In the Video Interview with Laura Wing last week (May 8), she said we would have more conversation than a Q&A grilling interview during our time together. I had no advance questions to prepare for…or, in my case, overthink, which left me with the challenge of getting my butterflies to fly in formation.
That challenge of herding butterflies brought me back to the first training class I would lead, and my mentor said, “If the butterflies stop happening, get out of whatever it is you’re doing because you’re going to lose your edge. Keep your edge and just get the sons of bitches to fly in formation.” That’s advice you don’t forget. Sorry…squirrel.
Anyway…the interview conversation had no real direction, but it somehow began to reflect our earlier conversations as we tried to get the recording logistics sorted out. One thing I mentioned was wanting to tell a good story through what the readers see as thoughts, actions, and words by the characters, not by what I wrote as the narrator. I told her I loved to be the narrator and chose to write in the third person point of view and utilize a great deal of dialog among my characters. The reader experiences character interactions to learn about each character’s significance.
I told her never to pass up the chance to tell a story. I live by that but often outsource the job to my characters to tell the story and show what is seen and heard in the reader’s mind through what characters do, say, and think. That sliver of insight tells the reader about who the characters are and possibly their role in the story and how meaningful it is to the story, even if only indirectly.
As storylines go, some unexpected outcomes occur, detours spawned by the relentless Wench Muse, who manages to remain just out of reach, rarely tells me of a change in direction until I catch up, and then She acts as if I knew it all along. She does it with blog posts like this, and She does it in manipulating a storyline with no warning, and I need to scribble notes on the fly right then, or it’s gone like a puff of smoke.
That’s okay. It’s a little more complicated when several characters are involved, but that represents a fertile field for seeing and hearing other stories potentially worth telling. It’s like being a private investigator asking questions. What brought them together? What if they didn’t come together randomly?
Those two questions alone are points of entry for two new storylines to explore. As an author, I need that kind of flexibility; some would argue randomness, but who gives a rip if the stories are good? I can guarantee whatever storyline shakes out of my explorations will be seen and heard through the character’s experiences and interactions.
Laura commented on AI since my last two books include an AI named AIMEE which is short for Artificial Intelligence Matrixed for Evolving Environments. And that took us down another bunny hole. I’ve done a lot of research on AI, and some scary capabilities are already in existence. We see it as authors and know AIs are writing entire books. My grandpa Wise, a master storyteller, would roll in his grave if I allowed a software application to replace his handed-down passion for telling a good story.
Peace! G.