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Apr. 3rd, 2010 11:20 amI'm taking a break from bibliographies for most of today. Some of my friends are taking the day off to watch stuff and I'm joining them.
I have about 60 books to think about on my list of modern fiction that uses the Middle Ages. If I added historical fiction and Arthuriana it would be a lot longer, but I want fantasy and SF, so I'm definitely not adding historical fiction. Arthuriana is the question. Not a hard question, to be honest. My list of Arthuriana is only five years out of date, so if I want to add it, I just have to do an update. The question is, do I want to add it? Or is Arthuriana different, somehow, occupying its own literary space?
Normally my bibliographies are of the every-single-word-written-within-a-ten-mile-radius-of-the-subject-matter type. Then I number crunch and look for patterns and after that I work out what works need to be focussed on. This time, though, I want about thirty key novels that highlight different approaches and illuminate the possibilities. Right up front. Not after three years analysis of other factors. I want to be able to examine some of the specific relationships that speculative fiction writers have with history.
Last time I examined the relationships of writers with history, I did a bunch of interviews. Those interviews were very illuminating. I haven't turned them into a book because there was something missing in my approach. This might be the something. Or it might not. It may be that I'm torn between writing something academic and letting the wider public enjoy the responses of my interviewees. Not being able to work out the market is a death knell to writing a submission. Anyway, although I need this new bibliography for something else, I'm hoping it will help me sort out how to package my other research.
Right now, though, all it's showing me is that I can't see the woods for the trees. Researching the actual Middle Ages is easier, you know. Less undergrowth.
Or I could write another novel.
And now I'm procrastinating. Excuse me while I tear out a few strands of hair and go back to looking for the bleeding obvious.
I have about 60 books to think about on my list of modern fiction that uses the Middle Ages. If I added historical fiction and Arthuriana it would be a lot longer, but I want fantasy and SF, so I'm definitely not adding historical fiction. Arthuriana is the question. Not a hard question, to be honest. My list of Arthuriana is only five years out of date, so if I want to add it, I just have to do an update. The question is, do I want to add it? Or is Arthuriana different, somehow, occupying its own literary space?
Normally my bibliographies are of the every-single-word-written-within-a-ten-mile-radius-of-the-subject-matter type. Then I number crunch and look for patterns and after that I work out what works need to be focussed on. This time, though, I want about thirty key novels that highlight different approaches and illuminate the possibilities. Right up front. Not after three years analysis of other factors. I want to be able to examine some of the specific relationships that speculative fiction writers have with history.
Last time I examined the relationships of writers with history, I did a bunch of interviews. Those interviews were very illuminating. I haven't turned them into a book because there was something missing in my approach. This might be the something. Or it might not. It may be that I'm torn between writing something academic and letting the wider public enjoy the responses of my interviewees. Not being able to work out the market is a death knell to writing a submission. Anyway, although I need this new bibliography for something else, I'm hoping it will help me sort out how to package my other research.
Right now, though, all it's showing me is that I can't see the woods for the trees. Researching the actual Middle Ages is easier, you know. Less undergrowth.
Or I could write another novel.
And now I'm procrastinating. Excuse me while I tear out a few strands of hair and go back to looking for the bleeding obvious.