stella's typical comment to me after beta-reading one of my novels - "so you know you've set yourself up for another trilogy here, right?" GRRRR!!!! I don't want to write trilogies, per see, I much prefer standalone books in my own life because I'm impatient and hate waiting for the next one to come out. And I hate waiting to write the next one. I've been holding off on the sequel to SQ - though I have vague ideas in my head - until we see how it sells. And whether or not Dutton will want a sequel. Though I give you fair warning my editor kept wanting me to 'tie off' the ending more.
So, yeah, good luck holding off. I'll lend whatever moral support I can *beats back M'ris's sequel ideas with a stick*
Coffee tomorrow?
- D
Re: *g*
Date: 2004-10-12 09:41 am (UTC)I'm trying to stick close to home with
Re: *g*
Date: 2004-10-12 10:02 am (UTC)I don't care where, though at Starbucks we would get my discount, I actually prefer coffee shops in the old-fashioned sense when I have a choice. And I am completely free from 11am onward, so we could meet around your place if that was better for you.
- D
Re: *g*
Date: 2004-10-12 10:10 am (UTC)Re: *g*
Date: 2004-10-12 10:24 am (UTC)Just wondering...
2ish would be good. I need to get out of the house so my recreation efforts don't eat my brain. Meeting at your place is fine, see you then?
- D
Re: *g*
Date: 2004-10-12 10:53 am (UTC)There was a movie called "What's the Worst That Could Happen" or something like that a few years ago, and I always thought answers like, "I could be forced to see your stupid movie." Because I am, as we have well established, not a nice person.
2ish. Here. Tomorrow. Good.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 09:37 am (UTC)But really! Gullveig the Undying is going to try to claim Soldrun for her own! She's in league with the decaptiated pantheon on the iceberg! There's a decapitated pantheon on an iceberg! It's enough to make one scream, is what.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 10:13 am (UTC)This, however, should not be taken as encouragement by your rebellious brain. Not that it needs encouragement.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 10:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-13 02:10 am (UTC)I think they're bored.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 10:41 am (UTC)Seriously, set aside that pesky sequel and let the first born gel for a bit. Sequelitis makes me itch only because a lot of what I see in the 2nd books could very well have been in the 1st book if only the 1st book hadn't been 3/4 setup. Not that I'm saying your story is like this--and I can't, not having read any of it--but I'm just saying that just because there seems to be the unbroken and unwavering trend in the genre towards sequels is no reason a story can't stand on its own legs.
OTOH, if a story wants to continue, if characters yowl for more soapbox time, then by all means, forge ahead!
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 10:52 am (UTC)I don't care how they yowl for more soapbox time (with distinct plot arcs in each, so whew), they're not getting it until I have some reason to believe I'll be able to do something productive with it. Other characters can yowl in the meantime.
But I really do want to get the notes out of my paper journal, and all of them are entangled, sequel notes and short story notes and revision notes and all. Sigh.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 10:51 am (UTC)Zodiac had a, what's it called, thingy Stephenson books don't generally have...ending. Yes. One of those thingers.
made me quite literally laugh out loud. And thus I say, thank you!
I would offer sage advice if I had any, but I don't.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-13 02:11 am (UTC)It could be thymely...