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World Con Again?
Sep. 2nd, 2007 09:20 amAyep. Volunteering was the right thing to do.
9/1
Spent the morning first doing birddogging with the volunteer coordinator, who is not so gradually approaching frenzy. So he's running in Japanese, and needs a bit of English help now and then.
Then off to the Masquerade rehearsal to do the same sort of pseudo-translation there. Greasing the wheels of international fandom? But the fun part was seeing how the Japanese stage crew, foreign folks, and all the contestants managed to work together. More anon.
2 pm - Vivid writing (do you notice a theme in which panels I manage to attend?) Timekeeper! Jay Lake, Alma Alexander, Jean Lorrah, and Christine Bishop (I think I misspelled that). Bits and pieces - love of language, but is story really opposed to words or not? Is there a short story prose versus novel prose? Jay suggested that short story writers have more freedom to use rich or unusual language than novel writers, just because a whole novel gets overdone. KJ responded that just like playing instruments, you don't have to solo all the time. Back off to what do we mean by vivid and memorable? Partly language, but most often due to character. Emotional response. Point about "the story belongs to the reader." Little discussion about revision, and the tendency to reduce vividness. You need to learn to fix structure and polish without killing voice, and understand that the first draft is probably the strongest voice. KJ talking about letting the characters take over, but if someone is paying a dollar a word, well - "It's amazing how the muse springs to life for a dollar a word." (and the panel all chuckles and agrees). Do SF readers want to be mystified? Well, yes, but separate clarity of prose for scene from confused character. Need to be aware of Pivot Point - the place in the story where the hero (and readers) understand what is going on. Good line "Toto, I think we're still in Kansas." An editor in the audience suggested that we're looking for the place that "makes my cheeks go pink, and that I think will make my readers cheeks go pink."
And the wrapup amusement - "Fiction is like Foley [the sound creation in movies]. Reality is no excuse."
Onward! The masquerade is today, and then we unwind and return to the world "out there."
9/1
Spent the morning first doing birddogging with the volunteer coordinator, who is not so gradually approaching frenzy. So he's running in Japanese, and needs a bit of English help now and then.
Then off to the Masquerade rehearsal to do the same sort of pseudo-translation there. Greasing the wheels of international fandom? But the fun part was seeing how the Japanese stage crew, foreign folks, and all the contestants managed to work together. More anon.
2 pm - Vivid writing (do you notice a theme in which panels I manage to attend?) Timekeeper! Jay Lake, Alma Alexander, Jean Lorrah, and Christine Bishop (I think I misspelled that). Bits and pieces - love of language, but is story really opposed to words or not? Is there a short story prose versus novel prose? Jay suggested that short story writers have more freedom to use rich or unusual language than novel writers, just because a whole novel gets overdone. KJ responded that just like playing instruments, you don't have to solo all the time. Back off to what do we mean by vivid and memorable? Partly language, but most often due to character. Emotional response. Point about "the story belongs to the reader." Little discussion about revision, and the tendency to reduce vividness. You need to learn to fix structure and polish without killing voice, and understand that the first draft is probably the strongest voice. KJ talking about letting the characters take over, but if someone is paying a dollar a word, well - "It's amazing how the muse springs to life for a dollar a word." (and the panel all chuckles and agrees). Do SF readers want to be mystified? Well, yes, but separate clarity of prose for scene from confused character. Need to be aware of Pivot Point - the place in the story where the hero (and readers) understand what is going on. Good line "Toto, I think we're still in Kansas." An editor in the audience suggested that we're looking for the place that "makes my cheeks go pink, and that I think will make my readers cheeks go pink."
And the wrapup amusement - "Fiction is like Foley [the sound creation in movies]. Reality is no excuse."
Onward! The masquerade is today, and then we unwind and return to the world "out there."
