McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
The I'm Writing Thread.... Celebrate your pages written etc
Snowleopard:
I'm reminded of the story of Poul Andersen's daughter Astrid being in a
class and the teacher going on about, I believe, Heinlein's - Stranger in a Strange Land and
why he wrote it.
Up pops Astrid with - he wrote it because he needed the money.
Teacher is not pleased but Astrid actually brings a note in, I believe, from Heinlein
saying that's the principal reason he wrote the book.
Did not go over well to say the least. ::) ::)
gatordave96:
I've been toying with the idea of a greater political theme regarding organized labor in this epic fantasy that I'm working on, sort of like the medieval guilds on steroids, but wasn't sure if: (a) I could pull it off without resorting to Space Pandas; (b) if anyone would care; and (c) those who care would be offended.
So right now I'm just concentrating on getting the story done. If I find a wild oat, I may seed it. Without pandas, to avoid plagiarism.
Paynesgrey:
Oh, you can use the Space Pandas if you wish. I've moved on to Techno-Sloths. Very deliberate, very patient...
Guilds can give you a bevy of alternatives. Internal power struggles, conflicting agendas, conflict with external forces. Are they to be tools of achieving economic hegemony, or an effort to resist such? Do they maintain their original purpose, or evolve from something beneficial to something malignant? (Or move the other way, from a force of oppression and coercion to something positive?)
So many choices, and they're not mutually exclusive....
And when guilds get into each other's turf, all sorts of fun can happen. A Miner's and a Smith's Guild have both mutual interests, and the potential for conflicting interests...
It's fertile ground for worldbuilding and generating conflict.
Although, and this is purely a matter of taste, I'd suggest illustrating both the positive and negative consequences, so whichever side of the issue you might choose to weigh in, you're not being preachatory. (I like it when authors lay the good and bad out, and let the reader decide for themselves if the consequences of this or that are worth dealing with for the benefits, as opposed to a Heinleinian sermon. I loved the guys' work, but when he went into Lecture Mode my eyes would glaze over and I'd skim 'til the sermon stopped...)
gatordave96:
I always thought Monty Python was brilliant for using the killer rabbit in "The Holy Grail." Pandas, sloths, banana slugs, whatever. All good.
Using just about all of the alternatives with the guilds. Lots of fun. Threw in two competing guilds at the top whose trades/occupations include two forms of psionic skills: telepathy and telekinesis. And both of them (along with the other guilds) have a stranglehold on the local economy. Mix in a local authoritarian who is arranging a military coup, a religious leader with delusions of grandeur, some "racial" hatred against the psionicists, and the threat of an invasion from the "outside" and wait for the fun.
I like some of the stories where the good guys wear white, but not so much as those with varying shades of gray. If anything, the theme would be that too much of any one thing can be dangerous, even organized labor when it results in hegemony.
Paynesgrey:
Just be prepared for the "Hater's Gonna Hate" factor. (Which is something I suppose any writer needs to bear in mind. Personally, I hope my funeral is violently picketed by members of opposing extremist factions who both want to get their last shot at hating me in. Means I've made a mark as a writer, and probably had a lot of fun giggling at the self-important and politically subjective Lit-Crit Wisdom various people would try to filter my work through. Plus, I'm just kind of a dick that way.)
For example, some pro-labor readers might take umbrage to the suggestion that anything negative can ever result from Labor. (Plug in any other faction you like, the knee-jerkery potential remains the same.) Basically, you're not validating their worldview hard enough, so your "attacking" it.
And there will be those who get their knee-jerkery from the implication that Labor has anything positive to add, or that you didn't show them in a negative enough light, etc.
This'll happen with any faction one writes into a book... religion, military, academics, economic systems... anything resembling a political faction, etc.
Which is probably why I delight in watching people weasel-hump some sociopolitical message into an author's work. "I'm writing about pandas..." to which the Literary Analyst replies, "Yes, but from the point of view of polypedal Portlandian pimento pickers, your story fails utterly to discuss their plight..."
"But I'm writing about pandas. Pandas in space, seeking yummy bamboo amongst the stars..."
"But still.... you had the opportunity to address the plight of polypedal Porlandian pimento pickers!"
"Do they have bamboo? And space travel?"
"Clearly you have, as an author, FAILED to educate yourself on the plight of polypedal Portlandian pimento pickers!"
"Pimento's that red thing in olives, right? I don't drink stuff with olives in it though... never liked the things... I don't know anybody from Portland either... how many feet do they have, on average? Did someone do a study? Let me know... in the meantime, I'm going to get back to writing about my pandas..."
"But... but.. the pimento pickers..."
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