I’ve been away from the blog because I haven’t been reading (for the most part). I spent these past two weeks rediscovering old game classics on the Amiga and reading online scans of old magazines. Especially RPGs, adventures and simulations dating before 1994. I found a boatload of awesome stuff, including the “Realms of Arkania” trilogy that passed completely under my radar (and as you can see I didn’t stop with the Amiga). Then I spent some time looking into Roguelikes. But it’s so off-topic with the blog that I won’t go in depth about that.
Now I’m slowly returning to habit and hopefully resuming activity on the blog too. This included desperately searching on the internet where I could find a pre-1977, pre-revision copy of The Magus, by John Fowles. Hopefully I got one right.
But in the meantime I forgot to quote this bit I read just before I got sidetracked. A kind of insight into Janny Wurts inner working at the writing process. She’s currently onto her penultimate book of her epic-sized, epic-themed series, all of which I intend to read.
I think it’s cute and adorable:
Well, now – isn’t THIS interesting.
Chapter start – almost ALMOST scrapped. Even with brainstorm – refused to move.
New ideas buying the farm like paper airplanes in a hailstorm.
This morning, finger above the DELETE key – (yeah, at 12 or more pages along, s*** happens)….new whisper from the muse (Author: HEY WAIT, LADY, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL ALONG WHEN THE AUTHOR WAS KNOCKING A COLD AND SWEATING BULLETS???)
Muse: whisper whisper whisper…!!!
Ah – AUTHOR STOP! Full stop. NO delete….adjustment. Page count upped to 14 pages. Next scene that was two pages along – DEFERRED and kicked ahead to the next sub-chapter/along with the scrambled heap of ideas that were snarled into knots of refusal to move….
Sub-chapter I THOUGHT would be next (vague cloud of ideas with names tagged on) decides to flip places, morph with ANOTHER sub-chapter I had (shows what I know) already punted ahead to ‘down the story road someplace’ – haul that bit back wiggling, as a lovely, argumentative, tensioned follow up to THIS scene and voila.
Behold, this chapter passage is alive and kicking butt after all.
Day in the life of the harassed IDIOT, why not have a SANE job, um, oops, I mean, author who definitely (read that as, (let’s not be hypocritical) when the muse is WORKING) adores their job….;)
Plunge back into the story chase, again, but this time it appears to be hopping.
Page count: 201 – WAIT!!!! – 201? I’ve broken 200! OMG!!! how did I miss that milestone without a beer???
Here’s How: sometimes you get this white HEAT BLAST of inspiration. Other days you get the staggers and the crawls…:-)
(hauls off staggering and crawling toward that magical fifth chapter set, whereupon the story brew is finally shaken to fizz and the lid typically flies off the “start up plod”. I think I need a MUSE CATTLE PROD – yeah! Bring it on, take that, you flighty *sweetheart* – let’s have some steadier inspiration around here…oy.)