I hadn't realised I owned so many of Anne McCaffrey's works. I don't have anything like all of her output, but a fair chunk of it. And then there's the Elizabeth Moon Vatta's war and Serrano Legacy, all neatly arranged. I've a chunk of CJ Cherryh's works, and a lot of Terry Pratchett. Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines books take up one end of a shelf, next to Scott Westerfeld's' Uglies, Pretties, and Specials.
I began to wonder why I like those authors' works so much and keep returning to them. I've decided that one of the main reasons is that those stories are told in a straightforward writing style.
I have no problem reading about new tech or different social systems provided they're introduced in a straightforward way. I want a novel new world, not a novel new way of writing about it. The stranger the world is, the more straightforward I want the writing about it to be.
If we're dressing up our cultures in obscure rituals or writing in an overly-technical way about the tech of our world, chances are we don't know it enough. We need to be clear about the theme of our book, and the way our plot supports that theme.
I've just finished reading EJ Swift's Osiris. It's told from two alternating viewpoints, with lots of tech and an original city setting. But at the heart of the story is the clash of the rich and poor, the privileged and the underclass, and how each one is changed - or not - by coming into contact with the other.
Knowing our theme before we start to write helps to keep us on track, to make sure we make the points we want to. It gives substance to our story. If our theme is woven through our story, supporting our plot, then we find it easy to write in a straightforward style. We know our world and its issues, and now all we have to do is get on with describing it. Straightforwardly.
No comments:
Post a Comment