>From the omnibus collection, \u201cYoung Miles\u201d:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019ve described my usual writing process as scrambling from peak to peak of inspiration through foggy valleys of despised logic. Inspiration is better \u2013 when you can get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fundamental substance of a book, if you are writing a real book, in your own blood, is not optional. The thematic vision often cannot be communicated \u2013 or even realized, if (as in my own case) the writing itself is a process of self-discovery \u2013 in partial sections. The whole must be present to become greater than the sum of the parts. Test readers, however useful in some areas (spelling! grammar! continuity! O please yes!) can become a hazard when they begin, on the basis of incomplete information, trying in all good faith to help you write some other book than the one you intend\u2026. Zelazny\u2019s dictum, \u201cTrust your demon\u201d, meaning, follow your own inner vision, eventually became a mantra for me.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
>From the ombibus collection, \u201cCordelia\u2019s Honor\u201d:<\/p>\n
\n\u201c\u2026 thus accidentally discovering my first application of the rule for finding plots for character-centred novels, which is to ask \u201cSo what\u2019s the worst possible thing I can do to this guy?\u201d. And then do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe book had now acquired the opposite problem from that of mid-winter, of being too short; it was now getting longer, but not getting any closer to the end\u2026 Since it was apparent that this really was going to be a book, and not just another false start in life, marketing considerations began to come into play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turned into the book it always should have been, a real book, where plot, character, and theme all worked together to make a whole greater than the sum of the parts. It turned out to be about something, beyond itself. It\u2019s a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn\u2019t even know you were aiming for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll great human deeds both consume and transform their doers. Consider an athlete, or a scientist, or an artist, or an independent business creator. In service of their goals they lay down time and energy and many other choices and pleasures; in return, they become most truly themselves. A false destiny may be spotted by the fact that it consumes without transforming, without giving back the enlarged self. Becoming a parent is one of these basic human transformational deeds. By this act, we change our fundamental relationship with the universe \u2013 if nothing else, we lose our place as the pinnacle and end-point of evolution, and become a mere link. The demands of motherhood especially consume the old self, and replace it with something new, often better and wiser, sometimes wearier or disillusioned, or tense and terrified, certainly more self-knowing, but never the same again.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
>From the omnibus collection, \u201cYoung Miles\u201d: \u201cI\u2019ve described my usual writing process as scrambling from peak to peak of inspiration through foggy valleys of despised logic. Inspiration is better \u2013 when you can get it.\u201d \u201cThe fundamental substance of a book, if you are writing a real book, in your own blood, is not optional.… Continue reading Lois McMaster Bujold on writing<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quotations","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}