Hello, Bob;

26 Jul 04 13:35, Bob Lawrence wrote to Robert Bull:

 BL>  No. I've tried writing an outline, step-by-step, but it only lasted
 BL> till the end of the first chapter. I find it easier to create the
 BL> characters first, with just a vague idea of where I want them to go,
 BL> and let them work it out for themselves.

So how do you get ideas for characters, and know which particular mix is 
going to spark?

 BL>  For instance, my latest SF epic starts with the harmless hero trying
 BL> to live a quiet life and keep out of trouble...and the *idea* is that
 BL> events conspire to force him to rule the Universe (classic Fantasy

The Universe is a big place.  Surely he could have found a quiet little 
backwater...

 RB>> I'd be worried about being tempted into major plot changes.

 BL>  Why not? The whole point is to make the story *better*. Why does it
 BL> matter what route you take to get there?

OK, fair enough, but I wasn't being clear.  What I meant was that going 
back to tinker might end up provoking an avalanche of necessary changes 
downstream, and you'd end up wading through an ever-changing swamp without 
ever finishing the book.

 BL>  I *scream* when an author traps himself into an Agatha Christie
 BL> moment, and spends pages trying to justify a hole in the plotting or
 BL> explain the inexplicable, when all he has to do is go back a few

Someone told me once that Christie is supposed to have had a system that 
sort of plotted things out on a chart...

 BL> something to happen but it doesn't make sense... to spend a few pages
 BL> of dialog "explaining," when the real solution is fifty pages back,
 BL> and the "crunch" would then become a revelation rather than a

Besides, I've seen a criticism of Ian Watson's novels, that they mostly 
consist of people standing around explaining things to each other  ;-)

 BL>  ROFL! I *love* the names bureaucrats give themselves. "Public
 BL> Servants" is my favourite, but Civil Service is nearly as good. They
 BL> are always civil (but totally useless lazy-bastards whose main aim is
 BL> to make you go away).

Sounds like your lot have been taking lessons from our lot  :-(  Most 
departments of the Civil Service cease to exist on Friday afternoons, 
unlike the world of business; they all use their flexitime to flex off...

 BL>  I have no idea how anyone could write on the sly, or even write in
 BL> their spare time. For me, it has to be full-time, with gaps. I might

I've seen the suggestion that you should write every day, even if not full- 
time.  That is, set aside a particular block of time each day and stick to 
it.

 BL>  My one success was a crime novel where I wanted the hero to be a
 BL> psycho. I was sick of politically-corect heroes like Rambo doing awful
 BL> things after extreme justification, or Vaachs' and Parker's
 BL> dark-heroes using a faithful sidekick like Tonto to get the blood on

You should (maybe) read Adam Roberts' novel STONE, in which the central and 
narrating character is a psycopath who has murdered an entire planet-full 
of 7 million people (in one go).  His/her problem is knowing why he/she was 
conracted in the first place, so turns detective as well as criminal, and 
stays a psycho to the end.

 BL> their hands. To me, the idea that it's okay to do awful things for
 BL> a good cause was sick! My idea was the make my hero irredeemably

Yes, but, it gets awfully murky in wartime, even when the war is against 
someone like Hitler...

 BL> He's a best-seller, but only in Oz. My guess is that someone like Nix
 BL> selling into the UK as well as Oz, would earn $30K - enough to try

US as well, so he's plugged into the biggest market.

 BL> full-time but not a "good" living. Our high-class writers
like Malouf,
 BL> Carey, Patrick White, etc, rely on literary prizes, government subsidy
 BL> and academia.

Well... at least I've heard of those, if not read them    You forgot 
Kenneally; he's native Oz, isn't he?

 BL>  I'd like to see government subsidy swung away from the academic to
 BL> publisher and other commercial interestss. Here in Oz we suffer
 BL> cultural cringe, promoting "culture" that simply does not exist. We
 BL> should promote what we do best, which is entertain ourselves, and
 BL> encourage authors who can actually sell a few books and make money...
 BL> the way we do with our movies.

Isn't that an argument for something like subsidising Disney, and ignoring 
classical music?

     Regards,

              Robert.

CBIP:  DANCE WITH ME  by Victoria Clayton
     Mainstream novel, social comedy; quite fun.  Garth Nix's list of 
     favourite books includes THE WINTER OF ENCHANTMENT by Victoria Walker.  
     That book is now long out of print and a very expensive collector's 
     item.  However, once Ms. Walker had grown up, she started writing 
     mainstream novels instead, and this is her.  Point your browser at 
     http://www.victoriaclayton.co.uk (or .com?) and click on the link 
     "Rediscovery of my children's books" for the full story.

--- GoldED 3.00.Beta2+