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John Marco - Guest Blog

14th Aug 2008 08:50:19

Hello everyone! And thank you for reading this guest blog. Thank you also to Fiona for her invitation to speak here. Although Fiona and I were only introduced a short time ago, her generous nature and love of writing has made her one of my favorite online friends. For those who don’t know it, Fiona recently wrote her own guest blog over at my website, where she talked about her writing process and contrasted it against my own. Though we both write fantasy books, we approach this task very differently, and so it’s my turn to discuss what I do and how.

Writers—especially newer ones—make much of the “process.” This is probably because it seems so mysterious. From mere thoughts in our brains springs a tangible, complicated story all written down on paper for everyone to see. I admit that still seems miraculous to me sometimes, but over the years I’ve developed my own way of making it happen.

Unlike Fiona, I am a detailed planner. I write copious notes before starting a book, some of them perfectly legible, some of them nothing more than chicken scratch or stick figures. I have maps and sketches of weapons, and by the time I am done the arc of the story is complete—and I know what I want to say. Each time I start a new book, I buy a journal and write the date on the first page. I keep this journal with me throughout the entire writing process, and make notes in it whenever I start a brand new chapter. These notes “drill down” on my big, major outline. And why? Because they focus me on what I want to say.

I keep bringing this up for a reason. You see, many years ago when I first started writing I would jump right into a project. I’d get what I thought was a good idea and then I’d write furiously, eager to start, sure that I knew what my tale was about. But then I’d always stop. I’d always get stuck about fifty pages into it, and that’s where my ideas died. It wasn’t until much later that I learned something important—ideas are not stories. Ideas are the building blocks of stories. We put them together one at a time, and when we’re done we have our story. But it’s the actual threading of these ideas together that’s difficult. I suppose that this is the part we all call “story telling.”

Back when my books got “stuck,” I didn’t know what I wanted to say. I had ideas, but no stories. Outlining and planning and all those silly sketches pull those ideas together. It allows me to control where I’m going, to see my destination before I get there and to tell if it’s really where I want to go.

Now I admit that this might simply be my nature. I’m not an adventurous person. I would never set off on cross country trip without a map, because I want to get where I’m going. And so this is how I think of my notes and outlines—like a map that points me where I want to go. Sure, I can take some detours if I want, as long as they don’t pull me too far off course or, more importantly, interfere with the story I’m trying to tell. Things along the road might look interesting, but I only stop to explore them if they fit, because just being interesting isn’t enough. Each scene needs to advance the story forward in some way. We seed important facts and revelations into chapters, and by the time the tale is done we walk away with a full understanding of all those little things we learned along the way.

Okay, so my bias is obvious. I’m a proponent of planning! I’m awed by writers who can turn out fabulous stories without outlining them first. There’s no canonized way to do this thing called writing. All of us who do it have our own methods. Some of them overlap, but a lot of them are uniquely ours. They’re debatable and messy and sometimes unfathomable, and that’s why it’s so hard to explain “how to write.” But however you approach it—my way or Fiona’s way or some way in between—the journey will be yours alone. And that’s kind of wonderful.

It's all about chocolate!

5th Aug 2008 10:49:57

IT�S ALL ABOUT CHOCOLATE! I�ve been asked to talk about why I changed a plot twist in The Quickening. I�ve been very fortunate with my stories that, although my editors have worked hard to help me turn the books into the best they can be, we haven�t actually had to do a lot of re-writing. For the most part we�re simply polishing every inch of it, scrutinising character motivations, ensuring there are no �plotholes� and so on. I am quite often asked to add some editorial but in terms of savaging or re-writing scenes entirely, I�ve been luckily left without wounds to lick. However, there were two occasions that do stand out. Both occurred in The Quickening. The first was a near 30,000 word cut. Now I know that horrifies some readers because they feel cheated out of those words, and aspiring writers pale when I mention it, but it was a sane move by my editor and for good reason. Let me explain. For those of you who have read Blood and Memory, you may recall the scene when Ylena escapes the Rittylworth monastery, which is under attack from the King�s men? Originally, this scene belonged to a different female character. Originally she was going to play a much bigger role in the story and take it in a new direction. I had a huge and harrowing chapter or two that involved her to kick off this involvement. As much as we all liked this new part of the story, I agreed with my editor that it was dragging the reader away from Wyl Thirsk for too long�.or rather away from the main thrust of the story. And in using these chapters I was asking the reader to get deeply involved in another three characters that complicated the tale. I didn�t find it hard to see how to make it work without her and we simply hacked off that 30,000 words and re-worked it so that Ylena took up the thread. It wasn�t hard to do and it wasn�t hard to let go of that passage or all that work. Editing is where the book is made � where all the shine is added. As a writer it�s important to be flexible and open to these sorts of editorial situations and to be eager to find solutions and not try and cling to those hard won words. Fortunately I am not precious about my work and just shrug and move on. And then the other occasion � one I felt a little more strongly about and took a day to really think it through - was the ending of Bridge of Souls. This was the culmination of an epic story that had required readers to not only constantly grieve but the main characters were punished over and over. Poor Wyl Thirsk. He had a very tough run. And because, as I�ve explained previously, I don�t plan anything, by the time I neared the final chapters I realised with a sense of chill, that the characters were not going to allow a happy ending for Wyl and Valentyna. After all the struggle, there wasn�t going to be a chance for them. And as I was writing I can clearly remember getting all teary as the worst possible scenario began to unfold. I couldn�t stop her. Valentyna decides to put her beloved King Cailech out of his misery rather than wait for an executioner to do the killing. She has no idea of how Myrren�s Gift works but of course the reader does, and so does Wyl Thirsk, trapped within Cailech. Wyl loves Valentyna more than his own life and we share his deep despair as we watch through his eyes, her actions. It�s a very sad part of the story. And although the series ends with a scene that is filled with hope for the three realms, there is no doubt that readers would have been left feeling drained and somewhat hollow because of the dark finish. I really liked it. But my editor was extremely concerned that readers deserved an ending that delivered a sense of closure to Wyl Thirsk�s struggles. My choice of ending left him more traumatised than ever, trapped in a body he knew he would despise every day of his future life because it was the final change for him. There would be no escape from this guise. The curse that was Myrren�s Gift had come full circle � its demands had been fulfilled. But Wyl was essentially left in a state of despair and the body count was awfully high. My editor asked me to seriously consider giving the reader a chance to celebrate rather than close the final book on such grief. I wasn�t happy especially as I couldn�t see my way around the final outcome, but after sleeping on it I decided to take her advice and reconsider the final chapters. Fortunately once I�d reached this decision I was surprised that ideas began to flow on how I could change the ending to reflect a less traumatic outcome. But so far those are the only two occasions in 10 adult fantasy novels that I�ve had to seriously consider re-writing the plot. Deep down I still favour bittersweet over sweet endings as you�ll see from Trinity and even Percheron and probably Valisar will ultimately go the same way, and in some homespun psychology, I�ve decided that I now firmly believe this trait has a lot do with my favouring bittersweet chocolate over milk or � ugh - white!

Hidden Agenda

5th Aug 2008 10:49:11

The author may insist that she writes purely for these thrills, but serious underlying themes are still embedded throughout Percheron. The main subtext focuses on the harsh consequences of doing �the right thing�: how actions that seem detrimental will actually produce huge positive kickbacks; and how the suffering and sacrifice you personally experience right now will achieve long term goals for the good of the many. Sandy Auden�SFX Magazine In a recent review Sandy Auden made this observation, which set me thinking. I honestly believe that when I write my fantasy stories � or indeed my crime or children�s books � I have no agenda. My creed for novels is that story is king. Everything else pays homage to that, and an addictive, unpredictable, engaging story is what I set out to deliver. It has never entered my thoughts that I might try and underpin a tale with a subtle message, so this was an intriguing observation. Do I have a subtext? I still say absolutely not � but perhaps Sandy�s point is well made that even if I don�t set out to present themes, they emerge all the same. In Royal Exile there is suffering and there is sacrifice � no doubt about it. And if I consider one of the aspects of life that always humbles me it is how some individuals during the history of the world have found the courage to make remarkable sacrifices in order for so many others to benefit. Paul Cartledge�s story of Thermopylae is one of those utterly compelling accounts of ancient times where a very few made a difference and changed the course of history. Whether the Persians had crushed the western world while ruling the east would have been a bad thing is another debate. But 300 Spartans held off the might of the Persian empire and their unflinching courage gave Greece the time to rally its forces to ultimately send Emperor Xerxes packing. All but two of the spartans perished. This is made all the more poignant because the 300 men knew they were sacrificing their lives for the rest of the Greeks before they even marched to that tiny pass to engage the enemy. But they were prepared to die in battle for the greater good. As I was reading this fabulously addictive book, I couldn�t help but think about their wives, mothers, sisters. And I think over the centuries a lot of the greatest grief, deepest courage and most intense sacrifices have been made by mothers. Until you are a mother, it�s really very hard to understand why your own mum worries so much about you. It always seems like she�s just fussing; then you become one and you begin to understand the essence of fear. I could be wrong but I believe it�s the defining moment for adults � when you become a parent, life is no longer selfish and suddenly someone far more important than you or your lover actually matters. I think it�s only when you can feel anxiety on behalf of others that humanity shows its true colours and nowhere is this more openly displayed than how a mother feels about her child. In general, there is nothing she would not do to ensure that child�s wellbeing. Nothing. (I�m sure the same could be said for fathers. I�m using mothers as my example) I am not a �natural� mum. I don�t go gooey over other people�s babies, I don�t have an instinctive nurturing instinct and I am far from the clingy mother. Along came a pair of sons � at the same time � and I have never in my life felt like I did the moment I clapped eyes on my children. There was this deep and immense swell of something. I don�t want to call it love � because that�s too simple and you can fall out of love as easily as you fall into love. No, this was so much more because it seemed to occur deep in my soul. In fact no one else at that moment could experience what I was experiencing in that delivery theatre because I was undergoing a life-altering event. From the second I held those two bundles, my life had changed. Suddenly nothing�.and I seriously mean nothing could ever matter to me so much as they did. It was chemical as much as physical. I had no control over it. Now that sounds obvious, I suppose, but you need to go through it, and most of us girls will, to understand the implications and repercussions of what this all means. If you�re a mum, you already know. And in considering this aspect of being a woman, I guess I always knew what motivated Herezah in Percheron for instance. Yes, she was conniving, controlling, cruel, but I did understand her. She could have been a better woman but I certainly understood what was driving her. At the very core of Herezah was a mother doing whatever it took to protect her son, firstly from death and then from exterior forces/control. And she was doing this from the smothering prison of a harem. I rather admired her, despite all of her terrible actions. And in Royal Exile we see a similar situation of the suffering of parents � a mother in particular � in order to protect her young. Queen Iselda is extremely brave despite extraordinary pressures and cruelty. And the only reason she can rise above that despair is her need to ensure her children survive her. Whatever it takes. This notion of �for the better good� that Sandy refers to is probably best captivated, however, in a single character in Royal Exile. I don�t want to spoil it for anyone so I won�t name that character yet but this person has to deal with considerable heartache, constant fear and personal loathing as much as everyone else�s hate, because he/she knows that what he/she is doing may kill a few along the way but ultimately will save thousands and thousands of innocents. There is one particularly shocking scene where the despair of sacrifice of one is so hideous to contemplate but as a reader you can see why that one death is so necessary. It was ghastly to write. I don�t like to use the word �device� because I don�t plan my books at all so I�m not that well prepared to have a device that might get me over a hurdle or adroitly move the readership from one part of the story to the next. I�m just not that organised! My books are bit like life � what happens, happens. Yes, I get a chance to go over and re-write parts but my editor will tell you, we haven�t actually changed a plot twist in any book other than Bridge of Souls. I don�t actually set out to punish any character. It happens. And I guess in this regard it is a lot like life and although I have never thought about having underlying themes in my tales, Sandy has pinpointed that no writer � even those of us crafting popular fiction - can escape the fact that our stories do still reflect life�.even though it�s often somewhat larger than life. Writers constantly draw on their own experiences. And the deeper a writer plumbs their own emotions and subconscious, the richer the experience is for the reader. I am a mother. There is nothing I wouldn�t do to protect my children. And on a wider perspective, I suspect there are very few sacrifices I wouldn�t be prepared to make to protect anyone I loved. I think we all share this trait because we�re human. And really � that�s essentially what all of my books are about. Being human, with all of the frailties but also the strengths that make stories of human struggle so compelling. Royal Exile is human struggle from start to finish and no doubt echoes stories from the history of civilisation. Perhaps after all, there is a subtext. Hope you enjoy it. F