Alex Dally MacFarlane (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
foxfinial) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crits_of_the_fantastical2009-04-15 03:31 pm
foxfinial) wrote in crits_of_the_fantastical2009-04-15 03:31 pm
INTRODUCTIONS
As I'd rather this comm doesn't become full of intro posts, please feel free to introduce yourself in the comments here.
What kind of fantasy do you like to write? Do you write long or short things? What are you working on at the moment? etc
Off-topic comments are totally fine. =)
I'm your mod,foxfinial (aka Alex), a reader and writer of weird fantasy. My favourite authors are China Miéville, KJ Bishop, Catherynne M Valente, Milorad Pavic, Jeff VanderMeer, Steph Swainston, M John Harrison, Christopher Barzak and probably some others. I'm currently writing a novel about a war between humans and water-people in a secondary world heavily influenced by Thailand. It's being told in the form of a fake history book comprising various texts, such as translations (with footnotes, om nom), letters, chronicles, journal entries, messages on clothing. I've had some short fiction and poetry published, and am submitting a completed novel to agents.
I hope you like this comm!
What kind of fantasy do you like to write? Do you write long or short things? What are you working on at the moment? etc
Off-topic comments are totally fine. =)
I'm your mod,
foxfinial (aka Alex), a reader and writer of weird fantasy. My favourite authors are China Miéville, KJ Bishop, Catherynne M Valente, Milorad Pavic, Jeff VanderMeer, Steph Swainston, M John Harrison, Christopher Barzak and probably some others. I'm currently writing a novel about a war between humans and water-people in a secondary world heavily influenced by Thailand. It's being told in the form of a fake history book comprising various texts, such as translations (with footnotes, om nom), letters, chronicles, journal entries, messages on clothing. I've had some short fiction and poetry published, and am submitting a completed novel to agents.I hope you like this comm!
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p.s.
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I AM NOT WRITING A 200K NOVEL.
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I'm writing a novel at the moment that's turning out reasonably long (current estimate: 130k), and several of my friends are encouraging me to make it 200k. For the sake of my sanity and to preserve the possibility of publication, that ain't happening.
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Fantasy reading-wise: Michael Swanwick, M. John Harrison, and Michael Chabon are always somewhere at the top, and my speculative fiction preferences range from conventional to eclectic on any given day. I'm particularly fond of fantasy-of-manners (or possibly just Kushner and Jane Austen; the other fantasists-of-manners I find enjoyable but less compelling, although I'm very fond of Susanna Clarke).
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I am developing a large amount of love for M John Harrison.
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I do feel strongly that the short story and the novel are different things (a sentiment Jeff Vandermeer also expressed during the workshop) - and that within Australia something like Varuna or Hachette Livre may be the better way to go, especially if you've already got novels written.
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As a reader, some of my favorite fantasy authors are Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, George RR Martin, Megan Whalen Turner, and China Miéville. I'm actually trying to start reading a lot more these days, so I'm very open to any recommendations.
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Have you read one of Christopher Barzak's books? I read The Love We Share Without Knowing recently; it's a series of connected stories of locals and expats in Japan whose lives intersect with each other and, occasionally, with fantasy-tinged events. I love Barzak's writing style. It's simple but beautiful.
If you like China Miéville's work, you may enjoy KJ Bishop's The Etched City. Surreal happenings in a tropical city.
You might like Holly Phillip's The Engine's Child: it's a bit of a slow story, imperfect, but it's quite interesting.
Ekaterina Sedia's The Secret History of Moscow is about three people travelling through the mythical undercity of Moscow: similar in some ways to Gaiman's Neverwhere, but definitely its own book.
As I usually do, I'll pimp Catherynne M Valente. You could start with her recent novel Palimpsest, about a sexually transmitted city that transforms -- in beautiful and terrible ways -- the people who discover it.
Good luck with your writing projects!
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Hullo! I'm Yun/Ash/Asph/hey you over there. I read and (attempt to) write fantasy; to be honest, it's more like I read and worldbuild fantasy and then somewhere along the way the writing doesn't get much further than my head. (I'm working on that.) I've got about a dozen fanfic WIPs, and then about six major original WIPs. My current goal is to decrease those numbers s-sob. SOMEDAY I WILL FINISH ONE OF THESE MASSIVE SOMETHINGS.
Reading-wise! Er, when it comes to re-reading value, that'd probably be Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint, Diana Gabaldon's works, Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, most of Robin Hobb's works. Friedman's Coldfire trilogy. Michael Chabon's stuff for pure style. I do admit I've been reading a lot of trashy fantasy stuff lately though, just for the sake of something to read as I hunt down recs and take note for my next trip to the bookstore.
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Ooh, CS Friedman. I read her scifi novel This Alien Shore years ago, and it's one of my favourite scifi novels. I've the first Coldfire novel on my to-read pile.
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Oh man, huh, I didn't know she's written scifi too. [should go check it oooout] I loved her writing in Coldfire so much, so. *A*!!!
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You could always write a fake travel brochure. Stories told by texts are fun.It's probably better to ignore me. >.>
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If I didn't also want to explain the workings of the Bureau, I'd be tempted to do just that. Well, I might do that as an aside anyway, given how the Bureau is like an INTERWORLDLY CROSSING POINT.But why? >: You have shiny ideas!
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Anyway, I thought I'd join pre-emptively and do some critting because I have discovered a gleeful passion for pointing out syntax errors which is the bane of my short-fiction class at uni and I thought I might be able to work it out in peace on the internet.
Some of my favourite fantasy authors include Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Kelly Link, China Mieville and Robert Rankin!
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I have no advice for procrastination. *re-checks LJ f'list again* (I sometimes turn the internet off, actually, and that works for as long as I can resist the urge to turn it back on.)
Kelly Link is fabulous.
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Er... no further message. *G*
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My favourite fantasy writers (in which I include magic realists) are China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, Phillip Pullman, Angela Carter, Italo Calvino, Salman Rushdie and Oscar Wilde. I also really love certain children's fantasy authors, such as Alan Garner, John Masefield, Joan Aiken and C.S. Lewis.
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Nice comm, also :D
ohhh I forgot Hans Christian Andersen. I spose Grimm don't count because they were collectors.
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OH HAI YOU.
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drive myself more insanefinish up a 130k-ish novel before the end of May. This is the third revision for this, and I'm juuuuuuuuust about willing to let an editor have at it. Maybe. Possibly. I think.I haven't been reading nearly as much as I should be lately, but I blame the whole trying to go insane thing.
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I think 130k borders on the too-long end of the scale, but exceptions happen. (An agent talking about novel lengths.) It might be worth looking at places to tighten it, although I say this without having read the thing so I've no idea if the book actually needs all the 130k.
Either way, good luck finishing and submitting it. =)
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Please note: I mean an Actual editor, NOT a publishing house editor. Meaning, someone who will tell me what's wrong, where and what can be done so it can be sent to agents/publishing houses.
I'm not stupid enough (and that's a personal opinion about myself, not a reflection on anyone else) to think that the third draft is anywhere near publishable. I think I've one or three more drafts, before that can happen.
As for finding time to read: I've found YA a lot easier to read, when writing, than anything epic. (I have GRRM to read, and several others.)
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I'm sure you already know this, but choose carefully with a hired editor. There are a lot of people who scam new writers. There are, however, some legit people who could prove tremendously helpful. I know that Jeff VanderMeer offers a book critiquing service, as does John Jarrold (who is also a reputable lit agent, but he keeps the book-doctor and lit-agent aspects quite separate and is legit).
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But I'll look into VanderMeer. Thanks.
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Then, my first rewrite took it down to 240k, taking out a lot of extraneous crap that we, as the writers, had to know, but the reader really didn't.
I'm still doing that, trying to get it down to about 130k.
I'm just glad that I've got more than a few reccs from P&E about who to contact for a thorough edit of this thing. All my friends have seen it, and are probably sick of it! Plus, it's at the stage where I cannot do anything else with it. Someone else needs to prod it with a stick.
I'm going to cringe when I get it back. I know it....
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I've got a few things bubbling in my head, but the main project at present is Boralos, a 130k stand-alone high fantasy, set in a SE Asian/Egyptian world with flavours of Ancient China. I'm currently working on taking in corrections and alterations from having given it to a core of friends/family to read and critique. I hope to start shopping it by the end of June at the latest.
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Hooray for people who aren't just writing Western European worlds. Good luck shopping it around!
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I'm trying to improve my writing (I love feedback) so that some day I can get some of my fiction published. My DW account is my writing journal and my LJ account is my personal journal.