Bit of a hiatus, there, folks (I’m very much trying to change from “guys” to “folks” to refer to a casual assemblage of people) but I’m back now. Blogging and also writing. Or unwriting.
Whahey? Unwriting? What’s that?
Well, I’m glad you asked. The editing process has been flensing away bits of story, plot, environment, setting, and so forth–my editor (with whom I think I work well) has a laser-focus on “moving the story forward” and I can appreciate that.
However (you knew there was going to be a “however,” didn’t you?) I took umbrage, got my hackles up, and was generally widdershins with a recent suggestion of hers. An exchange between my two main characters involved them discussing the nature of the soul.
SPOILERS AHEAD
One of the characters, Sancho, is the onboard computer for the other character’s (Collier) spaceship. Sancho the computer wondered if he had a soul, and engaged in a discussion with Collier for two or three pages about the notion. They never really arrived at a conclusion, and the plot picked up after the digression. They weren’t in a high-speed chase or fighting off space pirates at the time, but still, the story paused as the two of them discussed human and computer metaphysics.
My editor suggested cutting the scene because it didn’t move the story forward. To be fair, she is correct: plot demands were put on hold for several hundred words as these two talked. And to be fair again, she’s been on me about cutting away the nonessentials and getting to the story (quite a lot happens in the book–it’s not a quiet My Dinner with Andre in Space.) as quickly as possible. So there’s that.
I’ll quote Ray Bradbury here: “Digression is the soul of wit.” Yes, I’m aware that he himself is misquoting Shakespeare’s Polonius, but let that go. The detour my two characters take in discussing the nature of the soul is important to both of them, and I found I could not take it away from them. Sancho needs this for his growth, and in his own way, Collier does too. They need to talk about these things–neither one of them has anyone else they can talk to in this manner, and I find a computer wondering if it has a soul to be an interesting question. I mean, when you come right down to it–what even is a soul? How do you know you have one? Do animals have them? Do plants? Bacteria? Or is it only human beings? What about a human being who is part machine? A person with an artificial heart? Where IS the soul in your body? And on and on and on…
So sure, the plot had to pause while these two friends talked. But I think it’s important. Yes, yes, moving from plot point A to point B is also important (someone should tell Faulkner that so Addie Bundren’s goddam casket can finally get to Jefferson) but if the people doing the traveling don’t get a chance to tell their stories, what’s the point?
Be seeing you!
Whahey? Unwriting? What’s that?
Well, I’m glad you asked. The editing process has been flensing away bits of story, plot, environment, setting, and so forth–my editor (with whom I think I work well) has a laser-focus on “moving the story forward” and I can appreciate that.
However (you knew there was going to be a “however,” didn’t you?) I took umbrage, got my hackles up, and was generally widdershins with a recent suggestion of hers. An exchange between my two main characters involved them discussing the nature of the soul.
SPOILERS AHEAD
One of the characters, Sancho, is the onboard computer for the other character’s (Collier) spaceship. Sancho the computer wondered if he had a soul, and engaged in a discussion with Collier for two or three pages about the notion. They never really arrived at a conclusion, and the plot picked up after the digression. They weren’t in a high-speed chase or fighting off space pirates at the time, but still, the story paused as the two of them discussed human and computer metaphysics.
My editor suggested cutting the scene because it didn’t move the story forward. To be fair, she is correct: plot demands were put on hold for several hundred words as these two talked. And to be fair again, she’s been on me about cutting away the nonessentials and getting to the story (quite a lot happens in the book–it’s not a quiet My Dinner with Andre in Space.) as quickly as possible. So there’s that.
I’ll quote Ray Bradbury here: “Digression is the soul of wit.” Yes, I’m aware that he himself is misquoting Shakespeare’s Polonius, but let that go. The detour my two characters take in discussing the nature of the soul is important to both of them, and I found I could not take it away from them. Sancho needs this for his growth, and in his own way, Collier does too. They need to talk about these things–neither one of them has anyone else they can talk to in this manner, and I find a computer wondering if it has a soul to be an interesting question. I mean, when you come right down to it–what even is a soul? How do you know you have one? Do animals have them? Do plants? Bacteria? Or is it only human beings? What about a human being who is part machine? A person with an artificial heart? Where IS the soul in your body? And on and on and on…
So sure, the plot had to pause while these two friends talked. But I think it’s important. Yes, yes, moving from plot point A to point B is also important (someone should tell Faulkner that so Addie Bundren’s goddam casket can finally get to Jefferson) but if the people doing the traveling don’t get a chance to tell their stories, what’s the point?
Be seeing you!
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