{"id":40222,"date":"2022-05-09T06:30:39","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T18:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=40222"},"modified":"2022-05-08T15:10:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T03:10:47","slug":"it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2022\/05\/09\/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;It Is A Truth Universally Acknowledged&#8230;&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><em>&#8216;It is a truth universally acknowledged&#8217; &#8212; that the more point-of-view characters and settings a book contains, the bigger, and longer, it will be.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>~ Helen Lowe \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-36405 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Helen_Lowe_TWON_fan_495w-300x224.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Helen_Lowe_TWON_fan_495w-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Helen_Lowe_TWON_fan_495w-150x112.png 150w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Helen_Lowe_TWON_fan_495w.png 495w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Enough said,&#8221; she thinks, and digs a little deeper, getting to grips with the denouement of WALL #4 and <a href=\"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/wallofnight.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Wall Of Night<\/a> series.<\/p>\n<p>Only to reflect that this is both meant to be a blog centered on authorial reflection (as well as anything else, really) and the opening salvo for the week. So, OK, then&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>This truth was first made concrete for me when I began reading George RR Martin&#8217;s eagerly awaited <em>A Feast For Crows<\/em>, Book #4 in the<strong> A Song of Ice and Fire<\/strong> series (better known as <strong>Game of Thrones<\/strong>) and not only found myself in Dorne, a locale not previously featured in ASOIAF Books #1 &#8211; #3, but engaging with a completely new set of characters.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-40223\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Feast-for-Crows-182x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"182\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Feast-for-Crows-182x300.jpg 182w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Feast-for-Crows-91x150.jpg 91w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Feast-for-Crows.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 182px) 100vw, 182px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Uh-oh,&#8221; thought I, &#8220;I know this is meant to be a six-book series, but given this development, I&#8217;m not sure that&#8217;s going to happen&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30067\" style=\"width: 103px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30067\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-30067\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/HeirofNight_new_small-93x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"93\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/HeirofNight_new_small-93x150.jpg 93w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/HeirofNight_new_small.jpg 186w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 93px) 100vw, 93px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-30067\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">USA<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_11045\" style=\"width: 105px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11045\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-11045\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/bigheirofnightMMUK1-95x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"95\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/bigheirofnightMMUK1-95x150.jpg 95w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/bigheirofnightMMUK1-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/bigheirofnightMMUK1-651x1024.jpg 651w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/bigheirofnightMMUK1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 95px) 100vw, 95px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-11045\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UK\/Aus\/NZ<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One reason why is that every new locale needs to be established, or reestablished, in worldbuilding terms, and however concise and\/or precise that process, it still requires some word and page time.<\/p>\n<p>Another&#8212;and possibly more important&#8212;reason is that every new point-of-view character must have an arc, some degree of backstory, and interact with other characters, building relationships or burning them down, as well as affecting and being affected by events (i.e. that &#8220;must have an arc&#8221; again.)<\/p>\n<p>Suffice it to say that armed with this revelation, when I commenced writing WALL #4, I knew I had to work hard to constrain both the introduction of new characters, especially point-of-view characters, and also locales.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30087\" style=\"width: 104px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30087\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-30087\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/GatheringofLost_new_small-94x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"94\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/GatheringofLost_new_small-94x150.jpg 94w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/GatheringofLost_new_small.jpg 187w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 94px) 100vw, 94px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-30087\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">USA<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_12561\" style=\"width: 108px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12561\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-12561\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GatheringofLost-2Small1-98x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"98\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GatheringofLost-2Small1-98x150.jpg 98w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/GatheringofLost-2Small1.jpg 147w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 98px) 100vw, 98px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12561\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UK\/AU\/NZ<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;ve largely been successful in this endeavour, although it&#8217;s not proven possible to rule out new characters completely, but given how long it&#8217;s all taken me, the WALL cast was quite clearly already more than large enough.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Enough said,&#8221; she thinks, and digs a little deeper, getting to grips with the denouement of WALL #4 and <a href=\"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/wallofnight.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Wall Of Night<\/a> series. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20854\" style=\"width: 119px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20854\" class=\"wp-image-20854 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Daughter-of-Blood-Tile-109x300.jpg\" alt=\"The-Chaos-Gate-The-Wall-Of-Night-Book-Four\" width=\"109\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Daughter-of-Blood-Tile-109x300.jpg 109w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Daughter-of-Blood-Tile-54x150.jpg 54w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 109px) 100vw, 109px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20854\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soon&#8230; (all digits pretzelled)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;It is a truth universally acknowledged&#8217; &#8212; that the more point-of-view characters and settings a book contains, the bigger, and longer, it will be.&#8221;\u00a0 ~ Helen Lowe \ud83d\ude00 &#8220;Enough said,&#8221; she thinks, and digs a little deeper, getting to grips with the denouement of WALL #4 and The Wall Of Night series. Only to reflect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-my-books","category-about-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40222"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40226,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40222\/revisions\/40226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}