Rumer Godden, author of Black Narcissus
When my last novel was published, I received from the publicity department one of those biographical questionnaires sent to authors these days. Some of the questions were impertinent, especially, I thought, the last: “What makes you feel your books are different from other peoples’?” I did not have to ponder over this because there is really only one answer: “What makes my books different? They are written by me.” Every author ought to be able to say that. – Rumer Godden
What do you try to bring to your books that is different?
“What do you try to bring to your books that is different?”
❦ A very good question, easier asked than answered. I like to think that my “voice” is unique (as don’t we all?). I often use consonants in pairs or triads (alliteration) to produce a poetic tone. Similarly for vowels (assonance). Rhythm is also used.
❦ I write with a mental camera in hand, describing settings as if filming them. This helps maintain coherence, and predisposes the book towards adaptation for film.
❦ My characters tend toward quirky individuals. Tenirax is a scamp, an inveterate trouble-maker who falls in love with unattainable women.
Bungorolo, the good-humored torturer, makes threats (verbal or implied) he never intends to carry out. Bishop Filippo has, beneath his stern manner, a better sense of humor than most people realize. Teodora, the owner of the Inn of the Seven Dragons, is a competent, and very pretty, serial killer.
❦ I choose my character names carefully. I don’t know the exact process, since it mostly takes place in the deep unconscious, along with much of the writing.
❦ I do my own book covers. Although this saves money, I like to think it also lets me match cover to content exactly.
❦ I diligently avoid writing the same book twice, or even the same genre.
❦ Humor is my one indispensable feature. Even my most serious work, a Kafkaesque novella, includes a large helping of irony: the prissy MC soothing his claustrophobic attack by singing the vulgar alternative lyrics to his prep school’s anthem, police bearing clerical titles, or the MC discovering he’s spent months learning the bumpkin dialect instead of the urban version of Deresthok with which he intended to impress a symposium.
❦ I’m prone to toss in a few made-up words, like hoskaplop, mozafloga, & kai-gai.
I write from the creative subconscious. That is the source of all that is unique and original in my or any other voice. Then I trust it and don’t allow my conscious, critical mind to dilute it with revisions, rewrites and polishing passes. I write the story that unfolds around me and my characters as we race through it together.
I throw unusual circumstances at my people. For instance, did you know it’s possible to get pregnant by two men? It’s called superfecundation. Can happen in the case if rape or sexual promiscuity.
I write from an extensive outline in order to hold all elements of my story where I can easily. access things like names of minor character, what’s at stake to who, increasing conflict, and dozens of other facts.
Why are my stories different? Because they reflect who I am.
“What do you try to bring to your books that is different?” A great week-ending question that sparks a definite answer for me, much less to do with books & marketability than it has to do with what I as a writer selfishly want to write.
It is over-generalization, but I have felt over the years in my preferred genres that writers only feel there is one type of relationship in the universe—the romantic one. Our lives are impacted every day by so many different types of relationships—formal and informal, permanent and temporary. That’s what I want to explore. I’m a sucker for buddy stories and there aren’t enough of them. I love lone wolf stories because even they have to interact in a variety of relationships on their particular journey.
Whether I will accomplish my goal with my writing who knows, but that is how I want my books to be different—by exploring the vast array of relationships that form our lives and our adventures and our trials. I think most would agree that interacting with our fellow humans isn’t always easy—that leaves room for much exploration on the page.
I don’t try to do anything but tell a story when I write. I agree with Godden — my books are written by me. (This could become a different discussion if AI takes hold of fiction). Give five people a writing prompt and you’ll get five completely different stories.
I focus on telling a compelling story, with engaging, quirky characters that takes the reader on an emotional ride, be it urban fantasy, space opera, or cozy mystery. I don’t preach, instead I bring my own vision to this. As Terry and Godden both commented for themselves, my stories are written by me.
I’ll set a scene and let my characters evolve into it and populate it and tell the story.
They are drawn from my experiences over the last 74 years. I tend to write about blue collar people and the places they inhabit, struggling to get through another day and finding nothing but trouble. I’m not much inspired to write about people who drop out of Harvard or are getting amicably divorced or lost their money in crypto over in the Hamptons.I have no feeling for any of that.
Lately I have become more organized about setting and place, and I am converting all my previous stories to be interconnected in some way to a fictional locale, because there I can do anything I want.
This is one of the many reasons I believe genre fiction is artistically viable: YOUR mystery, romance, western etc. story, even if you TRY to be formulaic, will be in your unique voice.
Interesting question. I often describe my books as both “entertaining and thought-provoking.” But I read lots of books that fit that description, so that can’t be it.
However, I do tend to come at things from a different perspective, made evident by a short story anthology our writing group published called “Stories from the Attic.” Most people wrote stories about finding something in the attic that brought back memories or taught them something new about their families, etc. My story described a young woman who went into her attic to tackle the clutter and found a group of faeries who had set up shop there. They called themselves “The Clutter Busters.” She thought they would help her clean up the jumble of old furniture and boxes, but instead, they taught her lessons about decluttering her bad attitude and approach to life.
One of the nicest compliments I ever received in a review was “Marilynn Byerly is the thinking woman’s romance writer.”
No matter how horrid the circumstances, the reader leaves with hope.
Yes!
An inside understanding of the writing world, a dedicated amateur’s understanding of anatomy and physiology, experience dealing forever with a chronic illness, every documentary on ‘The Making of [insert name of movie] to reinforce some limited acting experience, and the absorption of every People magazine or New Yorker in a doctor’s office.
In other words, the same: everything I have ever done or had happen to me.
There’s a long list of other stuff, but you get the gist.