Five questions
Sep. 9th, 2004 05:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
squeequegFive question meme from 2h2o. I'm very glad I didn't have to answer the 'make out with a Soul Calibur character' question.
As usual, post if you want me to ask you five questions in return. I promise not to ask about Voldo.
1. How will you know when you've "succeeded" as an author?
When I'm up on that stage and Connie Willis is handing me the Hugo Award and making off-microphone cracks about its shape.
That's only half in jest. Knowing me, any definition of success is likely to be a rolling one. I've completed a novel! Great, but it's not published. I've sold my first story! Great, now sell the next one. My book is on the shelf at Borders! Great, but you don't yet have a strong fan base and your next novel could ruin your career. I've got people scurrying after me at cons asking for my autograph! Great -- but what are you going to do next?
All that said, though, I think if I get published it'll be some small mark on the list of "good things going for me." That'll be one sign that I'm getting there.
And if Peter Jackson calls me up and wants to film my novels, then I'll know I've succeeded. Of course, I'll probably be dead by then.
2. Where and why do most authors fail?
Hmm...I'm not sure what you're asking here. If I contrast the definition of success above with this definition of failure, the answer would seem to be that most (aspiring) authors don't write enough. There's a saying that lots of people don't want to write, they want to have written -- to be a writer without the interim work. It's a sweeping statement, but there's an element of truth to it. I'm guilty of it sometimes; it's nice to daydream about being an accomplished author instead of sitting down and working out the damn plot holes.
However, I don't think that's what you mean. In terms of books that I don't like or that irritate me, there are a number of things that a lot of authors seem to ignore. Idiot plots are the ones that piss me off the most -- I think Roger Ebert defined this as the type of plot where everyone has to be an idiot in order for things to move forward. If you're going to write about intelligent, thoughtful people, at least give us a convincing reason why they're acting like morons!
Character glut is another, though I notice this more with movies. We get handed a heap of characters, are given a few lines of dialogue and some witty comments, and we're supposed to care about every damn one of them. (This is why David Eddings is no longer a favorite author of mine; that and all his characters from book to book and series to series all started to sound exactly the same. Don't ever read his tips on writing fantasy; it'll just piss you off.) I may be alone in having this problem; it seems to be an article of faith that X2 was better than X-Men, whereas I thought both movies suffered from it. (Stories can work with a cast of thousands; it's just that it's harder to pull off.)
There's the syndrome in which everyone who likes the hero is automatically good and everyone who dislikes the hero automatically bad. And there are some authors -- one of whose early work I really liked, and wish she would get back to it -- who are so concerned with pushing a Message that their work suffers by it.
All of these may be idiosyncratic, though. I guess the question I've really answered here is "how do many authors fail to appeal to you?"
3. Muffin v. cupcake. Discuss.
Cupcakes are, bluntly, dessert food. They are also very specialized dessert food, fit mostly for parties -- I mean, when's the last time you had a cupcake for dessert? One that wasn't left over from an earlier party? The icing on the top tends to be their focus (viz. happy-face style cupcakes, cupcakes with little sugar houses or icons on top, etc.), thus drawing the consumer's attention away from the cake.
This is not to make a value judgment about the relative worth of cupcakes. Rather, it is that they are severely limited and suffer by those limitations. They are, as their name states, cakes, and as such are bound to circumstances in which cake might conceivably be called for.
Muffins, however, are infinitely adaptable. I have had conversations (notably with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
osirusbrisbane about their adaptability, one notable exchange ending in the assertion that nearly anything that could be put into a burrito -- or 'wrap' -- could also with sufficient care be baked into a muffin.
Though pigeonholed as breakfast foods, muffins are close enough to rolls, biscuits, or other quickbreads, that they can be part of any meal. Consider: a smoky cheese and scallion muffin alongside a bowl of hot vegetable soup; a basket of lightly spiced ginger muffins passed around the table at Thanksgiving; a dark chocolate muffin with a molten core served piping hot with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of raspberry sauce. Not only that, there are infinite varieties on muffin baking. I possess close to 700 muffin recipes, and few are exactly alike.
To my mind, the muffin is to be preferred. And if any doubt me, I will gladly prove my point to them with muffiny goodness.
4. Which superhero (or villain) do you most identify with?
If I say the Wonder Twins, I'ma gonna get smacked.
It's been a while since I was familiar with the superhero and villain world, and when I was, I tended to make up my own characters rather than go with theirs. (My favorite not-quite-Mary-Sue was a mutant named Selene, who could make her skin glow. It's an interesting power, and she could focus it into a weak laser thingy, but it's not very useful in battle, and she knew it. She could, however, flash "Eat at Joe's" on her forehead.)
I find that when I search for ones to identify with, my brain goes into all the little weird corners -- some tangential Sandman references (I still love Destruction), Tim Hunter of the Books of Magic (and bear in mind it's been a while since I read that series; being away from a comic store at college hurt my habit), Kushana of the manga Nausicaa -- but of the well-known heroes and villains, I'd have to say Batgirl. She's a librarian! And she kicks ass! Even in a wheelchair (which I think she's in later on) she kicks ass! And...and...librarian!
5. What's your all-time favorite place to go when you really need(ed) to think clearly and deeply?
I've had a lot of places. I try to find one whenever I move. But my favorite is the lake in New Hampshire. (No, I'm not giving specifics. It's just "the lake" and has always been.) I've been going there since I was small, and depending whether I'm down at the beach or up at the cabin, I am either surrounded by the beauty of nature or the comfort of several generations of family.
Earlier this summer, I had what wasn't really writers' block, but sort of a 'Now what?' feeling; I'd finished a number of projects, didn't have anything on my plate, and couldn't get the new one started. This was really starting to bother me. So when I was up at the cabin, I took a walk around the lake. It'd been a rainy weekend, and I wasn't expecting to do more than mope my way there and back. But about halfway around I started tossing a few words around in my head, and thinking of the meaning of the phrase "summer people" and constructing something entirely new...
It's a healing place. If it's true that we make our own sacred space, then that lake is sacred.
As usual, post if you want me to ask you five questions in return. I promise not to ask about Voldo.
1. How will you know when you've "succeeded" as an author?
When I'm up on that stage and Connie Willis is handing me the Hugo Award and making off-microphone cracks about its shape.
That's only half in jest. Knowing me, any definition of success is likely to be a rolling one. I've completed a novel! Great, but it's not published. I've sold my first story! Great, now sell the next one. My book is on the shelf at Borders! Great, but you don't yet have a strong fan base and your next novel could ruin your career. I've got people scurrying after me at cons asking for my autograph! Great -- but what are you going to do next?
All that said, though, I think if I get published it'll be some small mark on the list of "good things going for me." That'll be one sign that I'm getting there.
And if Peter Jackson calls me up and wants to film my novels, then I'll know I've succeeded. Of course, I'll probably be dead by then.
2. Where and why do most authors fail?
Hmm...I'm not sure what you're asking here. If I contrast the definition of success above with this definition of failure, the answer would seem to be that most (aspiring) authors don't write enough. There's a saying that lots of people don't want to write, they want to have written -- to be a writer without the interim work. It's a sweeping statement, but there's an element of truth to it. I'm guilty of it sometimes; it's nice to daydream about being an accomplished author instead of sitting down and working out the damn plot holes.
However, I don't think that's what you mean. In terms of books that I don't like or that irritate me, there are a number of things that a lot of authors seem to ignore. Idiot plots are the ones that piss me off the most -- I think Roger Ebert defined this as the type of plot where everyone has to be an idiot in order for things to move forward. If you're going to write about intelligent, thoughtful people, at least give us a convincing reason why they're acting like morons!
Character glut is another, though I notice this more with movies. We get handed a heap of characters, are given a few lines of dialogue and some witty comments, and we're supposed to care about every damn one of them. (This is why David Eddings is no longer a favorite author of mine; that and all his characters from book to book and series to series all started to sound exactly the same. Don't ever read his tips on writing fantasy; it'll just piss you off.) I may be alone in having this problem; it seems to be an article of faith that X2 was better than X-Men, whereas I thought both movies suffered from it. (Stories can work with a cast of thousands; it's just that it's harder to pull off.)
There's the syndrome in which everyone who likes the hero is automatically good and everyone who dislikes the hero automatically bad. And there are some authors -- one of whose early work I really liked, and wish she would get back to it -- who are so concerned with pushing a Message that their work suffers by it.
All of these may be idiosyncratic, though. I guess the question I've really answered here is "how do many authors fail to appeal to you?"
3. Muffin v. cupcake. Discuss.
Cupcakes are, bluntly, dessert food. They are also very specialized dessert food, fit mostly for parties -- I mean, when's the last time you had a cupcake for dessert? One that wasn't left over from an earlier party? The icing on the top tends to be their focus (viz. happy-face style cupcakes, cupcakes with little sugar houses or icons on top, etc.), thus drawing the consumer's attention away from the cake.
This is not to make a value judgment about the relative worth of cupcakes. Rather, it is that they are severely limited and suffer by those limitations. They are, as their name states, cakes, and as such are bound to circumstances in which cake might conceivably be called for.
Muffins, however, are infinitely adaptable. I have had conversations (notably with
osirusbrisbane about their adaptability, one notable exchange ending in the assertion that nearly anything that could be put into a burrito -- or 'wrap' -- could also with sufficient care be baked into a muffin.Though pigeonholed as breakfast foods, muffins are close enough to rolls, biscuits, or other quickbreads, that they can be part of any meal. Consider: a smoky cheese and scallion muffin alongside a bowl of hot vegetable soup; a basket of lightly spiced ginger muffins passed around the table at Thanksgiving; a dark chocolate muffin with a molten core served piping hot with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of raspberry sauce. Not only that, there are infinite varieties on muffin baking. I possess close to 700 muffin recipes, and few are exactly alike.
To my mind, the muffin is to be preferred. And if any doubt me, I will gladly prove my point to them with muffiny goodness.
4. Which superhero (or villain) do you most identify with?
If I say the Wonder Twins, I'ma gonna get smacked.
It's been a while since I was familiar with the superhero and villain world, and when I was, I tended to make up my own characters rather than go with theirs. (My favorite not-quite-Mary-Sue was a mutant named Selene, who could make her skin glow. It's an interesting power, and she could focus it into a weak laser thingy, but it's not very useful in battle, and she knew it. She could, however, flash "Eat at Joe's" on her forehead.)
I find that when I search for ones to identify with, my brain goes into all the little weird corners -- some tangential Sandman references (I still love Destruction), Tim Hunter of the Books of Magic (and bear in mind it's been a while since I read that series; being away from a comic store at college hurt my habit), Kushana of the manga Nausicaa -- but of the well-known heroes and villains, I'd have to say Batgirl. She's a librarian! And she kicks ass! Even in a wheelchair (which I think she's in later on) she kicks ass! And...and...librarian!
5. What's your all-time favorite place to go when you really need(ed) to think clearly and deeply?
I've had a lot of places. I try to find one whenever I move. But my favorite is the lake in New Hampshire. (No, I'm not giving specifics. It's just "the lake" and has always been.) I've been going there since I was small, and depending whether I'm down at the beach or up at the cabin, I am either surrounded by the beauty of nature or the comfort of several generations of family.
Earlier this summer, I had what wasn't really writers' block, but sort of a 'Now what?' feeling; I'd finished a number of projects, didn't have anything on my plate, and couldn't get the new one started. This was really starting to bother me. So when I was up at the cabin, I took a walk around the lake. It'd been a rainy weekend, and I wasn't expecting to do more than mope my way there and back. But about halfway around I started tossing a few words around in my head, and thinking of the meaning of the phrase "summer people" and constructing something entirely new...
It's a healing place. If it's true that we make our own sacred space, then that lake is sacred.
