Rhianna Pratchett/Leather_Raven said:
You asked about the conditions of writing it…well to start with it was originally going to be 10k in word length and would have started with Damian entering the Academy. Swen, Bron and I decided on a very rough outline of the plot at that point. Basically Damian goes here, sees X, Y and X, does this, this and this. You get the idea. It was then increased to 20k and ended up being about 21.5k. Despite the extra work, I was glad for the extension because it gave me the opportunity to fill in all the backstory for myself and invent my own aspects, such as the origins of riftrunning and the role of the gods.
Thank you for taking the time to explain.
Kiya said:
This is what I tell my members - if they blush and admit, they'd prefer a book, not actually in world literature clouds, quake in their shoes and expect me to wrinkle my nose in disgust. Who am I to tell a member what she/he has to read? Who am I to judge what is good/bad? High/low? Fantasy in general is not considered a very "high" leveled genre in literature circles - so what? If a novel has provided one person with fun - it has served its purpose - and if not? Well, another book might do then.
I'm sure you don't mean to say that no one should express negative opinions of any given book, though. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
As to your novel, Rhianna => I liked it. I like every story, where pictures are painted, I even see them and I can delve into this world. I smiled, I giggled at several parts - and I even understood it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> (English not being my natural language) - you "spoke" my language, thus creating a bond between your words and my imagination - what more can a novel do? Hm?
Here's how I view things when I write. If I have evoked in my readers the emotions my story is intended to evoke, I count the mission a success (though by no means perfect); characters are paramount, because if the reader doesn't care about them, then the reader is unlikely to give a fig about their tales. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that my reader feels my character's pain, sorrow, and joy. A reviewer of mine has put it this way, and I agree with her:
The mark of an accomplished writer isn't the plots they weave, the characters they mold, or even the fluidity of their words. While all of these are important, the single most critical aspect of a writer is their ability to draw a reader into their worlds.
