Kippur is silly and petty
Sep. 18th, 2008 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kippurbirdPaolini interview. A light snack for Brisingrs release. Stolen from antishutugal. :D
It's from Bookpage, the Library magazine
From home-schooled teen to hit author, Paolini takes wing with dragon series
INTERVIEW BY KAREN HOLT
Even superstars get the jitters. Christopher Paolini tries not to dwell on the huge expectations surrounding Brisingr, the third book in his blockbuster Inheritance Cycle fantasy series.
Just curious... is it blockbuster if the entire thing hasn't come out yet? It sounds good. But it kinda reminds me of all the people saying it's an "instant classic" which is an oxymoron. Since if it's just come out, how can it be a classic... etc.
With the first two books in the series selling 15.5 million copies worldwide, Knopf is preparing for Brisingr's September 20 release with a 2.5 million-copy first printing, its biggest ever for a children's book. Meanwhile, fans are squealing messages like, "I can't wait!" and "OMG. I need it!" on web discussion boards.
Because you should trust fans that say things like OMG... Okay, kinda mean-ish
"As an author, I found that I can't really allow myself to think about those things," 24-year-old Paolini says, speaking by phone from his home in Montana. "I actually fell into that trap with the first part of Brisingr. . . . I sat there and I started obsessing about every single word."
Yes. You're a writer. You are supposed to do those things. Word obsession is what we do. Pick the wrong word and you get your readers giggling like school girls seeing Orlando Bloom. You want it to be good. This here is saying you stopped caring if you used the right words or not.
He worked past it by turning away from the keyboard and writing with an ink-dip pen on 80-pound parchment paper. His mother transcribed the pages. Now it's readers who are obsessing, spinning the meager bits of information Paolini has teased out to them into full-blown speculation about what will happen to Eragon, Saphira and the rest of the inhabitants of Alagaësia.
Uuuuummmmm..... ink dip pen on parchment paper...I did a bit of really really quick googling and 60 pound parchment paper is about 24 dollars a ream. And we don't know how many drafts or anything he wrote... and ink and new ink nibs... and that's just a little bit silly. Really bit silly. And expensive. And silly. Just... silly.
Makes me wonder if it made him feel like a real scribe when he was writing on parchment paper or something. I have no issues with the writing it by hand part. I do that sometimes too, it's just how utterly absurd it sounds when he says that he took to writing it by ink-dip pen and parchment paper as opposed to just saying by hand.
Also, full blown speculation would happen anyway.
Among the clues: Eragon will meet a new and terrifying enemy ("He likes to laugh a lot and not in a good way," says Paolini), Eragon will meet a god and one of the characters gets pregnant.
, if they're the terrifying enemy laughing a lot generally isn't going to be in a good way. Also, why isn't Galbatorix his new and terrifying enemy? And the god thing, this would prove that his elves were wrong. And I thought his elves were always right. They were the Enlightened Ones. I think it'll be interesting to see how he handles this then. If only, likely, proving that the character that is a god isn't really a god at all. Let's see... pregnant characters. Who's the only one we know of who's had sex? Could it be Katrina? *GASP* Could it be HER?! *GASP*
Anyone want to lay bets?
Paolini says Brisingr is more complex than the two books that preceded it, Eragon and Eldest, in part because of its multiple points of view. For the first time, portions of the story are told through Saphira's eyes. How did he find the voice of the smart, loyal and brilliantly sapphire female dragon? "I drew upon my own experience of the pets and animals that I grew up around, especially some of the cats I had," he says. "I thought a dragon would be like a cat in some ways, that same sort of self-satisfied attitude."
Multiple POVs don't necessarily mean that it's going to be more complex. Moby Dick had only one POV and it was insanely complex. (And irritating, but that's beyond the point). Also, we get an interesting insight on how Paolini views Saphira. We're told that Saphira is smart and loyal and acts like a cat. So, Saphira is basically a giant cat. We don't pay much attention to cats in regards to having intelligent conversation. Eragon doesn't pay much attention to Saphira except when he needs to go somewhere or have her do something. There are entire chapters that have gone by where we didn't even know she existed. So, this idea of seeing her as a pet or an animal instead of an intelligent creature in her own right, is perfectly reflected back in how Paolini portrays her in the books.
Beyond that, weighty moral dilemmas and the sheer number of events make for a rich narrative, he says. The story is so complex, in fact, that halfway through the writing of the book, Paolini decided to turn it into two books. "At a certain point, I realized that if I wrote the rest of Brisingr as I'd planned, it was going to end up being about 2,000 pages," he says.
Number of events also don't make for a rich narrative. They can slow the book down. Or turn it into the Wheel of Time. Also, whatever happened to Editing? You know, trimming the fat instead of you know deciding you have to make it into two books? Also, weighty moral dilemmas don't always mean good book either. They could make the book ponderous and preachy if not done right.
What had been billed for years as a trilogy became a four-book cycle. As it is, Brisingr is no lightweight at 784 pages. Paolini acknowledges that the book's sophistication reflects his growth as a writer, but he also sees it as the inevitable result of having spent nearly a decade immersed in the fictional world he created when he was just 15.
Um... again, page numbers =/= weighty or sophisticated or rich narrative. Growth of a writer is good though! And we certainly hope that he has grown. This is something that we'll have to wait and see. I'm not sure how being immersed in the fictional world also helps the sophistication of the writing. Perhaps the world, but not the writing.
The home-schooled teenager had earned his high school diploma early and wasn't ready to plunge into college yet when he began writing Eragon. Two years later, he gave it to his parents to read. They decided to self-publish the book and by the age of 18, the boy who'd grown up sheltered, living in the shadow of Montana's Beartooth Mountains with his parents and younger sister, suddenly found himself touring libraries, bookstores and schools to peddle his book. And he did it while wearing a medieval costume.
Blah...
Eventually, the book ended up in the hands of Michelle Frey, executive editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers, who offered Paolini a publishing contract. After that, success came at Paolini so hard and so fast that he found it difficult to fully grasp what he'd become.
"When Eragon came out I was—I'm going to use a cliché—pleased as punch, of course, and delighted, but I didn't really feel like I was a writer," he says. In fact, it's only been recently that he's felt comfortable using that word to describe himself.
Pleased as punch isn't the only cliche you use. >.>
It's funny. Many people who aren't "writers" call themselves writers, but he doesn't... didn't... I dunno. I'm not saying it as a criticism of him or anything, just a random thought.
Now that he has embraced the label, he's eager to keep growing and proving his abilities to himself. He knows that once he completes the fourth and final book in the cycle he will deeply miss Eragon and the land of Alagaësia, but he's looking forward to exploring other fictional worlds. He's already experimented with writing in different genres, including science fiction and noir.
So, why not write a fifth book? Just saying.
And even as fans wait breathlessly to get their hands on Brisingr, Paolini is taking nothing for granted. "There's always this feeling like, well, I still remember when I didn't have this and it still might not stick around," he says. "It's good not to be 100 percent comfortable, because if you're 100 percent comfortable, you can lose your edge."
Yeah or you might have a Breaking Dawn backlash. =D
Karen Holt is a freelance writer who lives in Connecticut.
It's from Bookpage, the Library magazine
From home-schooled teen to hit author, Paolini takes wing with dragon series
INTERVIEW BY KAREN HOLT
Even superstars get the jitters. Christopher Paolini tries not to dwell on the huge expectations surrounding Brisingr, the third book in his blockbuster Inheritance Cycle fantasy series.
Just curious... is it blockbuster if the entire thing hasn't come out yet? It sounds good. But it kinda reminds me of all the people saying it's an "instant classic" which is an oxymoron. Since if it's just come out, how can it be a classic... etc.
With the first two books in the series selling 15.5 million copies worldwide, Knopf is preparing for Brisingr's September 20 release with a 2.5 million-copy first printing, its biggest ever for a children's book. Meanwhile, fans are squealing messages like, "I can't wait!" and "OMG. I need it!" on web discussion boards.
Because you should trust fans that say things like OMG... Okay, kinda mean-ish
"As an author, I found that I can't really allow myself to think about those things," 24-year-old Paolini says, speaking by phone from his home in Montana. "I actually fell into that trap with the first part of Brisingr. . . . I sat there and I started obsessing about every single word."
Yes. You're a writer. You are supposed to do those things. Word obsession is what we do. Pick the wrong word and you get your readers giggling like school girls seeing Orlando Bloom. You want it to be good. This here is saying you stopped caring if you used the right words or not.
He worked past it by turning away from the keyboard and writing with an ink-dip pen on 80-pound parchment paper. His mother transcribed the pages. Now it's readers who are obsessing, spinning the meager bits of information Paolini has teased out to them into full-blown speculation about what will happen to Eragon, Saphira and the rest of the inhabitants of Alagaësia.
Uuuuummmmm..... ink dip pen on parchment paper...I did a bit of really really quick googling and 60 pound parchment paper is about 24 dollars a ream. And we don't know how many drafts or anything he wrote... and ink and new ink nibs... and that's just a little bit silly. Really bit silly. And expensive. And silly. Just... silly.
Makes me wonder if it made him feel like a real scribe when he was writing on parchment paper or something. I have no issues with the writing it by hand part. I do that sometimes too, it's just how utterly absurd it sounds when he says that he took to writing it by ink-dip pen and parchment paper as opposed to just saying by hand.
Also, full blown speculation would happen anyway.
Among the clues: Eragon will meet a new and terrifying enemy ("He likes to laugh a lot and not in a good way," says Paolini), Eragon will meet a god and one of the characters gets pregnant.
, if they're the terrifying enemy laughing a lot generally isn't going to be in a good way. Also, why isn't Galbatorix his new and terrifying enemy? And the god thing, this would prove that his elves were wrong. And I thought his elves were always right. They were the Enlightened Ones. I think it'll be interesting to see how he handles this then. If only, likely, proving that the character that is a god isn't really a god at all. Let's see... pregnant characters. Who's the only one we know of who's had sex? Could it be Katrina? *GASP* Could it be HER?! *GASP*
Anyone want to lay bets?
Paolini says Brisingr is more complex than the two books that preceded it, Eragon and Eldest, in part because of its multiple points of view. For the first time, portions of the story are told through Saphira's eyes. How did he find the voice of the smart, loyal and brilliantly sapphire female dragon? "I drew upon my own experience of the pets and animals that I grew up around, especially some of the cats I had," he says. "I thought a dragon would be like a cat in some ways, that same sort of self-satisfied attitude."
Multiple POVs don't necessarily mean that it's going to be more complex. Moby Dick had only one POV and it was insanely complex. (And irritating, but that's beyond the point). Also, we get an interesting insight on how Paolini views Saphira. We're told that Saphira is smart and loyal and acts like a cat. So, Saphira is basically a giant cat. We don't pay much attention to cats in regards to having intelligent conversation. Eragon doesn't pay much attention to Saphira except when he needs to go somewhere or have her do something. There are entire chapters that have gone by where we didn't even know she existed. So, this idea of seeing her as a pet or an animal instead of an intelligent creature in her own right, is perfectly reflected back in how Paolini portrays her in the books.
Beyond that, weighty moral dilemmas and the sheer number of events make for a rich narrative, he says. The story is so complex, in fact, that halfway through the writing of the book, Paolini decided to turn it into two books. "At a certain point, I realized that if I wrote the rest of Brisingr as I'd planned, it was going to end up being about 2,000 pages," he says.
Number of events also don't make for a rich narrative. They can slow the book down. Or turn it into the Wheel of Time. Also, whatever happened to Editing? You know, trimming the fat instead of you know deciding you have to make it into two books? Also, weighty moral dilemmas don't always mean good book either. They could make the book ponderous and preachy if not done right.
What had been billed for years as a trilogy became a four-book cycle. As it is, Brisingr is no lightweight at 784 pages. Paolini acknowledges that the book's sophistication reflects his growth as a writer, but he also sees it as the inevitable result of having spent nearly a decade immersed in the fictional world he created when he was just 15.
Um... again, page numbers =/= weighty or sophisticated or rich narrative. Growth of a writer is good though! And we certainly hope that he has grown. This is something that we'll have to wait and see. I'm not sure how being immersed in the fictional world also helps the sophistication of the writing. Perhaps the world, but not the writing.
The home-schooled teenager had earned his high school diploma early and wasn't ready to plunge into college yet when he began writing Eragon. Two years later, he gave it to his parents to read. They decided to self-publish the book and by the age of 18, the boy who'd grown up sheltered, living in the shadow of Montana's Beartooth Mountains with his parents and younger sister, suddenly found himself touring libraries, bookstores and schools to peddle his book. And he did it while wearing a medieval costume.
Blah...
Eventually, the book ended up in the hands of Michelle Frey, executive editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers, who offered Paolini a publishing contract. After that, success came at Paolini so hard and so fast that he found it difficult to fully grasp what he'd become.
"When Eragon came out I was—I'm going to use a cliché—pleased as punch, of course, and delighted, but I didn't really feel like I was a writer," he says. In fact, it's only been recently that he's felt comfortable using that word to describe himself.
Pleased as punch isn't the only cliche you use. >.>
It's funny. Many people who aren't "writers" call themselves writers, but he doesn't... didn't... I dunno. I'm not saying it as a criticism of him or anything, just a random thought.
Now that he has embraced the label, he's eager to keep growing and proving his abilities to himself. He knows that once he completes the fourth and final book in the cycle he will deeply miss Eragon and the land of Alagaësia, but he's looking forward to exploring other fictional worlds. He's already experimented with writing in different genres, including science fiction and noir.
So, why not write a fifth book? Just saying.
And even as fans wait breathlessly to get their hands on Brisingr, Paolini is taking nothing for granted. "There's always this feeling like, well, I still remember when I didn't have this and it still might not stick around," he says. "It's good not to be 100 percent comfortable, because if you're 100 percent comfortable, you can lose your edge."
Yeah or you might have a Breaking Dawn backlash. =D
Karen Holt is a freelance writer who lives in Connecticut.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
silly wabbit, skins are for meat-eaters
Date: 2008-09-19 11:57 am (UTC)i thought he was vegetarian and all "don't harm animals, don't use animal products" blah blah?
someone should tell him parchment is made from animal hide.
and the felt boots his characters wear is from beaver pelt.
Re: silly wabbit, skins are for meat-eaters
Date: 2008-09-19 04:31 pm (UTC)Felt boots are from beaver pelt?
Re: silly wabbit, skins are for meat-eaters
Date: 2008-09-19 08:25 pm (UTC)...parchment has a pretty distinct feel, kind of hard to replicate it exactly. if he was saying parchment and meant organic or home-pressed paper he should have said so. otherwise he's just showing his ignorance.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-19 01:19 pm (UTC)It's funny. Many people who aren't "writers" call themselves writers, but he doesn't... didn't... I dunno. I'm not saying it as a criticism of him or anything, just a random thought.]
Mm. I actually felt really uncomfortable at this quote because for me, it comes off as a dig at other aspiring (which usually means unpublished) writers disguised as humility. If Paolini didn't consider himself a writer until he had two best-selling books, then I feel like it's a safe assumption that he has similar standards for other people.
That's something we all do, to a certain extent -- we look at those who are less successful than us as writers (and success can mean a bunch of different things -- how often they write, how much they produce, the quality of the writing, how much they've sold, WHAT they write) and go, "oh, they aren't *really* writers". But it's a really shitty thing to think about another person. Perhaps they're a bad writer. Perhaps they're a hobbyist writer. But if they're putting words on the page, they're still a writer.
(this rant is brought to you by too much lurking on the Gaia writing forum, where it is all about belittling people who haven't written 6 novels yet.)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-19 04:42 pm (UTC)Or he's trying for false modesty -as you said. For me, I've always considered someone a writer if they try to write something that's not for class or to get it published. They write for writing's sake or to get paid. That's just me.
Admittedly they aren't always good writers but the fact that they write is enough for me.
(this rant is brought to you by too much lurking on the Gaia writing forum, where it is all about belittling people who haven't written 6 novels yet.)
But are they published novels. :D
no subject
Date: 2008-09-19 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-19 04:48 pm (UTC)Pretentious writers, also agreeing with.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-20 03:41 am (UTC)I find the "He likes to laugh a lot and not in a good way," description incredibly childish. One, because it's, well, a villian with an evil laughter- I thought those were restricted to children's cartoons. Two, that's just a terrible description. I can't take it seriously at all (and let me guess, the character laughs at the suffering of others/when he's going to do an evil thing/ when he's fighting/when he's torturing someone).