Adger Williams
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I'm interested that many of your characters in one book may turn up as the main character in another book. (Ivan Vorpatril, Ista, Mark Vorkosign). Some do not. (Aral, Kareen Koudelka.) How do you decide that "Ista needs a book", but Aral doesn't?
Lois McMaster Bujold
"Decide" makes it sound like a more conscious process than it is. Imaginative streams of daydreams of bits about any or all of the characters can run through my head, if my head is in that mode. (Most of which aren't useful or consistent, cutting-room floor stuff.) One set may have more psychological resonance for me, will be more interesting. I'll start to think more about it, and an accretion of thoughts may eventually hit some critical mass that would promise to support an actual writable story. I may start making penciled notes at that stage, but at least half of those few also get discarded in favor of something I eventually like better.
Ta, L.
"Decide" makes it sound like a more conscious process than it is. Imaginative streams of daydreams of bits about any or all of the characters can run through my head, if my head is in that mode. (Most of which aren't useful or consistent, cutting-room floor stuff.) One set may have more psychological resonance for me, will be more interesting. I'll start to think more about it, and an accretion of thoughts may eventually hit some critical mass that would promise to support an actual writable story. I may start making penciled notes at that stage, but at least half of those few also get discarded in favor of something I eventually like better.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Steve
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Have you seen the film "Russian Ark"? It's a 90 minute long film that was shot in a single take. The camera wanders the halls of the Hermitage while encountering the ghosts of Catherine II and the Romanov girls. It finishes up with a re-creation of the last Russian state ball before the declaration of WWI. That major scene included thousands of extras. It made a great stand-in for Barrayar. Happy natal day!
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