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SE on FB — Essays and posts from the author An authorial log

#21 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 03 January 2018 - 01:38 AM

Cant link because im on my phone, but before the new year Erikson posted some pics of him and Cam pre-GotM. Along with a few other random pics.


https://www.facebook...ficial/?fref=ts
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#22 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 03 January 2018 - 02:40 AM

The anecdotes have been gold.
They came with white hands and left with red hands.
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#23 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 28 January 2018 - 01:10 AM

https://www.facebook...933606976791603

Some back story on getting GotM published.
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#24 User is offline   Whisperzzzzzzz 

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Posted 28 January 2018 - 02:35 PM

Huh, apparently he's got a ReMarkable: https://m.facebook.c...ype=3&source=57

I've been keeping my eye on these slates, but have been on the fence. Maybe I'll ask him how he likes it...
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#25 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 31 January 2018 - 09:53 PM

If you're not following Steven Erikson on FB, you my friends, are missing out.




I was sitting at my desk at Toyota Redhill, UK, when I got the news that Gardens of the Moon had found a publisher. The first thing I did was compose an email to Ian Esslemont. I gave that a lot of thought. I could imagine that, if the situation had been reversed: if he had just sold Return of the Crimson Guard, as much as I'd be delighted and happy for him, I might feel a pang or two, wondering if a door had just closed for me and my Malazan aspirations. So I wanted to address that immediately, and I chose as the email's subject what would be a private statement the meaning of which he would grasp at once: Are you with me, Dr. Wu?

Our gaming had always been accompanied by a lot of music, and we were both fans of Steely Dan. More to the point, Ian's original version of Kellanved was riffed from that song's title: Dr. Wu. Lastly, everything in that song's title conveyed my view on what remained possible. Namely, that we would both, one day, be able to share the Malazan world as novelists.

Of course, no-one else knew that such a possibility existed. In any case, to reinforce that notion, I came up with this dedication, which must have seemed mysterious to my publishers and pretty much everyone else.

While I had been waiting to hear from my agent, I'd begun hand-writing down at the Bush pub a strange little novella called Blood Follows. At my first convention (after the release of GotM) I met Peter Crowther who ran PS Publishing and he plied me with booze until I agreed to give him a novella, and Blood Follows was that novella. But it occurred to me that here might be an avenue for Cam (Ian). He wasn't ready yet with Return of the Crimson Guard, so instead he penned a novel called Night of Knives, and this would mark his first foray into the Malazan setting.

I don't recall much of my meeting with my editor wherein I explained the notion of a shared world (that said, I don't recall much of my conversation with that editor when I explained that the series was going to be ten books long either). But I'm sure he was dubious (probably on both counts!). In any case, Night of Knives was a sharp little novel, and while our styles were different, it was clear that those styles could compliment each other.

So, in many respects, give thanks to Pete Crowther (what a wonderful man, btw, and to be honest, he didn't need the booze to win me over) and PS Publishing for nudging open that door of possibility. The shared world concept is not a new idea, obviously. There were a few precedents out there (Thieves World, for example). Still, it was and remains unusual enough to present a bit of gamble for the publishers.

Anyway, this is the backstory behind this dedication. I conveyed to Cam that the door hadn't closed. He took up the offer and kicked it wide open.

And here we are.


I've always been crazy but its kept me from going insane.
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#26 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 31 January 2018 - 09:54 PM


I've always been crazy but its kept me from going insane.
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#27 User is offline   Whisperzzzzzzz 

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Posted 31 January 2018 - 11:01 PM

I don't use FB almost ever, so I appreciate you copying over these great posts! Who knew that I'd have yet one more reason to praise Steely Dan!
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#28 User is offline   ArchieVist 

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Posted 11 February 2018 - 11:47 PM

Some recent posts you may have missed:

1. Erikson describes his writing process

2. Adventures of Erikson and Esslemont as young anthropologists Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

3. Erikson's best summer job in archaeology

This post has been edited by ArchieVist: 11 February 2018 - 11:48 PM

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#29 User is offline   Whisperzzzzzzz 

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Posted 12 February 2018 - 08:50 PM

Good stuff! Thanks for re-sharing.
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#30 User is offline   ArchieVist 

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Posted 15 February 2018 - 04:26 AM

Archaeology fieldwork as inspiration for the soldier's life (Link)
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#31 User is offline   ArchieVist 

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Posted 21 February 2018 - 08:14 PM

A fieldwork story in Saskatchewan (Link)
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#32 User is offline   ArchieVist 

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Posted 04 March 2018 - 08:59 PM

Star Trek in the Ethosphere (An open letter to Bryan Fuller)

This post has been edited by ArchieVist: 04 March 2018 - 09:06 PM

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#33 User is offline   ArchieVist 

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Posted 08 March 2018 - 04:06 PM

New Facebook post:

https://www.facebook...954955954656705


Quote

Deconstructing the Siege of Pale Aftermath Scene

As promised, here is the deconstruction of the scene. Because the chapter is thirty-two pages long, and because I intend to be very precise, I'm going to do only the first section. In truth, the aftermath to the siege of Pale as written in this chapter consists of a bunch of scenes, not just one, including an extensive flashback. The opening section, the scene that opens on the hilltop with Tattersail and Hairlock, and then Whiskeyjack, Quick Ben, Kalam and Sorry, sets up the flashback which continues in a loop to pick up in present time again at page fifteen (in this version).

Before I begin the line-by-line stuff, however, some opening comments on my decision-making processes on the structure of the chapter. I have in the past described my scene construction (and chapter construction, and novel construction) as elliptical narrative. This is probably a holdover from my short-story-writing days, although to be honest I'm not sure what led me to refine the approach the way that I did.

In short, elliptical narrative makes use of images, details, settings created at the beginning of the scene (or novel, or series), that establish a strong connotative subtext, and this subtext then becomes my target for the end of that same scene. In other words, I circle round to complete the scene. This makes it self-contained in a sense, like the closing of a thought.

To put it another way, imagine that, with some chosen detail at the beginning of your scene, you ring a bell. Now, as you write further into that scene, the tone of that sound carries you forward, until eventually it fades. At which point, recalling that original detail, you give the bell another tap, softly this time, and you repeat that when needed (or desired) until you come to the end of the scene, whereupon you ring that bell again. Only this time, if you've done your work – that is, if you've advanced the narrative so that the fictive world has, through the passage of the scene, been subtly altered – the tone of that final ringing will echo that opening tone, but not exactly. It'll be subtly off. But not in a bad way: more like a reprise in an orchestral piece. The closing reverberation complements how the scene began; more importantly, it evokes something of the opening: an emotion, a sense of atmosphere.

Obviously, one should not be obsessive about this. As a crass example: you describe a tree your protagonist is standing under in the first paragraph of the scene. It's leafless, possibly even dead. Or it's a mass of thick leaves. Come to the end of the scene, somewhere in that last paragraph or two, mention the tree again. This time, the character (or narrator) takes note of new buds on the branches and twigs [a new hope has sprung!]. Or that verdant growth from the opening paragraph now appears, upon closer examination, to be blight and rot [bad times are coming!]. The direction of that echoing depends on where you want to take the story, and the character. Now, don't bother doing anything as crude as that. This really only works if you stay subtle. The bell shouldn't deafen the reader, and those intermittent soft chimes should be quiet enough so that most readers don't even notice them: the important thing is that you do (you, the writer). Why? Because it's the surest way to stay on track and stay focused while writing that scene.

Bear in mind that scenes exist to advance some element of your story. Some scenes can carry multiple elements, but for the detail you use as your bell to ring, pick one. Don't try them all. If you're ambitious, try two, and then see how they can be made to play off one another as you write through the scene. If you're really ambitious, you can take that first ringing of the bell and spend the entire scene subverting it. The key here is to be mindful, because without that, you can get lost in the scene you're writing. You can lose its thread, its thematic track. You can, in effect, lose control of your narration.

And we don't want that, do we? This is how writing ends up being that strange, seemingly contradictory combination of mindful intent with spontaneous, unfettered creativity. What you, as writer, write is in essence your dialogue between the two, laid out on the page for everyone to see (but you first, since you need to become your own editor, to fix what needs fixing, to test what's working and what isn't working; to make it as perfect as you can make it).

Accordingly – and this is very important – don't go desperately looking for that detail that rings the bell. It doesn't work that way. Rather, as you open a scene, with details of setting, or words in dialogue or monologue, employ the details you need to give the reader a clear picture or at least a sense of what's going on. Then, once you've got a couple paragraphs in, stop and look back over what you've written. Chances are, something in that description, in that narrative, is the bell waiting to be rung.

Bear in mind this is only one approach to narrative fiction. There are many others. The reason I've gone to such lengths to describe this particular approach should be fairly obvious: it's what I do, and did, throughout the Malazan Book of the Fallen. In fact, it's become so natural to me – as a mechanism to maintain cohesion and control over every scene I write – that I do it these days without even having to think about it. Nor do I always do it, either, but it remains as an option in the back of my mind. You can go to any scene in any of my works, and you'll find something of this approach.

You want to write a fat book? A long series? A ten-million-word masterwork? How swiftly does intimidation and despair set in? Suddenly, your own ambition becomes an enemy, a sneering, mocking foe to your own creativity. In your head there's a seven hundred page novel, and here you are, on page three. Struggling. Sweating. Dying.

The elliptical narrative approach is your sure-fire fix to this problem (and I'm sure there are others, too), because it circumvents the brutal truth of six hundred ninety-seven pages still to go. Instead, your task is constrained, condensed, to One. Single. Scene. Start writing, find the bell and ring it, write through to the scene's end and ring the bell again, noting its subtle alteration (with grim delight). Come tomorrow, it's time to start a new scene. And so on, and so on. Until surprise! You reach page seven hundred, and lo, your novel is at an end. And damn if that opening bell in chapter one (or the prologue, even) isn't ringing one more time as you close out the final few paragraphs of the story. Congratulations: you've just written your first narrative symphony.

To see the scene notes click the link below (use the zoom feature if the text appears too small).

https://drive.google.com/…/0B4tRw3Z4d1FPblZpTWFHb1JLe…/view…

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#34 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 08 March 2018 - 04:39 PM

That popped up on FB the day after i'd read that chapter during my re-read. Just awesome.
I've always been crazy but its kept me from going insane.
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#35 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 08 March 2018 - 07:47 PM

It'll definitely come in handy for my novel about bells.
They came with white hands and left with red hands.
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#36 User is offline   Adhara 

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Posted 10 March 2018 - 07:33 AM

WoW. This is pure gold from Erickson.I want moooooooore!
@Slow Ben,were you the person at the comments saying the same about rereading time?
When the arrow is on the bow, it has to go
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#37 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 10 March 2018 - 01:16 PM

Ha. No, I was going too, but noticed someone else already had. And i didnt want to be like Me too! Me too!
I've always been crazy but its kept me from going insane.
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#38 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 06 April 2018 - 07:41 PM

Conversation with SE!


http://www.steven-er...steven-erikson/



Fireside Conversation with Steven Erikson
You won’t want to miss this fireside conversation with Steven Erikson.In addition to talking about Malazan, Steve provides more insight about his upcoming book, Rejoice, a Knife to the Heart, talks anthropology, muses about nihilism, and much, much more. Be sure to check out the show notes with links to articles and reference materials.Special thanks to Michael for hosting the interview and to Kevin Feris (https://www.kevinferis.com) for his audio editing work.
I've always been crazy but its kept me from going insane.
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#39 User is offline   Slow Ben 

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Posted 15 August 2018 - 02:20 AM

Erikson posted an early Map sketch of Wu on FB earlier.

https://www.facebook...?type=3


Attached File  39229094_1069220966563536_1753634197769027584_n.jpg (97.96K)
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#40 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 15 August 2018 - 02:45 AM

Leathers?! That changes everything!
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