Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!
Hear that sound?
Yep, it’s my geeky
fangirl scream. What’s yours?
Yesterday there was a
Q&A with BOTH George R R Martin and Robin Hobb. If you’ve missed it, then
you can start communal prayers with me that someone will put it on YouTube,
because there’s some gems in there that I’d really like to watch again.
Needless to say it was
amazing. Not just because they are fantastic authors and I love their books,
but also because even though they are incredibly successful they’ve remained
humble and human and relatable and lovely and amazing people...
They covered a lot of
ground so I won’t bore you by recapping it all, but they made some points that
I really wanted to share. It was the kind of comments that made me go, ‘Me
too!’, and when you say ‘Me too!’ to something George R R Martin has said, it
makes you glow inside a little bit.
‘Me too’ number 1:
What makes a good book?
I can’t quite remember
how the subject came up, but George (Yes, I’m going on first name terms with
them, it’s shorter that way!) was talking about what makes a reader be hooked
to a book. He was explaining that sometimes he’s reading a book that the
critical part of his mind thinks is not very well written, yet he carries on reading
and reading. Then sometimes he reads a book that the critical part of his mind
thinks is wonderfully written and the critics acclaimed, yet he puts it down
and never touches it again.
Now I completely
agree, which is why I read the Twilight series (and enjoyed them! Yes, it’s out
there now!). I think even twihards will agree they’re not literary, but it’s
bit like chocolate: it’s not nourishing, but you love it! I’ve been reading a
lot of books recently, in my attempt to cut down on the number of books on my
bookshelves, and so I’ve come across a lot more of the latter kind.
I read them and I
think, ‘Wow, I could never string sentences so cleverly,’ or ‘Wow, the way that
idea was put across was intelligent.’ But it takes me weeks to get through 150
pages. You see? They’re clever books. They’re interesting at an intellectual
level. But they’re not very engaging.
Now of course the best
kind of books, in my opinion, does both. And of course it’s largely a matter of
personal opinion. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, and that’s because they struck a
chord with me, as well as being unputdownable. I wouldn’t go as far as saying
they are literary, but they stayed with me long after I’d read them. They were
more than just entertaining.
What I found
interesting was that, not only is it highly subjective, but both George and the
editor who was leading the interviews said they can’t tell what makes a book so
addictive. Now he’s doing it right for sure, even if he doesn’t know how, but
that’s not going to help me. Still, it’s kind of reassuring to know that even
the big guys don’t know. Kind of scary, too…
‘Me too’ number 2:
Catching butterflies
A beautiful analogy
from Robin: writing is like catching butterflies. The ideas are lovely floating
around, but then you have to try and chase them and pin them down.
As George put it, when
you write you have an idea, and as long as it’s in your head it’s perfect and
beautiful, but once you put them on paper, they become this ugly mess that was
nothing like what you had in mind. The butterflies end up all squashed and then
you cry on your manuscript.
It was the reason it
took him so long to finish any story when he was younger (cue: ‘Me too!’). A
new idea would appear, and being unwritten, was much more beautiful than what he
was currently working on.
As Robin said, writing
is hard, which is why she prefers
re-writing than first drafts, as there is something to work with (cue: ‘Me
too!’). And again, it’s both reassuring and scary to learn that it’s hard for
them too.
‘Me too’ number 3:
Doubts
I won’t go into a lot
of detail about this one, it's fairly simple: famous writers doubt too.
Robin explained that
she doubts the most once she has pressed the ‘send’ button. She had thought she
was finished, then she thinks back to her work and worries. ‘Did I change that
paragraph I wanted to change? I don’t think I did.’
And George saying that
there had been times when he had thought his writing career was over. And
talking of rejection slips. Fat chance of that now, George!
So the conclusion?
Hey, famous writers are human beings too!
They also talked about
killing characters, which is always fun. New tip for predicting who’s going to
die next in A Song of Ice and Fire: if they’re the only point of view character
in a particular place, they’re unlikely to die.
But enough talking. Time
to go and chase some butterflies.
