The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Info about Peace Talks from Reading the WoJ section

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Bad Alias:
@Regenbogen: While I agree completely, one will hit a point of diminishing returns (, die, or have some sort of decline). But the thing about any skill set practiced long enough is that there is always a possibility of breakthrough moments when skill drastically increases when the skill has previously plateaued, so one should always aim at improvement when the skill set is central or highly valued.

morriswalters:

--- Quote from: Regenbogen on September 03, 2019, 06:55:13 PM ---I see it like this: Everything one does or can do has the potential for improvement because nobody and nothing is perfect.
If Jim wants to improve his writing it shows that he doesn't think of his work as being at its best. So I say 'go Jim' . I think his writing so far is great. You can see continuing improvement from Storm Front to Skin Game. So I'm very curious how his style will develop in future books.

--- End quote ---
Jim knows how to tell a story, and he's really good at it.  But a shorter book can only come with decreased complexity IMO.  So for instance, in Skin Game, the act of Butters becoming a Knight adds complexity.  Murphy could have taken up the sword, she'd used it prior to that point and Jim took the time over the course of the books to show her journey. That isn't a criticism, rather a nod to the different ways the story can be told.

Kindler:
Jim has stated that the short stories/novellas require nearly as much effort as writing a novel for him (source: http://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/word-of-jim-woj-compilation/woj-on-future-df-works/). So I wouldn't expect a reduced word count to lead to a (significantly) reduced cycle. Something like three quarters of fiction writing (for me at least, and for lots of other writers who have spoken about it) happens away from a keyboard. Sitting down and putting it on the page is mostly typing.

Jim's not writing poetry or literary fiction; he's not agonizing over specific word choices, I don't think (not the way GRR Martin does, anyway, that old codger). He writes clearly and (for the most part) plainly. It's one of the reasons he's my favorite author; he's focused on entertainment, producing fun plots and interesting characters, not describing each scene in excruciating detail the way House of Leaves or Fight Club does. Reducing the word count isn't going to cut the length of time it'll take to put it on paper mostly for that reason.

And writing concisely can be a whole lot harder. Jim described his planning process as basically "General concept, Starting State of Affairs, general Ending State of Affairs, and a few Big Scenes That Happen Between Those Two things." Cutting the word count will basically mean going from Four Big Things to The Three Big Things That are the Most Relevant to this Book, unless I miss my guess.

In other words, I think we're talking about shaving off a couple of weeks' worth of writing time if he reduces his chapter count by, say, 15% of Skin Game. That's practically negligible for readers (though not for Jim). Say Jim did it for Peace Talks, for example. It might mean that he finished his draft in May instead of June (though Peace Talks is not typical of Jim's writing process for obvious reasons). It might make for a leaner, tighter, and (potentially) better novels, but it won't necessarily make for less work.

spiritofair:
Count me as a fan of focused writing! Both Robert Jordan and GRR Martin both had way too many tangential things going on in their books. Jordan would go off on tangents that were baffling, completely ignoring fan favorite characters like the main crew of kids from the town at the beginning of the story (Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynave) and focusing on boring, unimportant characters that, in the end, had little to do with the overall story.

Martin did the same, going far afield in Dorn and on Tyrion's river ride. And Brienne's travels. All boring, all detracting from the main characters. All worthless in the end.

And all of that crap slowed the story down. Jordan died before finishing his tale, and Martin probably is going to as well. I remember when Feast came out, and I lamented, oh, crap, he's pulling a Jordan. Man, did he!

Being a first person account, Jim really can't go too far afield like these other writers did, but I hope he keeps focus. I, too, want to live to see the end of this series, but if it takes him 3 to 5 years per book, hell, he might not even live to see the end. He's got, what, 8 books left?

Regenbogen:

--- Quote from: spiritofair on September 11, 2019, 04:29:52 PM ---Being a first person account, Jim really can't go too far afield like these other writers did, but I hope he keeps focus. I, too, want to live to see the end of this series, but if it takes him 3 to 5 years per book, hell, he might not even live to see the end. He's got, what, 8 books left?

--- End quote ---

That reminds me: there are novels with a first person narrator that have other point of views too. I always thought, it makes the death of the main character a higher possibility than with only the first person.
Normally a first person main character dieing is not logical, because how could he tell the story after his death?
Sometimes a second or third POV is introduced to be able to tell the story of the main character's death. But not always.
For example in the 3.Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb:
(click to show/hide)2 trilogies first person only. Third trilogy: first book first person only. Second book: suddenly from Fitz' little daughter's POV, also first person! I thought: That's it, she's preparing for Fitz' death. Tears. And I was right. Flood of tears.  ;)On the other hand there are the Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon. First book: Claire's POV first person.
Not sure if 2. or 3. book: third person POV's. In the 3. book there were several chapters from Claire's, Jamie's and Lord John's POVs.
After that until now more and more alternating POVs.
So far Claire is still alive. But we will see. Maybe in 6 or 7 years when the last book is out.
But it really slows the story down. Not as extremely as GOT but in the novels with less than 3 POVs there was more story, you felt as if a lot had happened.

I hope JB doesn't let Harry die for real (not like Changes ;)). I would like a happy ending. Not like "everything is fine" but a tragedy here and there but Harry and Maggie alive and happy.
But I don't believe he will do that.  ;D
And I hope there will be no other POVs except in short stories.

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