Two weeks back, I talked about some of the “frabjous” moments in the writing life, such as when (unexpectedly at the time) I returned to an unsatisfactory chapter ending expecting to do much remedial work, then found I could resolve the difficulty by the simple expedient of removing the final paragraph.

Problem solved — because the preceding paragraph did all that was required. “O frabjous day”, indeed. 😀

Endings often present challenges in the writing process, so only a short time previously, when celebrating another moment-of-frabjous via Twitter, the celebration also pertained to an ending. In that case, I ended a w.i.p. chapter thinking I still had another chapter to write, in order to reach my intended destination for the section. Here’s what happened, per the tweets:

That “vorpal keyboard” does it again 😉

I love those mornings when I wake up with an alternative ending ‘download’ to last night’s completed chapter. In this case, I believe a ‘better, stronger’, crisper finish. Not ‘faster’ tho’ given rewrite, however crisp… 😉

Yesterday morning’s revised chapter ending inspiration for #TheWallOfNight #4 WIP not only delivered a better outcome in situ, but has probably saved me an additional chapter in manuscript terms. So all hail those overnight muse interventions. 😀

Yes, indeed, to those muses — definitely delivering another “O frabjous day” moment.

(And no — canna do without the emoji action in m’tweets, #justsayin’ )

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Previous Inside The Writing Life Posts:

• A Little About The Writing Itself
• About Those Muses, Then…
• Naturally Self-Isolating
• Writing Novels, Posting Blogs
• Another Milestone Ticked Off
• A Game Of Two Halves
• Further Reflection on Writing Transitions
• Fun With Friends
• Those Moments Of “Grr-Argh”
• Sometimes It’s A Case Of “Oh Frabjous Day!

The series that wowed the world 🙂

Last week, I discussed the mystery of what makes a literary work, such as Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, or the Harry Potter series, resonate so powerfully with (by implication, many) readers that it becomes a bestseller.

Meanwhile, away back on November 1, I posted on the Supernatural Underground about the wealth of fantasy worlds that have spun my reading wheels.

When considering both posts together, I started thinking about the importance of juxtapositions when it comes to stories that have made an impact or cut a swathe through the world. For example, Harry Potter takes the traditional “boarding school story” and juxtaposes it with magic, setting a magical world directly alongside our everyday reality. The result is, well, magical…

Similarly, Joanne Harris’s Chocolat combines magic, this time manifested through the chocolate of the title, with the French village life of A Year In Provence. Robin McKinley’s Sunshine managed a similar ‘marriage’ to good effect, only the baking and bakery-as-community hub were juxtaposed with vampires…

As for Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin, as mentioned on Supernatural Underground, it’s “a variant of Gangs of New York meets Westside Story”, with a dash of Narnia (i.e. the magical alongside the everyday, within a predominantly winter world) thrown in.

Again as noted in the Supernatural Underground post, the way in which the Alvin Maker series put together North American colonial history (albeit an alternate one) with folklore and eco-magic, also felt exciting and new when it first appeared, although “flintlock fantasy” has since become its own subgenre.

I do not assert that juxtaposition alone (i.e. of older storytelling traditions and genres into a new format) unravels the mystery discussed last week, but it does appear to be a relatively consistent element when storytelling is hailed as “new” and ‘fresh.” The effect is not unlike the confluence of two rivers, which by coming together create a strong and energetic current going forward. Other storytelling elements, such as a great plot and vibrant characters, definitely need to be present for a story to be successful, but a little genre-bending may sometimes help move things along.

USA

The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabetical order, of course!

And—woo-hoo!—we’re now into the letter “L” and The Gathering of the Lost is getting a look-in again. All good. 🙂

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UK/AU/NZ

Lady Sarifa: a demonhunter and servant of the magi, from the empire of Ishnapur

“…but it was the woman who slipped into the tent in his shadow who caught and held all eyes. She was clad in a full, deep red robe, her hair concealed by a coif of gold mesh worked with garnet and seed pearls. The face within the coif was quartered with crimson and charcoal paint, both eyelids and lips darkened to black. The effect was both rich and a little frightening, and Jehane Mor heard more than one indrawn breath, although no one spoke.

Demonhunter tricks, the herald thought, but did not risk sharing the thought with Tarathan. The Lady Sarifa’s painted lids were half lowered, but Jehane Mor knew that she would be sensing the room.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 8 — The Demonhunter

Last week, I got to hear two good friends talking over how very much they loved the novel Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. From which point their conversation shifted to trying to understand why they loved it so much, and why some books generally rock one’s reading world, while another on the same or a similar topic may not work the same magic.

Well, I thought, if I not only had the answer to that but could bottle it, I would never have to fear being a writer starving in a garret (aka Mr Gates, look out! 😉 )

Yet alas, I do not have either an answer or a formula, inclining more toward the view, as expressed in the film Shakespeare In Love, that “It’s a mystery …”

I suspect, too, that one could spend a great deal of time analyzing bestsellers and looking for their elements in common, deriving a formula — and then writing something completely soulless.

So “heart”and “soul” probably lie at the heart of what makes stories resonate with readers — but it has to derive from the passion of the writer, and as every author is different, it follows that it’s unlikely there can ever be a formula as to “which” passion, and expressed in “what” way.

Not to mention the reality implied by famous US editor Gordon Lish, in the quote I shared the other week. To paraphrase, that an important part of any book is the juxtaposition of the words and action on the page with the hearts and minds of readers. By implication, a successful work will “speak” to matters of concern to a wide cross section of the reading population — and who can foretell what that may be at any given time? Or what it is that sparks that reaction?

For example, my Eleanor Oliphant–reading friends could not pinpoint what it was that made them like the book and its title character so much, just that they did.

Similarly, it is difficult to say, exactly and precisely, what made a story about an orphan wizard who goes to wizarding school and ends saving the school and eventually the world, resonate quite so powerfully with a generation of readers of all ages, and across many different continents and cultures.

Very often it does seem to be a mystery. So all we, as writers, can do (imho) is write a story we feel passionate about, out of our “heart” and “soul”, and make it the very best we possibly can — because the rest is, in fact, completely out of our hands. O-o

A fortnight ago, I discussed some of the Moments of Grr-Argh that beset the writing life from time to time.

It’s not all such tricky and/or downright frustrating moments, however. This week I’ve had the almost directly opposite experience when finishing off a section of the w.i.p. (Yes, another one: giddy stuff, huh?!)

As a spinoff from that section I noticed something was a bit “off-key” with the ending of a precursor chapter, earlier in the manuscript (ms.)

I wasn’t wrong about that, but when I headed back to fix it, thinking I might have to expand the chapter to remedy the situation, I first read the whole chapter through before making any changes.

The vorpal keyboard…(maybe) 😉

(This, dear paduan, is the way of writing wisdom, a sagacity gained via bitter experience, I may add, as opposed to observation or enlightenment. 😉 )

Having completed my readthrough and reached the offending ending, I realized that I did not have to add anything. All I need do was remove the final paragraph, because the one immediately before it did the required job pretty much perfectly.

Onward!

So as opposed to headdesk and grr-argh, it was “Oh, frabjous day” with the vorpal sword, or in this case vorpal keyboard, going snicker-snack so the author could go galumphing back to the main manuscript without further delay.

Just by way of demonstrating that such felicities do happen sometimes, as do the moments of deeper alchemy I discussed earlier in the year. 🙂

As for that completed section, ’twas a short one, but nonetheless tis done and I’m now moving into a more major sequence. First, though, I believe I need to do a tax return — so we’re back into the realm of writing grr-argh, after all…

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Previous Inside The Writing Life Posts:

• A Little About The Writing Itself
• About Those Muses, Then…
• Naturally Self-Isolating
• Writing Novels, Posting Blogs
• Another Milestone Ticked Off
• A Game Of Two Halves
• Further Reflection on Writing Transitions
• Fun With Friends
• Those Moments Of “Grr-Argh”

Yep, it’s November 1 – and the end of the year is rushing my way; yours, too, I bet!

Anyway, realizing that this is my penultimate Worldbuilding in Fantasy post on the Supernatural Underground, I decided to have  a quick look at several authors and worlds that have wowed me, deep in my reading past as well as in more recent times.

Although that’s still a far from comprehensive list, I hope you’ll still find something to like.

Something for the long winter nights for those settling down by the home fires – or to take away for the summer break for others in this hemisphere who’re thinking that far ahead. 😉

(I’m not sure I am — tis all whooshing by a bit too fast for this author gal! 😏)

But to check out those worlds, here’s the link:

Worldbuilding in Fantasy #10 — A Wealth of Fabulous Worlds

UK/AU/NZ

The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabetical order, of course!

This week, we’ve finally broken away from the letter “K” and Daughter of Blood’s stranglehold on the About the Characters action: yep, the letter “L” is getting a look in at last, and The Gathering of the Lost is back in the game. 😉

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USA

Lady Bonamark: co-ruler of the Bonamark, in the Southern Realms’ dukedom of Emer

“…so the Normarch company had been escorted south to Bonamark, then traveled on with the Marklord’s retinue. Ghiselaine and her companions were swept into Lady Bonamark orbit, riding at the front of the cavalcade and sleeping in a large, richly furnished pavilion at the center of the camp.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 30 — The Welcome Cup

On reflection, the post title should probably be: “The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy — with a segue to Twitter… O-o” 😉

But not too O-o in this case, I think, and with plenty of 🙂

I feel a little remiss in not having mentioned this wonderful book by Charlie Mackesy here earlier, as I was given it last Christmas and found it delightful.

It’s  an ‘inspirational’ book of combined text and illustrations, centered on the journey of four chance-met companions. Yes, you guessed it: the boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse, encountered in that order. The four are probably best summarised by author and artist Charlie Mackesy in his introduction:

“The boy is full of questions, the mole is greedy for cake. The fox is mainly silent and wary because he’s been hurt by life. The horse is the biggest thing they have ever encountered, and also the gentlest. They are all different, like us, and each has their own weaknesses.”

Together (in the best epic tradition, too), they go on a journey. The book is about the journey and about friendship, about being together and learning from each other, and also to know ourselves. It’s full of wisdom, and beauty, and kindness, encapsulating some great insights without being saccharine. A few I particularly like include:

“One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things.”

“Nothing beats kindness,” said the horse. “It sits quietly beyond all things.”

“The greatest illusion,” said the mole, “is that life should be perfect.”

Imho, “The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse” is well worth reading at any time, both for the words and the illustrations, but may be even more worthwhile in our current times.

And that Twitter segue? Well, that comes from the fox:

“To be honest, I often feel I have nothing interesting to say,” said the fox.

Tbh, that is often how I feel when on the river-in-spate of opinion, information, images, interactions, and spam that is Twitter!

Then again, on the other hand, like the four characters of Charlie Mackesy’s book, I feel I’ve met some very special people via Twitter, and seen fabulous images of places, artefacts, and people that might never have crossed my horizon otherwise:

“Sometimes all you hear about is the hate, but there is more love in this world than you could possibly imagine.”

A different sort of “grr argh”

In writing a multi-book story, there are always moments of what I, borrowing from the Buffy ‘verse, describe as moments of “grr-argh”—which in Buffy is what happens when the unwary encounter a vampire. Well, the vampire goes “grr-argh” (or some variant thereof) and the unwary runs away screaming (if they’re lucky…)

Inclusion…

In less elevated environs, such as those surrounding the writing of books, they could also be called moments of hair-tearing, or alternatively, head-desking.

Continuity errors are a reliable source of such moments, i.e. when the author realises they can’t do x-y-z here, as long planned, because way back whenever, the character or characters did a-b-c under the same or near-similar circumstances. So to do x-y-z now would be inconsistent: shock, horror. (Actually, I do in fact, regard continuity errors with ‘fear and loathing.’ Just saying.)

…in any of these…

Another moment-of-headdesk relatively recently was discovering that a minor but fun anecdote/fact I have consistently edited out of the previous three manuscripts because it wasn’t vital to their storylines (and reducing overall word count always a pressing consideration), would have made a really great set-up for something not quite so minor in WALL #4… Headdesk indeed!

…could’ve been good…

This should not, by the way, be confused with that far more major dilemma “writing oneself into a corner.” It just means the author (yep, that’s right: me!) has to work a little harder in this case, to build the setup within this book. Still, definitely a tad frustrating, although probably unsurprising given it is a multi-book story.

Heigh ho… Or to put it another way, just another regular day in the life literaire. 😀

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Previous Inside The Writing Life Posts:

• A Little About The Writing Itself
• About Those Muses, Then…
• Naturally Self-Isolating
• Writing Novels, Posting Blogs
• Another Milestone Ticked Off
• A Game Of Two Halves
• Further Reflection on Writing Transitions
• Fun With Friends

“[Your book is not about] what happens to the people on the page: it’s about what happens to readers in their hearts and minds”

~ Gordon Lish

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When I first read this quote, I felt one hundred per cent agreement. I thought, “Wow, that’s so true!”

And then, I thought, “Yes, but the two aren’t wholly disconnected. They can’t be, because in order for something to happen to readers’ hearts and minds, something of reasonable moment does have to happen on the page.”

Nonetheless, the quote speaks to me because I feel that a story can’t just be a matter of ‘this happened, then this happened, and then that happened.’ It’s all about the feeling, within and between the characters, which in turn works on the reader, to engage, or repel, or enthrall, depending on the story…

So I come back to loving the quote! 🙂

In terms of who Gordon Lish is, he is an American writer and editor, born in 1934, with a long career as editor with outlets/organisations such as Esquire, Knopf, and the Quarterly.