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Conjugate
Note:
The original version of this post can be found at http://groups.google.com/groups?ic=1&
Uther Pendragon
wrote: (I should explain that I have a very narrow meaning of "SF." If you can describe the background by pointing to another story, it ain't what *I* mean by SF writing.) So, if I read a novel written by Author A set in a world build by Author B, and Author B was writing SF, then Author A is not writing SF but instead is just churning out cheap derivative drivel? I somewhat agree. There are a few counterexamples that I am willing to admit, but mostly, I agree with Rex Stout that an author ought to "roll his own." (Ironically, I mostly see this remark of his quoted in the preface to Nero Wolfe novels written by other authors after Stout's death.) Obligatory On-Topic Comment: I mostly have some idea of what the characters are like in a story when I start to write it. But I often write the story without a great deal of "pre-thinking" and come up with ideas on the run. It sometimes happens that a character has to change somewhat to fit a new idea of the way the story should flow. More often, I try to keep the character fixed as to general outlines, and have inspirations about small modifications that will make the character work better with some idea or another about the plot. I think while I'm typing, very often, so I seem to be inbetween the two extremes. The characters are mostly just "fine-tuned" during the writing process. Of course, these comments are based on a total of 3 stories that have been posted on ASSM. So any general truths should be taken with a considerable grain of salt. Conjugate |
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