More ruminations

[pegkerr]

Typed in my brainstorming file and thought for an hour, also picked up and browsed through Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, just for a quick refresher on some useful insights. I like that book, and used it when I taught an SF/Fantasy writing course. I also found his Character and Viewpoint to be excellent technical help when I was hammering out the difference between limited third person viewpoint and omniscient viewpoint while writing The Wild Swans.

Have ruminated over a few ideas for plots and characters. Am content to continue ruminating for now; I am just fishing at this point, casting my nets over the side of my boat and seeing what swims in. I like the concept of trolling an idea-net for a week of brainstorming, of fishing for anything wild and strange--it feels different, after spending such a long period of time telling myself I was blocked, i.e., catching nothing. (Reminds me of that story in John 21, where Jesus told the disciples to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.) Write down anything that you might be curious about and would want to research further: Gaelic fiddle! 19th century suffragists! Atlantis! That list might be quite long and strange by the end of the week.

Some thoughts: I like to try something new with each book. I've thought, why not try first person this time? I tried to do so with my last two stabs at novel-writing: the prequel to Emerald House Rising was told in first person, but as I mentioned, that stalled out. The epistolary form I was working with in the collaboration with kijjohnson, also first person, seemed more successful. The letter format, oddly enough, made it seem easier.

Or I could try alternating viewpoints from chapter to chapter (like Miles and Ekaterin in Komarr, perhaps.

I could try a retelling of another fairy tale. (Which one? What's your favorite fairy tale? Any suggestions?)

Peg, still cogitating . . .

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

My favorite fairy story when I was little was "Count Beet," but I no longer recall anything about it, and so I'm not sure if that's an embarrassing revelation or not.

K.

[(Anonymous)]

Count Beet was a story I had from my Baba, who was some combination of Slavs and Russians. There is a nice retelling by Louis Untermeyer, who identified the tale as German in origin, but borders tended to ebb and wane in old Europe.

The story concerns an ugly but magical being who lived in the earth. He fell hard for a pretty human girl, Lara, and carried her off to his kingdom in the underworld. It was a gorgeous place, but she missed her friends, etc., and she managed to evade his advances by promising to marry him after he'd counted all the beets--thus his nickname.