tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post116292875080879445..comments2023-11-07T21:12:19.852-06:00Comments on Wyrdsmiths: Well, I Suppose It Comes From Your Life…tate hallawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06631759014508937940noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post-1163090459901020502006-11-09T10:40:00.000-06:002006-11-09T10:40:00.000-06:00No need for an apology. Sorry if I sounded defensi...No need for an apology. Sorry if I sounded defensive. That certainly wasn't my intent. And, yes, we did and do indeed joke about the meta-human vs. the girlfriend of the meta-human, and I expect it's something we'll continue long into the future. <BR/><BR/>I really just wanted to clarify what I meant about simplification of characters and writing the world as it should be rather than as it is. <BR/><BR/>Reading back over my response here, it does sound defensive. Definitely not my intent. I suspect that it's because I'm in kind of weird place literarily at the moment with only WebMage and shorts out there for readers to see and 8 other completed novels in various stages of being looked over or under contract. <BR/><BR/>It's more than a little strange to hear people talking about WebMage as a 1st novel, when to me it's a 4th. Actually, that sounds like something to front page, so more on that in a bit—probably tomorrow when I've got time to really write.Kelly McCulloughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06399122960869198042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post-1163083917999723092006-11-09T08:51:00.000-06:002006-11-09T08:51:00.000-06:00Hey, I'm sorry. This post wasn't written to be an ...Hey, I'm sorry. This post wasn't written to be an attack, Kelly. I thought I was riffing on an idea you sparked in me... and, anyway, didn't we used to joke about the metahuman thing?tate hallawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06631759014508937940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post-1163040149305113982006-11-08T20:42:00.000-06:002006-11-08T20:42:00.000-06:00I wasn't really talking primarily about writing ab...I wasn't really talking primarily about writing about meta-humans, and certainly not about people without flaws. What I was talking about was a certain amount of simplification. <BR/><BR/>I have found in the past that the characters I get the most grief over are those most drawn from real life. If, on the other hand, I take a model of person from real life and remove some aspects, enhance others, and generally render them as more of a subtle caricature than a true human character, my readers like the result better.<BR/><BR/>On the meta-human front, with nine novels written and six more in various stages of development, I've only had 3 meta-human protagonists out of total of 14.Kelly McCulloughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06399122960869198042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post-1163005013293838872006-11-08T10:56:00.000-06:002006-11-08T10:56:00.000-06:00Nothing dumps me out of a book or story faster tha...Nothing dumps me out of a book or story faster than a main character without significant flaws. Bleah. Give me an idiot anyday because THERE is a character who has someplace to go: UP.<BR/><BR/>I'm rather a Robin Hobb fan, and in her latest series (Soldier's Son trilogy) she has a main character who is so naive and blockheaded at the beginning . . .and I LOVED avidly following him as reality kicked his butt. Two big fat novels about a guy who is a REALLY slow learner. It works for me.<BR/><BR/>The only time a character who is idiotic about something doesn't work for me is when previous evidence indicates that the character would NOT be stupid in that particular way, and yet she is. Pick a good brand of stupidity and stick with it, sez I. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com