tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post4210257800822597251..comments2024-03-24T14:47:00.370-07:00Comments on Approaching Pavonis Mons by balloon: On writingAl Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01517967406876572177noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-59089795175381702332020-09-18T07:58:52.523-07:002020-09-18T07:58:52.523-07:00Very interesting takes on riffing vs engineering i...Very interesting takes on riffing vs engineering in art. By the way Al, I always guessed at Orbital - The Middle of Nowhere being inspiration to some of your writing. If not, it makes a great soundtrack.<br /><br />All the best.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07929029011856045860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-11885373698433895202020-07-30T02:47:20.235-07:002020-07-30T02:47:20.235-07:00Amazing insight, thank you very much for that! I&#...Amazing insight, thank you very much for that! I'm still a long way from actually starting my first novel, but I'm slowly getting there. Your work has been a most welcome presence in my life. Cheers, Al!Hristo Naydenovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08053129848010457986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-88772536911698607632020-07-25T04:48:44.453-07:002020-07-25T04:48:44.453-07:00Very informative! thanks! Very informative! thanks! Fretwirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08886976025284286549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-70247332225540043172020-07-24T16:59:06.915-07:002020-07-24T16:59:06.915-07:00Cool. Thanks for that!
I've moved away from r...Cool. Thanks for that!<br /><br />I've moved away from reading Sci-Fi and moved to reading FANTASY! (I can't believe I'm reading fantasy!)<br />Books such as Sanderson's 'The Way of Kings' has really opened my eyes and cleared my mind....Not having to think(worry)about if something is anachronistic(E.g. Would they really still be using diesel engines in the year 2500?! Pandora's Star).<br /><br />I yearn for neutral Sci-Fi. Star wars novels come close..and even Star Trek..Maybe if Lovecraft wrote a Star wars novel?<br /><br />Your Revenger series was close to this...<br /><br />I think you're on the verge of something genius!Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10902542606915865082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-75269804302958599022020-07-23T07:44:35.825-07:002020-07-23T07:44:35.825-07:00Addressing those questions above:
There was a per...Addressing those questions above:<br /><br />There was a period for me when writing was essentially pure play, like any hobby that one willingly enters into, but as soon as you introduce contracts and time pressure into the mix, it becomes something other than play ... not that it can't still be enjoyable on its own terms, or that playfulness is absent, but the professional considerations are always present. It's basically the old conundrum of art meets commerce. But that change began almost at the point where I sold my first short story. Not because I had a contract then, or was obligated to anyone, but because, having invested time in breaking into the SF market, I felt a personal obligation not to squander that investment by slacking off. So for much of the 90s I treated my writing as if it were another career, working as often and as frequently as I could. My wife-to-be had also supported my writing by allowing me the time to be creative, so I felt that it was only fair to take my side of it seriously. Writing to contract does take the pressure up a notch, though. A year goes very quickly when you have to write a novel. I wouldn't feel that it's affected my creativity, in that ideas have always come to me slowly but reliably, and that's never changed. But I have sometimes taken artistic choices which seemed right at the time but which in hindsight may have been the wrong ones, and the pressure of delivery can't be separated from that. However, to move onto your second point, one of the coping mechanisms I think I've evolved, particularly in recent years, is not to allow myself to be so overwhelmed by those pressures. Cold sweats don't make for good fiction, and losing sleep isn't a recipe for sustained productivity. So I try to maintain a mental equilibrium even as I get near the inevitable summit bid of the last few weeks, which is a bit like being in that rarefied air above the highest camp on Everest. You function at a level which is necessary to get the work done, but which you know (and your body tells you) could not possibly be sustained beyond that period. I run regularly and do not allow myself to sacrifice the running for the sake of an extra thousand words a day, because the health/stress-alleviating benefits of exercise far exceed the gains of sitting at the keyboard for an extra hour or so.<br /><br />Movving onto your third point - I don't disregard writer's block but for e the problems of that nature have always been confined to a particular project, rather than writing as a whole. So if I'm seriously blocked on X, I can usually still do some useful work on Y, and that's often enough to keep the motivation going.<br /><br />Finally, I'm very lucky indeed to have seen Federer playing! He demolished the other guy in straight sets but it was still a wonderful thing to have seen. He will go down as one of the all-time greats.Al Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01517967406876572177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-158644640027834772020-07-22T07:02:42.243-07:002020-07-22T07:02:42.243-07:00Great insight. Thanks :)Great insight. Thanks :)Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02854028986866622902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5143440998478479157.post-17707785345087842352020-07-21T11:04:39.987-07:002020-07-21T11:04:39.987-07:00First of all, I'd like to express my wholehear...First of all, I'd like to express my wholehearted gratitude to you for posting this informative and very objective post.<br /><br />I expected your answer to the question 'how you go about writing a novel' would include a lot of ambiguity and would lack a definite conclusion because of the nature of the matter in question. But it is incredibly helpful to gain the insight of someone with your reputation nonetheless. It reaffirms what I already thought was the case, and I think that will help me, and other novice authors, to move forward in a matter of full confidence regarding our own personal "way" of doing things.<br /><br />I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions:<br /> • Would you say working with tight schedules and on a contract has an impact on your creativity?<br /> • Does the pressure stemming from approaching a deadline while still being behind your schedule negatively affect you, or have you found a way to cope with that?<br /> • I' have heard some authors cite numerous ways of dealing with "writer's block." What would you say are your ways of overcoming that point, if you ever get there at all?<br /><br />I've come to realize that one of the best approaches to becoming good at something is learning from others that have already reached a high level of proficiency and expertise. I learned a lot and became better at tennis by watching people like Roger Federer play and analyzing their style and techniques. In the same way, I feel like I'm getting a better head start by reading your books. Once I'm done with every book of yours, I will follow it with Foundation series, then Hyperion. With English being my secondary, non-native language, it can only help to read more and more. Plus I remember you mentioning stealing ideas in the epilogue of the RS trilogy so I might do that as well haha<br /><br />Regarding music as a source of inspiration and ideas, I wanted to share something that I only recently noticed happening. I've been listening to a song by Carbon Based Lifeforms called "Central Plain" lately. During the song I often find myself imagining a bar full of augmented and alien characters somewhere on a colonized planet in a different system. I am always reminded of that bar where Ana Khouri and Ilia Volyova meet in Chasm City. I can feel how music can paint these vivid sceneries and lead to the creation of something truly fantastic.<br /><br />I will keep all of this in mind when I set on this journey. It's an amazing opportunity and a real honor to talk to you about it and get your personal opinion and advice. On behalf of all novice authors worldwide, I thank you with all my heart.<br /><br />Be well.Hristo Naydenovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08053129848010457986noreply@blogger.com