I’m going to be on a panel for RadCon about multi-culture and fiction, writing beyond mono-culture. And I realized tonight that one of the ways that I do it is through similes. I originally was just thinking that this was a cool way of breaking cliches, but it works for giving you richer culture as well. The following isn’t necessarily what you’d do for ending mono-culture, it’s just for bringing more of your world’s culture in.
My process has changed — I used to compose first draft at the computer. Now, I write everything out by hand, then I type it up. It makes that first draft ever so shitty, and gives me a tremendous sense of permission to change it while I’m typing it in. All of it.
Last night while I was typing, I ran into the following two sentences. This is taken directly from the written page. Yes, my first draft really is this shitty. I’m thinking about doing a ritual burning of all of my notebooks sometime after I sell the novel.
The mouse was harder to see — almost completely camouflaged by the tall pale grass and white sand. Derik didn’t like to think about how transparent the mouse seemed — almost like a ghost.
When I ran into this, I started thinking about ghosts and my world. A ghost is another fantasy trope that I don’t have to use as is. I can change it and make it fit the world I’ve created, while at the same time, make it so it isn’t a cliche. What I came up with is that ghosts are seasonal. How a ghost looks depends on what time of year that you see them at:
Winter ghost — pale and sickly. They will infect you with diseases and steal your heat.
Spring ghost — the ones who warn of danger. Their wounds still ooze, but they aren’t frightening.
Summer ghost — red and hungry. They will also make you sick and will spoil the summer harvest.
Fall ghost — the most normal looking and the most deadly. They will lead you astray if they can.
So — this is what those sentences ended up being rewritten as:
The mouse was more difficult to see. Tall pale grass towered over his prone body. He looked transparent against the white sand, his heart beating hard in his chest, his face red and haunted, like a summer ghost’s.
It’s a simple description, but it’s one of those little things that help bring in that this is a foreign culture, they have different points of reference.
I love this novel. I love this process. I love the myths and stories and legends I’m creating for this world.
::happy sigh::
I hope that ya’ll have a lovely weekend!
I am constantly tripping on metaphors and similes and sayings and assumptions when I write. Usually to the point of falling flat on my face and not being able to get up until I figure out whether this culture has “ink” (black as) or whether they say “Go to Hell,” because there might not be a hell, and whether they even celebrate New Year’s or birthdays or…
And on, and on and on….
Most fun part of world-building, really. I’m with you on that one. 🙂
Yeah, I hear ya. This culture fortunately has several hells. *G* But those world-building details, as well as technology level are all really important. I get a little hung up on them, but mostly for the first draft I just wrote. Now I’m cleaning them up, questioning as I’m going along.
And I do love this making up shit part of the world building. Pleases me no end.
I am constantly tripping on metaphors and similes and sayings and assumptions when I write. Usually to the point of falling flat on my face and not being able to get up until I figure out whether this culture has “ink” (black as) or whether they say “Go to Hell,” because there might not be a hell, and whether they even celebrate New Year’s or birthdays or…
And on, and on and on….
Most fun part of world-building, really. I’m with you on that one. 🙂
Yeah, I hear ya. This culture fortunately has several hells. *G* But those world-building details, as well as technology level are all really important. I get a little hung up on them, but mostly for the first draft I just wrote. Now I’m cleaning them up, questioning as I’m going along.
And I do love this making up shit part of the world building. Pleases me no end.
Cool! This is one of the things I notice and enjoy in f/sf. And I am enjoying the glimpses of the craft behind the art.
It’s one of the things that I feel makes a complete world. When I notice an author skimping on such details it really bugs me, generally to the point where I don’t want to finish the novel.
And I also agree that this is absolutely craft — it’s absolutely conscious, looking behind the words, building the words. After they’re developed though, the use of them in the work, that will be a little more art, a little less craft, but still not 100% art, if that makes sense.
And it’s so much more satisfying the way you do it! (As opposed to the ubiquitous genre staples: the unpronounceable-polysyllabic-name-with-weird-punctuation, and the strange word for that stuff that’s obviously coffee.)
I like to write – put words together – but have no stories in my head. So to me, you fiction writers are all magicians. And seeing the mechanics beneath the magic just enhances the experience for me. Thanks for letting me peek!
Cool! This is one of the things I notice and enjoy in f/sf. And I am enjoying the glimpses of the craft behind the art.
It’s one of the things that I feel makes a complete world. When I notice an author skimping on such details it really bugs me, generally to the point where I don’t want to finish the novel.
And I also agree that this is absolutely craft — it’s absolutely conscious, looking behind the words, building the words. After they’re developed though, the use of them in the work, that will be a little more art, a little less craft, but still not 100% art, if that makes sense.
And it’s so much more satisfying the way you do it! (As opposed to the ubiquitous genre staples: the unpronounceable-polysyllabic-name-with-weird-punctuation, and the strange word for that stuff that’s obviously coffee.)
I like to write – put words together – but have no stories in my head. So to me, you fiction writers are all magicians. And seeing the mechanics beneath the magic just enhances the experience for me. Thanks for letting me peek!