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Mocking My Muses
May. 9th, 2005 02:03 amWhen I re-read the various Valmai Hammerhand stories (which I do with moderate frequency, to remember stuff that I said before and try not to contradict it. This doesn't always work), I have several reactions. Very occasionally, I will be surprised and impressed with myself, having forgotten a rather neat turn of phrase, or having just noticed some subconscious foreshadowing which ties neatly into a later story. More frequently, I'm struck with several ideas for revision and expansion. Needs more detail here... Erg, that chunk of dialogue is clunky... etc. And, more often yet, I am embarrassed and at times even slightly horrified at my own shortcomings as a writer.
I had the distinct pleasure of listening to a classmate in the Honors English program, Anna Pulley, do a five-minute reading from her creative thesis the other night. She had me, and the rest of the audience, practically in tears from laughter. Her writing was fluid, graceful, and absolutely hilarious. Should she ever publish something, I will rush out to purchase a copy immediately.
Listening to Anna read her work was really a thrill, and also a humbling experience, for me. That's saying something, as I generally consider myself to be a crap writer to begin with. Hearing someone my own age with about a thousand times my talent and skill, though, really brought home to me how far I have to go.
Of course, I can comfort myself slightly that I'm not trying to accomplish the same things with my writing that Anna is with hers. The excerpt she read to us was from a first-person story about a half white, half Native American young woman growing up today, and was clearly meant to be mostly humorous, though there certainly were moments of serious social commentary and personal reflection. My stories have a different focus. What I'm trying to do with the Valmai Hammerhand series (and the related offshoots) is tell an epic adventure tale in the sword and sorcery tradition. Though I've read fantasy works which -were- fall-down funny at every turn of the page (Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels come immediately to mind), that's not what I'm trying to do with my current projects. It may be, therefore, unfair to compare myself to a better writer in a very different genre...
Ultimately, though, I think that argument smacks of excessive sophistry. I suspect that most truly good writers could probably write something wonderful in any genre they turned their attention to. It's pretty clear to me, listening to Anna, reading stories by the many excellent writers I've discovered through fanfiction, and, of course, in reading all of the many published works that I consume, that I've got a long way to go, yet.
I've had the ambition for a long time now to eventually write a book so captivating that readers will stay up all night to finish it. I want to have my work kept on someone's shelf right next to their well-loved copy of Garth Nix's Sabriel and stacks of books by Sheri S. Tepper, Madeline L'Engle, and Susan Cooper. Someday, I hope I will have learned the skills I need in order to be that good of a writer. In the meantime, I guess I'll keep practicing.
I do have a few things going for me, though, in terms of plot and character, I think. Mechanics-wise, I can see some pretty clear improvement in my craft between "Veils" and "Heirs." And, after picking up Sea of Death by Gary Gygax, one of the Fathers of D&D, today, I am reasonably certain that I am not the worst author ever to write stories based on characters and situations generated by a roleplaying game...
( Here's a particularly wonderful excerpt, from the very first chapter: )
I had the distinct pleasure of listening to a classmate in the Honors English program, Anna Pulley, do a five-minute reading from her creative thesis the other night. She had me, and the rest of the audience, practically in tears from laughter. Her writing was fluid, graceful, and absolutely hilarious. Should she ever publish something, I will rush out to purchase a copy immediately.
Listening to Anna read her work was really a thrill, and also a humbling experience, for me. That's saying something, as I generally consider myself to be a crap writer to begin with. Hearing someone my own age with about a thousand times my talent and skill, though, really brought home to me how far I have to go.
Of course, I can comfort myself slightly that I'm not trying to accomplish the same things with my writing that Anna is with hers. The excerpt she read to us was from a first-person story about a half white, half Native American young woman growing up today, and was clearly meant to be mostly humorous, though there certainly were moments of serious social commentary and personal reflection. My stories have a different focus. What I'm trying to do with the Valmai Hammerhand series (and the related offshoots) is tell an epic adventure tale in the sword and sorcery tradition. Though I've read fantasy works which -were- fall-down funny at every turn of the page (Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels come immediately to mind), that's not what I'm trying to do with my current projects. It may be, therefore, unfair to compare myself to a better writer in a very different genre...
Ultimately, though, I think that argument smacks of excessive sophistry. I suspect that most truly good writers could probably write something wonderful in any genre they turned their attention to. It's pretty clear to me, listening to Anna, reading stories by the many excellent writers I've discovered through fanfiction, and, of course, in reading all of the many published works that I consume, that I've got a long way to go, yet.
I've had the ambition for a long time now to eventually write a book so captivating that readers will stay up all night to finish it. I want to have my work kept on someone's shelf right next to their well-loved copy of Garth Nix's Sabriel and stacks of books by Sheri S. Tepper, Madeline L'Engle, and Susan Cooper. Someday, I hope I will have learned the skills I need in order to be that good of a writer. In the meantime, I guess I'll keep practicing.
I do have a few things going for me, though, in terms of plot and character, I think. Mechanics-wise, I can see some pretty clear improvement in my craft between "Veils" and "Heirs." And, after picking up Sea of Death by Gary Gygax, one of the Fathers of D&D, today, I am reasonably certain that I am not the worst author ever to write stories based on characters and situations generated by a roleplaying game...
( Here's a particularly wonderful excerpt, from the very first chapter: )
