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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:35 am
by Variol Farseer
You know what happens to writers who hang out with other writers? They write stories about writers who spend all their time hanging out with other writers. (And the writers in the stories are usually suffering from writer's block, and trying unsuccessfully to get it on with creative-writing students half their age. But I digress.)
Baseball players hang out with other baseball players because baseball is a team sport. Brokers hang out with other brokers because it takes two brokers to make a trade. Waiters hang out with other actors because, well, because wannabes are kind of hopeless that way.
But writers, generally speaking, work alone. A writer may socialize with other writers, may pick up useful scuttlebutt about marketing, but will not improve
as a writer by hanging out with other writers. (Workshops do not count as 'hanging out'. Besides, my own observations suggest that workshops are far better places to learn networking skills than writing skills.)
Writers don't need other writers
in person. They need access to the
work of other writers. When you're trying to read a book with a critical eye, having the flesh-and-blood author in the room usually just gets in the way.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:09 am
by lucimay
guess i'm a different kind of writer, then VF. or maybe not a writer with a big dubbaya. Writer.
but really...
Writers don't need other writers in person. They need access to the work of other writers. When you're trying to read a book with a critical eye, having the flesh-and-blood author in the room usually just gets in the way.
i think you're taking what i said just a bit too literally.
for instance...writing is a solitary occupation, i do agree.
however...i feed off of other energies. i like to be around people who are interested in the same things i'm interested in. because i like to talk. and i like to talk about writing. and i like to talk about music. and history and art. i i like to do all those things too. so i hang out with people that like all those things and do all those things too, and it feeds me. nourishes me.
that's how
I function writer. thus my comments.
and i've never been one of those that mythologized writers. and i don't buy into you do your best work face down in the gutter, either.
and if my opinion about this is unpopular, well...it won't be the first time! heh. nor the last, i venture to guess!
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:58 pm
by Variol Farseer
Don't get me wrong, Lucimay. I agree with you about shared interests and energies. It feeds the soul to hang out with people who are doing the same thing you are, especially when it's a difficult thing to do.
It just doesn't help you become a better writer, that's all. To do that, you have to do six things: read, read, read, and write, write, write. Not nearly as much fun as socializing with other writers, but it's what gets the job done.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:09 pm
by lucimay
It feeds the soul to hang out with people who are doing the same thing you are, especially when it's a difficult thing to do.
It just doesn't help you become a better writer, that's all.
says Variol.
weeelll...once again...i have to say that it DOES help ME to be a better writer...nourishment of the soul helps me be a better writer...AND gives me material as well!!
that doesn't mean that i'm disagreeing with you across the board, VF, it just means i have a different way of looking at this particular subject.
everything you've said is true. i do think this issue is subjective. what makes you a better writer isn't necessarily what makes me a better writer.
don't you agree? so, to recap my position..
i agree with you whole-heartedly that writing and reading (studying other writing) are the two most important components of "becoming" a writer, i also think that healthy exchange between writers, community, and competition also fuel writing. at least that's been MY experience, which is the only thing i can talk about with any kind of sure knowledge.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:45 pm
by [Syl]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_roundtable
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:59 pm
by lucimay
Dorothy Parker!!! Dorothy Parker!! i'm a huge Dorothy fan!!!
my favorite by her...
Resume
Razors pain you
Rivers are damp
Acids stain you
Drugs cause cramp
Guns aren't lawful
Nooses give
Gas smells awful
You might as well live!
GLIB, she's so glib and pithy!!! i love her.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 6:09 pm
by [Syl]
Yeah. Me, too.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:10 pm
by matrixman
I wonder if SRD is exasperated by all the e-mails that ask for his opinion on various authors and their works - most of which he admits he's never read because he's a slow reader, and because he's simply very selective about what he reads. He's certainly considerate enough in his replies, but as the Q&A posted by dlbpharmd shows, SRD can be a little prickly when someone challenges the logic/integrity of his characters. What writer wouldn't feel defensive about that?
Things like the GI and his Elohimfest appearance show that SRD enjoys communicating with his fans when it's on his terms. But I gather these things have nothing to do with his actual writing process.
So basically I agree with what Farseer said. When I write (or at least pretend that I do), it has to be a selfish, solitary experience. Uh...Lucimay, I guess you're just more extrovert, cuddly and sociable than most of us here at the Watch are?
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:25 pm
by lucimay
Uh...Lucimay, I guess you're just more extrovert, cuddly and sociable than most of us here at the Watch are?
should we start a thread, Matrix, see if that's the case? we could call it "who here thinks lucimay is more cuddley than the rest of us?"
cuddley? really? *squinty-eyed disbelief*
do i pass out too many group hug emoticons? listen, i have a detached smart-*ss reputation to uphold, MM, could you NOT call me cuddley in public again? thanks, man.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 5:57 am
by Avatar
--A
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:45 am
by matrixman
At this time, the one known as Matrixman is unavailable for comment. He is presently incapacitated by an injury, suffered when an arrow struck him in the head as he was sitting at his computer. A mysterious warrior woman was seen fleeing the vicinity.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 12:38 pm
by dlbpharmd
Sounds like love to me.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 1:47 pm
by Usivius
... hmm, after that, I would say, "cuddly as broken glass"...
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 3:41 pm
by lucimay
it's a bad match...
he's HoL, ToE
she's THOOLAH!
star-crossed.
besides...it's only punchdrunk love, heh.
Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:39 pm
by dlbpharmd
James Hastings: A few questions:
1) If the denizens of the land drove, which side of the road would they drive on?
2)Someone in the GI stated, "the Haruchai of the Last Chronicles, as far as we can see, appear to believe themselves the only ones who are worthy of preserving the Land, and they absolutely refuse to accept any criticism about their ways, their deeds, and the actions they undertook in order to become the Masters of the Land." That made me wonder: Is the Bush administration based upon the Last Chronicles in any way? (Excluding the physical perfection of the Haruchai, of course.)
3) Did you base the Land's cosmology off of this website?
www.fixedearth.com/
4)Could you take Covenant in a fight, and if so, would you feel guilty afterwards?
5)Have you ever considered a Reunion book, like "An All Star Land Christmas" or something? Everybody gets a song or two with Hillary Duff and in the end Turiya Raver learns the true meaning of Christmas! Think about it. If it goes well, you could spin it off for Valentines Day, Halloween and... Patriots Day or something.
6) Does the 2 question limit apply to questions you refuse to answer?
And finally, a comment: Linden Avery would make a terrible date.
You may not be surprised to hear that this reminds me of a joke.
How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Two. One to set the giraffe on fire, and one to fill the bathtub with multicolored power tools.
(12/25/2005)
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 5:10 pm
by wayfriend
How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Two. One to set the giraffe on fire, and one to fill the bathtub with multicolored power tools.
Heh. Is this the first recorded SRD joke ever?
This caught my eye. I've spoilerized the Rune spoilers (even though the GI did not!).
In the Gradual Interview was wrote:Scott Flowers: [...] Assuming that your mortality is rescinded or extended until well past the completion of the Final Chronicles (and I do), what happens should we hit the 'end of time' before the fourth and final volume is released? I am speaking here of the Mayan calendar end-date of July 2012 (per Gregorian,) which I understand eclipses your own reported projection for the release of 'The Last Dark.' [...]
- - - - - - - - - - -
1) If the "end of time" occurs before I finish publishing "The Last Chronicles," I doubt that either of us will be in a position to care.
2)It's curious to note that the Mayan "end of time" may indeed coincide with the "end of time" in the Land. <shameless grin>.
I'm sure that SRD is picking up on 'end of time' and dropping a clue here, friends. One which not only confirms the end, but which may shed light on the means to it.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 3:32 am
by dlbpharmd
Fist and I had a discussion about the Haruchai on the train ride back from New York City. Subsequently, I posted the following questions to SRD in the GI:
dlbpharmd: It seems clear that you do not consider Gilden-Fire to be a part of the official Covenant mythology. For example, two reasons have been given for the expansion of the Haruchai into the Land during the time of Kevin: one is to test themselves in combat against others (Runes); the other reason is to conquer resources (food, etc) for their homes and families (Gilden-Fire.) Another example is in Gilden-Fire the quest for Coercri is beset by ur-viles in Grimmerdhore, but in The Illearth War Runnik gives a different version of those events. In my mind it matters little - but I would like to know if certain things about the Haruchai past as told in Gilden-Fire you still consider to be true, i.e, the circumstances surrounding the swearing of the Vow before Revelstone, determination of leadership by combat, etc.
2) Is there any significance to the leader of the Haruchai in Runes having the title of "the Voice of the Haruchai" instead of First Mark?
Thank you again for the Covenant stories - waiting anxiously for Fatal Revenant!
1) “Gilden-Fire” is an out-take, rescued from my wastebasket by an improbable sequence of events which I regularly wish had never happened. Nothing in it remains “true” in my mind--except perhaps the personalities of the Lords--unless that information is confirmed by some passage in the “authorized” text (e.g. leadership by combat).
2) If I can remember that far back…. <sigh> The “command titles” in the first Covenant trilogy are analogous to “rank” in the Warward: they express the role of the Bloodguard as part of the physical forces wielded by the Council of Lords. They existed because human armies require a clearly defined chain of command. So when the Vow was broken, the command titles ceased to have any meaning. They were never intended to express an inherent aspect of Haruchai society. Hence their absence from all of the subsequent “Chronicles”.
(12/31/2005)
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:43 pm
by Fist and Faith
Thanks, Don! Interesting answers, to say the least! I'm gonna have to disagree with him. No
Ho-aru and
Nimishi? No
Ha-man rual tayba-sah carab ho-eeal neeta par-raoul?
The Vow (W'as up, Kevin?), by the Mountain Boyz, is invalid? I don't
think so!!
And SRD's gotta relax. Regularly wishing GF hadn't been rescued?
Damn! That's one of my prized possessions!!!
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 4:42 pm
by dlbpharmd
You know what? I couldn't agree more. I was bummed out by his answer. Gilden-Fire ROCKS! His answer about the command titles does make sense though.
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:38 pm
by Alynna Lis Eachann
Fist and Faith wrote: And SRD's gotta relax. Regularly wishing GF hadn't been rescued?
Damn! That's one of my prized possessions!!!
Ditto.
He must have rolled his eyes and sighed when he signed the copy of Gilden-Fire I sent to the WFC with Romeo!