Hello, my friends and the occasional relative!
Progress continues with the copy edit now 80-85% of the way there, depending on the criteria used. Finish line in sight. Reread and proofing remain.
I saw Dune 2 this afternoon. No spoilers, but I feel a little let down by it, after loving the first film. There were important pieces that needed more punch, others that needed more explanation: visuals or a line or two of dialogue would have been enough. I wasn’t as enraptured as I hoped I’d be. It will not surprise me, and this was a bad thing to be thinking as I watched the movie, but the thought did creep in that I’d not be surprised if there was a director’s cut on its way with extended and extra scenes that will hopefully provide some of what I felt was missing.
It was still very enjoyable, just a little flat.
I suppose this illustrates how hard it is to get a story completely right in every department, to knock it out of the park. You need world building, pacing, character development, conflict creation and resolution to all work perfectly. Plus great character interaction, dialogue, use of theme, creation of suspense and/or mystery and satisfying resolution of same. That is a lot to successfully execute, all in one work. Very hard in a novel, perhaps harder still in a movie, with so many people involved in its creation.
So I am left wondering how my own work matches up. You can only do your best, and then hope. As you invent and then write a book you generally are convinced of its greatness—you need that belief in order to keep you on task for so long, even if at times you are riddled with doubts. Underneath it all there has to be the belief that what you are writing is worth your time, and more importantly, someone else’s time. All writers, I suspect, are fantasists, regardless of genre—we all fondly imagine our books taking the world by storm, one delighted reader at a time. Having been through the process twice now, and getting close to being done a third time, I am amused by the appearance of those pleasantly deluded daydreams that this time, this book will be the one to conquer the world, sweeping all before it.
Tempered by experience, I don’t get too carried away by that anymore, not least because I know I’m writing a distinctly non-commercial strain of fantasy, this book and the last one at least, The Thief and The Demon was more mainstream. I always knew I wanted to write this book, with these characters, but it has surprised me with the way it changed from original conception (which I now realize was too simplistic) to current actualization. Just like The Killer and The Dead I knew I had to write this story, but not entirely sure why. I think that element of personal mystery has helped to drive me through the whole process. Funny, because I know why I am writing the next book and am going far more traditional in fantasy terms, so it will be interesting to see what fuels me through to that project’s completion.
What is left for me now, rather than wild dreams of blockbuster success (though I wouldn’t turn it down!), is the desire to improve, to write stronger books, better constructed, with more successful execution in every area. That is a goal that I can control, and hope to achieve: world-wide literary dominance is not!
And improvement alone is hard. Writing a book that aces it in every category is tremendously hard, but worth striving for, if only in the hope of creating some interesting failures! I know that if somehow I did write a novel that I felt succeeded in every area of the storyteller’s craft, the sense of personal achievement would be intense. That itself may be the fuel that keeps me going, one book at a time.
Roderick T. Macdonald 
Yes, Dune 2 did sort of fall a bit flat. Interesting to read of your current aspirations and thoughts, as well as the future. It’s so wonderful you’ve been able to make writing a reality. You do have something of value to share. Thank you. Kath (BraveKath of the long ago and faraway land of FS – LOL!)
Hi Kath! Thank you for dropping in, and for your very kind words! Stay in touch! Exclamation mark! SPOILERS FOR DUNE 2!! I’ve decided that the word Dune 2 was missing was ‘catharsis’ : there wasn’t any, when there should have been 2-4 moments of drama and catharsis for the viewers, as well as ongoing tension about Paul’s direction in life. They talked about it, but I didn’t feel it. So many opportunities to show the conflict between his feelings and his actions, with the knowledge that however much he tries to twist on the line and break free, he must go down a bad road because all others were worse. The words were said, but nothing visceral was felt. Repeating an image does not make it more powerful. Him accepting his destiny and the water of life was another Tuesday, drinking it and having his prescience opened up was not… clear. To me anyway. I’ll admit I was wanting a crazy 2001 a space odyssey type montage, which was wildly unrealistic, but something to convey exactly how altered his view of the world instantly became. Instead he talked about a narrow path and that was it. Even Dr. Strange in Endgame gave us more of a clue about looking at endless alternatives – though that representation here would absolutely not have worked in the Dune universe, which is so much more inward looking. And then we have the Sardaukar, the Baron, and his sons meeting their end. The motions were went through but the emotions were absent. The emperor was a wet blanket. Paul tells the Bene Gesserit badass manipulator (helen gaius wotsit) to be silent, she immediately spoke. The more I think about it, the more ‘meh’ I get about it, which profoundly bums me out because I had such high hopes for that film. Maybe a special edition/director’s cut will save it. I hope there is one.
It’s all curious.
Salute out to Kathy, that’s how I originally “met” “Roddy” as well.
A response to this is really difficult. I’m a Lynch fan… so, yeah, that. I think Dune is running the series well in the current universe… it’s following the books quite well. I think it’s helping to create a fan base, whatever that is worth.
For me, there was only one really slow point… and it made me think about whether this really could just have been done as a TV series.
That, is a really complicated question.
I won’t get into it.
Roddy, you asked in some previous post…. what our science fiction suggestions were… I can’t find that post and have 4 tabs open, lol.
Well you prefaced that by looking for space and guns. Science fiction for me isn’t at all about action. It’s more about thinking.
That said, I decided to come back with everything Star Wars. I think you’ll hate this suggestion. I feel like I get why.
I don’t how invested you were in that universe… And movies have really, imho, really sucked recently (Disney is trying to reboot in theaters to pull in more cash and grab more fans… personally, I hope that fails).
So, here… I’d recommend, based on your request, everything Star Wars. The series really are so much better than the recent movies. And, The Mandalorian for me is a 10. Everything I love about Star Wars and the “baby Yoda” Disney introduction does NOT mess it up.
You want to “think”, go Silo or Foundation feel… (more so in this last recommendation, f*ck it’s Asimov… and, it is just like him) I wouldn’t “recommend” them. especially not with your action request… they’re just food for thought.
I don’t know where the point is between entertainment and human consumption.
Thanks Jason. I do like cerebral sci fi, but sometimes you just want cool stuff in space and explosions. I was interested in Foundation, but heard disappointing things about it. I’ll give it a shot, unless its on Apple, in which case it’ll have to wait until I rotate my streaming choices again! the Star Wars. Nope. I hated Book of Boba Fett – obvious story telling fail and change in narrative direction after 3-4 episodes – you can see it was going to be one story then radically changed. It did have two excellent mandalorian episodes randomly inserted though – they were great. Mando I liked for season one and the two or 3 episodes in BoBF, but I lost the love in season two, did not watch season 3. As a kid who saw the OG movie in the theatre in 1977, it is going to take a lot to bring me back. About the only thing would be complete reboot and recast and a serious attempt at doing a movie trilogy of Heir to Empire, ignoring all the Filoni stuff, going back to the books alone and the continuity from the OG trilogy. I can’t see that happening.