Audio Week 2017 – Author’s Notes
People often ask me if, when writing for Black Library, I get to choose what I write or not. The answer is, of course, not a straightforward one, because I’m working in someone else’s universe, and I have ongoing discussions with the editors about all sorts of things.
Usually it’s a case of Black Library asking if I would like to write about X, or that they are putting together a series about Y. The exact content isn’t defined beyond that. For example, the Legacy of Caliban series came about because there was an opportunity to release a novel alongside a new iteration of Codex: Dark Angels. Other than involving the Sons of the Lion, it was an open brief.
Other times there have been well-defined parameters to follow, particularly regarding stories and books tied in to a wider narrative. The most obvious of these are the Horus Heresy and the Beast Arises, but it was also true for The Curse of Khaine (part of the End Times narrative) and Warbeast (as an instalment for the Realmgate Wars).
These latter types of tie-ins can be quite taxing, because there’s usually a lot of stuff to absorb and trying to find an angle for a novel that presents something different to the pages and pages of background already published is a challenge. Put simply, if someone is already telling a story, it’s hard to take part of it and turn it into a different story…
So it was with a bit of anxiety that I agreed to write two audios that used the Warhammer 40,000 Gathering Storm narrative as a springboard. On the other hand, I love writing audio, and taking part in a week dedicated to the medium would certainly not hurt my sales numbers. Added to that, a lot of the rumours around the new storyline were quite tempting.
As it turned out, what was required was not a story set within the Gathering Storm storyline, but in the aftermath, the Warhammer 40,000 universe as it now stands after the great upheavals. While there was still a lot to take in, it meant that the big three books of lore had become backstory, not narrative, and that made it far easier to come up with a fresh tale (or two).
Two-for-One
The commission was, in theory, a simple one: Two stories deriving from the Gathering Storm, one focussed on the Imperium and the other on the eldar characters. It got a little more complicated, because the two audio dramas would be split into three segments, so each had to be a satisfying chunk of story but also part of the longer narrative.
Oh, and if they could be linked together somehow, that would be awesome. And if you could get Roboute Guilliman into both, that’s bonus points…
The main characters were set by the established background – Inquisitor Greyfax and Yvraine of the Ynnari. Finding a thematic link was the issue, but it was there that my long history with the Warhammer 40,000 universe came in very handy.
You see, I was there the day that Horus slew the Emperor…
Sorry, no, I wasn’t. That’s a different thing. I’ll start again.
I was there the day Abaddon launched his 13th Black Crusade, the first time around. Well, some of the build up to it. We hadn’t conceived of the Eye of Terror worldwide campaign then, as such, which has gone on to be revisited tangentially to form the basis of the Gathering Storm events, but we started laying groundwork for it in the background material for Battlefleet Gothic. It was basically a reason for why Abaddon, thrice-cursed, Despoiler of Worlds and arch-villain was knocking around the Gothic sector rather than laying waste to Terra and the Imperium. And the reason was that in order to muster the forces he needed, to make the necessary diabolic pacts, he needed to fulfil a prophecy (yes, one of them) by claiming the Hand of Darkness and the Eye of Night.
Which he did, of course, and here we are with the 13th Black Crusade well underway. And the observant among you may have noticed the two titles of my new audio dramas – the Hand of Darkness and the Eye of Night. What a co-ink-ee-dink.
Going back to the older material gives everything a nice sense of continuity. With the Gothic War and Abaddon as the common factor, the two artefacts gave me a thematic link while allowing two very separate tales to unfold.
Pushing the Sounds
I’ve mentioned before that using the audio part of ‘audio drama’ is not only essential, but also great fun. This was one of the major considerations for me with these two stories. Being released as part of audio week, they had to showcase what is best about the medium. In terms of sound effects it was a case of going big and going often.
Part of that is thinking about the structure of the scenes and where the story takes place. If I can make sure the plot takes us to sonically interesting settings (a phrase I didn’t envisage I would type when I woke up this morning) then I’m halfway there.
With Eye of Night the scenes take in the Imperial Palace, the near-airless remains of a world destroyed by Abaddon’s Planet Killer, a swamp in the Eye of Terror and a fortress of Tzeentch. Hand of Darkness gives us scenes of psychic communion, the webway and Black Library, the actual Garden of Nurgle and a plague fortress in the Eye of Terror.
Another area ripe for exploitation was that of psychic effects. In prose we often italicise psychic communication, or do other funky stuff to indicate daemonic speech and so forth. In audio this extra dimension opens up a brand new soundscape, and as both Greyfax and Yvraine are psykers it was a grand opportunity to see what we could do in that direction.
Script Over Prose
One last thing that made this a very enjoyable project was Black Library’s decision to have audio dramas submitted in scripted format again. For a while I have been writing in prose, as requested by the editors, so that the stories can be used in anthologies and so forth. This makes things more difficult, as it is hard to make the written word ideal for audio and reading at the same time.
A simple example is describing a noise. In usual prose, I might describe the crash of a slamming door resounding down the corridor. In audio, the narration might mention the door slamming, but the design should be used to convey the actual sound of that. So, do I write it for prose and hope the editors tweak the words to avoid the repetition, or write for audio and leave it a little sparse for readers?
Working in the script format also forces the writer to think more about sound direction, scene length and so forth, making it easier to see if the narration is going on too long, if nothing interesting has happened with the sound for a while, etc.
With each audio drama I write I feel that I am exploring new ground but also bedding in acquired knowledge allowing me to push the format each time. Expect to see plenty more audio work from me in the future. I have just finished another with pointy-eared characters at the fore, the start of a series hopefully, and I had some great fun with that, but you’ll have to wait to find out more.
Part One of Eye of Night is available to download right now, and you can subscribe to both Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness over on the Black Library website.
Keep an eye on my blog later this week to read an interview with Matt Renshaw, Audio Producer at Black Library, who was kind enough to answer a few questions from his side of the process. If you’re interested in reading more about how to write for the audio format, you can see all my related blog posts here.
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