I find my way out of the semi-retirement of my lj to reply to this.
WHAT. IF...
What if the real, true, gritty difference of LKH WG (with Gary) and LKH PG (post-Gary) is the fact he was bringing in a steady paycheck.
Has anyone brought this up before?
What if a huge part of LKH's situation is that she's very, very, aware of the fickle nature of publishing? What if she has to be coaxed into spending money on herself with something like her Foose (car) because she's still got a rather grabby, tight fisted, frugal nature and she wants to have something sturdy to fall back on and cushion her when the ride is over?
There are mentions and mentions about the rejection back when was was trying to submit stories. And how excited she is about being able to print a lot of them in 'Strange Candy'. And now here's this mention of it being 'a job'. But that matches with her constant, constant, goings on about how busy she is all the time and how things are complex.
Blogflogs often mock her coming across as 'I must be the Darkity Dark of all things, feel my Darkness and Despair'.
But what if, once upon a time, writing for LKH involved sitting in front of a typewriter, surrounded by books about serial killers, with the incongruous note of cheerful Christmas music and becoming so immersed in her world that people had to physically drag her away for dinner?
What if that initial mode of doing things is now how she views the craft? As mysterious, totally enveloping and something non-writers won't understand, but the end result is a book, that feels a labour of creative love?
Suddenly all those 'I got so many pages done today' and 'Sigh - it's time to go do something with the kidlet' and 'The interruption of dinner and a life, and the dogs and the wren in the backyard' are all because she remembers one particular groove and hasn't adapted to find another.
Or maybe she's tried but she can't adapt with the pressure (self inflicted) of getting a book out in one or another universe every nine months.
What if, it's a furious race to be fiscally worth the advance, (how much will it sell, though not perhaps being of quality for a high price) and it's all affected her writing tremendously since NiC?
Quite a few writers are supported by their Significant Others, or have SO (or other family member) income helping to balance out the home.
What if LKJ is not a linear writer? What if she's someone who writes furiously in one universe / one book as the ideas and flow hits her and then needs to switch over to a different work?
What If.... (1)
Date: 2008-01-13 07:44 pm (UTC)WHAT. IF...
What if the real, true, gritty difference of LKH WG (with Gary) and LKH PG (post-Gary) is the fact he was bringing in a steady paycheck.
Has anyone brought this up before?
What if a huge part of LKH's situation is that she's very, very, aware of the fickle nature of publishing? What if she has to be coaxed into spending money on herself with something like her Foose (car) because she's still got a rather grabby, tight fisted, frugal nature and she wants to have something sturdy to fall back on and cushion her when the ride is over?
There are mentions and mentions about the rejection back when was was trying to submit stories. And how excited she is about being able to print a lot of them in 'Strange Candy'. And now here's this mention of it being 'a job'. But that matches with her constant, constant, goings on about how busy she is all the time and how things are complex.
Blogflogs often mock her coming across as 'I must be the Darkity Dark of all things, feel my Darkness and Despair'.
But what if, once upon a time, writing for LKH involved sitting in front of a typewriter, surrounded by books about serial killers, with the incongruous note of cheerful Christmas music and becoming so immersed in her world that people had to physically drag her away for dinner?
What if that initial mode of doing things is now how she views the craft? As mysterious, totally enveloping and something non-writers won't understand, but the end result is a book, that feels a labour of creative love?
Suddenly all those 'I got so many pages done today' and 'Sigh - it's time to go do something with the kidlet' and 'The interruption of dinner and a life, and the dogs and the wren in the backyard' are all because she remembers one particular groove and hasn't adapted to find another.
Or maybe she's tried but she can't adapt with the pressure (self inflicted) of getting a book out in one or another universe every nine months.
What if, it's a furious race to be fiscally worth the advance, (how much will it sell, though not perhaps being of quality for a high price) and it's all affected her writing tremendously since NiC?
Quite a few writers are supported by their Significant Others, or have SO (or other family member) income helping to balance out the home.
What if LKJ is not a linear writer? What if she's someone who writes furiously in one universe / one book as the ideas and flow hits her and then needs to switch over to a different work?