The Infinite Page of DOOM
Apr. 22nd, 2012 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseYesterday was Alternate History (read: Steampunk) Day at the Minnesota Historical Society. I was invited to participate in a panel discussion about writing science fiction/fantasy. The discussion was moderated by Jody Wurl and my fellow panelists were Kelly McCullough and Kelly Barnhill, which meant it was basically Con. I mean, I was even able to look out into the audience and see people I would normally see at a local convention, including a bunch of folks who were cosplaying Steampunk.
I felt right at home.
I wonder what the MHS folks would have thought if I'd showed up in Bleach cosplay? Does anyone ever cross Edo period Japan and steampunk? How awesome would a steampunk samurai be, huh? ooooooh. Now I have a new idea swirling around in my head....
At any rate, the panel had the potential to be boring (though I knew with Jody moderating and with McCullough there, that was a lot less likely) since the topic was so broad and one that people have heard a ton of times. I mean, what's it like to be a writer? You sit on your butt a lot and type. Yawn. Luckily, we were asked interesting questions and we gave some surprising answers. The one that nearly did me in was this scene:
Audience Member: What's your revision process like?
McCullough and I: (standard answer, our version.)
Barnhill: Well, I might scare some people with this, but I open my document, hit "select all" and then delete.
McCullough and I: (sounds of heart attacks)
Me: Seriously????? You delete everything??? Even entire novels?????
Barnhill: Yes, then I recreate them from memory... (goes on about the awesome of "staying on the edge of the infinite page..." while McCullough and I struggle not to die of fright and horror.)
It took me probably a half hour to get over that. Thank GOD/DESS that Barnhill didn't bring that up until nearly the end of the session or we wouldn't have been able to talk about anything else, and, honestly, McCullough and I probably would have just continued to sputter like idiots. I mean, okay, it's her process and it works for her, but I nearly CRIED when I lost the first 30,000 words of Precinct 13. Okay, by chance, I think it is a better novel for that, but I can't imagine doing that on purpose... not without hiding a copy of the original somewhere at least. I know famous people have been known to do the whole "manuscipt goes into the fire" thing, but I think that's AWFUL. Plus, I have deadlines. Apparently, Barnhill has a deal where she doesn't have deadlines, which I can't actually fathom, but her publisher is Little Brown (not some nobody), so it's a good gig if you can get it, I guess.
Egads.
I felt right at home.
I wonder what the MHS folks would have thought if I'd showed up in Bleach cosplay? Does anyone ever cross Edo period Japan and steampunk? How awesome would a steampunk samurai be, huh? ooooooh. Now I have a new idea swirling around in my head....
At any rate, the panel had the potential to be boring (though I knew with Jody moderating and with McCullough there, that was a lot less likely) since the topic was so broad and one that people have heard a ton of times. I mean, what's it like to be a writer? You sit on your butt a lot and type. Yawn. Luckily, we were asked interesting questions and we gave some surprising answers. The one that nearly did me in was this scene:
Audience Member: What's your revision process like?
McCullough and I: (standard answer, our version.)
Barnhill: Well, I might scare some people with this, but I open my document, hit "select all" and then delete.
McCullough and I: (sounds of heart attacks)
Me: Seriously????? You delete everything??? Even entire novels?????
Barnhill: Yes, then I recreate them from memory... (goes on about the awesome of "staying on the edge of the infinite page..." while McCullough and I struggle not to die of fright and horror.)
It took me probably a half hour to get over that. Thank GOD/DESS that Barnhill didn't bring that up until nearly the end of the session or we wouldn't have been able to talk about anything else, and, honestly, McCullough and I probably would have just continued to sputter like idiots. I mean, okay, it's her process and it works for her, but I nearly CRIED when I lost the first 30,000 words of Precinct 13. Okay, by chance, I think it is a better novel for that, but I can't imagine doing that on purpose... not without hiding a copy of the original somewhere at least. I know famous people have been known to do the whole "manuscipt goes into the fire" thing, but I think that's AWFUL. Plus, I have deadlines. Apparently, Barnhill has a deal where she doesn't have deadlines, which I can't actually fathom, but her publisher is Little Brown (not some nobody), so it's a good gig if you can get it, I guess.
Egads.
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no subject
Date: 2012-04-23 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-23 01:08 am (UTC)*snicker*
Date: 2012-04-23 02:20 am (UTC)With one sentence, I hit my quota for the next month. It was AWESOME!
KB
Re: *snicker*
Date: 2012-04-23 02:19 pm (UTC)I hope you know that, even though you scare me, you impress me too, right?
no subject
Date: 2012-04-23 03:40 am (UTC)Steamboy comes to mind, and there's always "A Tale of Two Robots".
no subject
Date: 2012-04-23 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-23 04:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-23 02:22 pm (UTC)