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Jun. 27th, 2010 04:41 pmI'm reading "The Weathermonger" for work. One of the most marvellous things about doing a doctorate is the essential reading. Last time I got to read all kinds of glamorous Medieval texts and for a few months I even got to sit in ancient libraries and read them direct from the manuscript. There is nothing like reading an illuminated late fourteenth century manuscript under a painted roof, with daffodils and snow and the glowing stone of Oxford outside the window. (Of course I sat at that window. It would have been churlish to say no, once the seat had been offered.)
Right now is about writing techniques and particularly how spec fic writers manage to convince readers that they (the readers) have to call upon certain assumptions during the story. By 'right now,' I meean just today. I'll be returning to it, of course, but Peter Dickinson is such an amazingly skilled writer that he answered most of my immediate questions. One of the reasons his books are very easy to read is because of his mastery of craft. I didn't know I'd find quite so many answers in his book, but it was a good bet I'd find a few.
The big one he answered (why I chose "The Weathermonger" and not "Emma Tupper's Diary" or one of the Skeleton books) was how does one present telling detail and a sense of the past coming into the present without it being a distraction from the story. Not only does he get that telling detail in from a third person narratorial point of view (so the reader accepts the setting) but he gets it in from three entirely different other viewpoints, one by implication, one by description and one by reaction. The variation in technique is dead important - it means that at no time do most readers think "Aha, telling detail!"
I know I said I'd take the weekend off, but my brain didn't agree and besides, this is work that doesn't feel like work. Therefore it doesn't count as work. Therefore I'm taking the day off. Tomorow I'll find something more boring and make up for it.
Right now is about writing techniques and particularly how spec fic writers manage to convince readers that they (the readers) have to call upon certain assumptions during the story. By 'right now,' I meean just today. I'll be returning to it, of course, but Peter Dickinson is such an amazingly skilled writer that he answered most of my immediate questions. One of the reasons his books are very easy to read is because of his mastery of craft. I didn't know I'd find quite so many answers in his book, but it was a good bet I'd find a few.
The big one he answered (why I chose "The Weathermonger" and not "Emma Tupper's Diary" or one of the Skeleton books) was how does one present telling detail and a sense of the past coming into the present without it being a distraction from the story. Not only does he get that telling detail in from a third person narratorial point of view (so the reader accepts the setting) but he gets it in from three entirely different other viewpoints, one by implication, one by description and one by reaction. The variation in technique is dead important - it means that at no time do most readers think "Aha, telling detail!"
I know I said I'd take the weekend off, but my brain didn't agree and besides, this is work that doesn't feel like work. Therefore it doesn't count as work. Therefore I'm taking the day off. Tomorow I'll find something more boring and make up for it.