TheCO: You’ve written a variety of characters across the span of your career, do you have a favorite?
LMB: I’m always most interested in the characters I’m working on at present, which of course the readers won’t meet for another year or two. I have many old favorites, and various ones fall in and out of favor according to my focus du jour. So no, I don’t have a single favorite. Whoever stars in the work in progress will be getting the most of my attention at any given time, although that can be a love-hate relationship.
And then there are the characters I haven’t even thought up yet. They have a strong, if diffuse, gravitational pull on my imagination. They are possibly the most exciting to me.
TheCO: What do you think is the most important thing someone just starting to write should know about writing and about the
industry?
LMB: It doesn’t matter what process you use to get words in a row, as long as you arrive at the right words somehow. Use whatever method works for you. Early and often. You learn to write mainly by writing.
Writing is an art but publishing is a business; get a grip on good and graceful business etiquette. Be wary of overly-paranoid advice. A wonderfully sensible older work on the subject that gives a good grounding in the basics is _Who Does What And Why In Book Publishing_ by Clarkson N. Potter. The Science Fiction Writers of America also has a boatload of useful basic advice up on their website at www.sfwa.org—I would especially draw attention to the articles “The Saga of Myrtle the Manuscript” and Pat Wrede’s “Worldbuilding Questions”. The newsgroup rec.arts.sf.composition can also be a good resource, at least on the days when they don’t default to cats and food.
TheCO: You’ve had a great deal of critical success, including your most recent release "Paladin of Souls", how does this affect your writing? Do you try to style your future books closely to what has won awards?
LMB: Well, you know, I discovered when I won my first Nebula back in the late 80’s that while one might put blank pages under that classy paperweight at night, there would be no words magically appearing on them in the morning. Writing the next book is the same slog, only now with heightened expectations. "Each one better than all the others" seems to be the simple demand.
I have no idea why some of my books draw awards and others don't, except that the ones I spent the least time worrying about other people’s response to—that I wrote for myself—seem to do the best of all. Note that due to the inherently subjective nature of reading, awards are not won by the writer, as in a race—they are given, as gifts, by other people to the writer. To attempt to control something one cannot, in fact, ever control—what other people do—is a short route to madness. Writers can control what they write. Full stop. Everything that happens after is some class of unintended consequence or chaotic emergent property.
Article comments
1 - DrPat
I had passed up Hallowed Hunt because I was so disappointed not to see a new Vorkosigan novel. The peek into the creation process makes me realize that LMB fantasy is all we're likely to get for years.
[sigh]
Thanks for this, theco. I think.
2 - Robert A. Mitchell
If you haven't read Bujold before you don't know what a treat you have in store for yourself, if you have you know how long it seems between books. One of the few authors I know of that never disappoints me. Makes me think, laugh, and buy new books because I can't wait for it to hit the used book store shelves.
3 - Dale Josephs
I've always enjoyed reading anything Bujold has published; and this interview makes her even more fascinating: getting this sort of insiders' view of the creative processes are what really prick my interest.
4 - M. Haller Yamada
Wonderful interview! Can't wait to get Hallowed Hunt, and the next New Thing. (-: The otter analogy is very entertaining.
5 - TheCO
Pat you said:I had passed up Hallowed Hunt because I was so disappointed not to see a new Vorkosigan novel. The peek into the creation process makes me realize that LMB fantasy is all we're likely to get for years.
[sigh]
Thanks for this, theco. I think.
Me personally while the fantasy is different i do find the quality holds up quite well. Curse of Chalion has echo's of Mirror Dance, and Paladin reminds me equally of Barrayar and Memory. Hallowed Hunt is genuinely unique, but of no less quality than the 'average' Bujold.
6 - DrPat
Oh, I bought Chalion's Curse, and read it, and found it enjoyable. Palladin and Hunt will probably also find their way to my shelves (in paperback), now that I know there is no further Miles madness in the works...
7 - theco
Ah, i did see Paladin in pb the last time i was in a store, the cover actually shrank down nicely. Enjoy.
8 - V
If you're the least bit hesitant, go read the sample chapters. I can guarantee that you'll want to buy the book immediately.
9 - theco
Oh, what V said.
Hell, you can always talk your library into a copy and check it out. Then buy your own copy if (read as: when) you decide you adore it.
10 - TheCO
Dale,
There are links to other interviews with Lois on her site, and she's doing a couple more cons this year so you might actually be able to meet her.
11 - Temple Stark
Blogcritics' editors liked this one. It's a pick of the week. Congrats. Put the news up proudly on your site.
Here's a link to the rest of this week's picks
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13 - sid
I'm sorry I am just not a big fan of LB's fantasy stuff...I mean come on, why a sci fi author of her caliber should decide to write about a bunch of barbarians with swords and magic (wtf??!!) is beyond me.
I'm waiting for some sci fi before I'll look at her again.