Today's Lecture by SteamU Professor: Author Laurel Anne Hill
Author of: "Heroes Arise" and numerous short stories which have appeared in a variety of publications, most recently in the anthologies How Beer Saved the World, A Bard in the Hand, Horrible Disasters, Fault Zone, and Shanghai Steam, a steampunk-wuxia collection. In April, 2013, Shanghai Steam was nominated for an Aurora Award in Canada.
Further Discourse Available: www.laurelannehill.com
Books Available Here: "Heroes Arise" at Amazon.com
Today's Lecture:
Steampunk Beyond England
Cho Ting-Lam, the Moon-Flame Woman, speaks out:
Tips for Unpublished Characters
by Laurel Hill
I dangled down the side of the
mountain. The hanging basket holding me
rocked. My hand wedged an explosive
stick into a hole in granite. I lit the
fuse. Would my fellow workers pull me to
safety in time?
Such excitement. Such terror.
Before this, I'd only dreamed I'd help build a section of the
transcontinental railway through the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1866. Now here I was, Cho Ting-Lam, living my dream
on the published page — despite the plethora of potholes which had peppered my path
toward story character success.
Please forgive me, dear readers. The idea of a nineteenth-century Chinese
woman mentioning a plethora of potholes probably surprises you. I should have first explained. Many people — including writers — don't realize
the truth about story characters, their origins and their journeys. Each character knows more than you might
guess.
I
once lived in a shadow world of fictional and nonfictional characters, all searching
for authors to tell their tales. But our
stories weren't about what really happened to us. They described our imagined adventures ― some
from the world's actual history and some not.
Although I was a nineteenth-century Chinese woman in my heart, I had
come into consciousness as a twentieth-century American woman of Chinese
ancestry. It was a challenge to portray
a character who struggled with English, for I spoke the language well. I was a character and actor looking for a job. But no writers wanted me.
What
joy when author Laurel Anne Hill chose and named me! I moved from the shadow world into her head
to help create the short story: Moon-Flame
Woman. Only then did I comprehend
the compromise part of our arrangement.
Of course I agreed to cooperate. Laurel planned to submit Moon-Flame Woman to SHANGHAI
STEAM, a steampunk-wuxia anthology.
Most steampunk point-of-view characters were British, mainland Western
European or North American. I was proud
to depict nineteenth-century Chinese immigrants as individuals and show the dishonorable
way American barbarians had treated them.
First of all, as a steampunk
point-of-view character, I promised to personally use or confront steampunk
technology in action scenes. Thus,
disguised as a man, I would operate the moon-flame gun to drill holes in
rock. This light-ray gun was powered by
a combination of qi and solar-charged
crystals. I also would practice the
martial art, Baguachang. But could I do these things and still remain in
character as Cho Ting-Lam? Many brave
women in nineteenth-century China had been warriors in the peasant
uprising. My answer to my question was
"yes."
Next, Laurel explained how I must
avoid using unrealistic dialogue or thoughts designed to dump information on readers. For example, qi is a life force or vital energy that flows through everything in
the universe, but qi has more than
one definition and there's more than one type of qi. I understood qi and always had. Laurel didn't have to worry. I would never ponder the word's meaning in my
story. I wouldn't explain qi to Master Ye, one of my fellow
characters in Moon-Flame Woman, because
he understood it, too. Instead, I would show
that qi permitted me to achieve oneness
with my moon-flame gun and call forth strong energy.
Laurel also had definite ideas how
I must deal with back story: information that happened before the official
story had started. New point-of-view characters
should keep the following in mind.
·
Combine short clips of back story with
forward story, when possible. For
example, my father had sold me into slavery.
Laurel and I handled that information with the following sentence: Failure today would further erode her
dignity, although far less than when her father sold her into slavery.
·
When using multiple sentences to detail
back story, consider leading with the most vivid image rather than adhering to
strict chronological order. Real people
recall past events in such a manner.
Then there was the subject of point
of view. I still remember the very first
time I entered the writing zone with Laurel, the place in her head where she
and I shut out the rest of the world. I
started acting out my story in first person point-of-view.
"Use close third," Laurel
said. "We have too many
cultural-knowledge deficiencies to get any closer than that."
Had I heard correctly? In my imagination, I had always narrated in
first person.
"Don't you think I know enough,"
I said, "about nineteenth-century Chinese women?" Was it shameful for me to confront my author?
Point
#2 for unpublished characters to understand and remember: Confrontations between authors and characters
happen. Work them out for the good of
the story.
Laurel pulled a book from a nearby
shelf: Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card. She pointed to a comment printed on the back
cover. "Vivid and memorable
characters aren't born. They have to be
made." Laurel and I went over
Chapter Seventeen: Third Person. Indeed,
close third had the potential of being quite powerful.
"Cho Ting-Lam is brave,"
Laurel added, "but quiet. She
sometimes lacks self-confidence. First
person narrators often have an attitude she wouldn't have. Third person will work better for her in
several ways."
Laurel read me the openings of two
of her many stories to demonstrate how she has used close third-person points
of view.
·
Laurel's award-winning steampunk short
story: Flight of Destiny
(Horror Addicts Podcast, 2011)
The Destiny lurched and swayed
toward the steamship's flight deck, the stiff winds almost more than the
sluggish dirigible could manage. Sir Addison
James proceeded down his landing checklist, flashing a reassuring smile in the
lovely Carlotta's direction. Based on
her tight-lipped expression, his newest paramour had little stomach for the
adventure of aviation.
Too
bad Meg wasn't in the co-pilot's seat this afternoon instead of Carlotta. Addison's deceased wife had designed this
four-passenger aircraft and, by Jove, she'd always made her flying machines
perform to perfection. He did miss her
assistance sometimes. Truth be told,
though, he missed her pecan and current cake far more.
"Notice how," Laurel
said, "the reader feels closer to Addison in the second paragraph than in
the first?"
Yes, and the added distance in the
first paragraph suggested aloofness. The
closeness in the second one showed Addison's self-centered attitude. I listened for her second example.
·
Laurel's award-winning
novel, HEROES ARISE (KOMENAR
Publishing, 2007)
Gundack
glanced back into the darkness. His caravan of drivers and sandship lizards had
settled for the night and now only awaited his return at Jular Plateau. He
would join them again when he had concluded his business at the merchant
encampment before him. Crumbled rocks encountered on the climb down irritated
the webbing between his toes. Less bothersome though than the predictions of
that soothsayer. A human, not a fellow kren, held vital information, if not his
very future. Not a desirable situation. Humans were so unpredictable.
HEROES ARISE was not steampunk, but it did deal with a different
culture. Laurel had designed the opening
paragraph to show Gundack wasn't human and to set the scene for trouble due to human
unpredictability. Notice the way Laurel
avoided identifiers
such as "he thought" and "he wanted," which would distance
the reader from Gundack. Laurel uses
such identifiers only when necessary for emphasis, rhythm or clarity.
By the way, the above opening
paragraph to HEROES ARISE wasn't in
the version Laurel first sent to KOMENAR's editor. Gundack had jumped right into his story as
fast as he could. So please make special note of the following:
Point
#3 for unpublished characters to understand and remember: Don’t be impatient. Help your author make your story the best it
can be.
Now, dear reader, let us travel
forward to the time when Laurel and I completed the third draft of Moon-Flame Woman. Laurel submitted the manuscript to friends. Her writing group had some excellent suggestions
for improving the piece. So did her writing
mentor, Charlotte Cook.
Still, had Laurel and I correctly
portrayed nineteenth-century Chinese culture?
Laurel's friend — author and writing coach Teresa LeYung Ryan — read the
story. It is a good thing she did. In the lunch scene, I had waited for Master
Ye to ask me to pour him more tea. I
should have paid closer attention to his needs and refilled his cup without his
prompting. How embarrassed I would have
been if my thoughtlessness had shown up on the printed page.
Well, all our hard work brought
reward. Absolute XPress/Edge Science
Fiction and Fantasy Publishing included Moon-Flame
Woman in SHANGHAI STEAM, launched
at the 2012 World Fantasy Con. In April
2013, SHANGHAI STEAM was nominated
for an Aurora Award in Canada. I remain
so honored.
As for Laurel, she is considering
writing another Chinese steampunk short story.
I know an unpublished Chinese character whose imagined adventures Laurel
would adore. True, this character grumbles
at every pothole in her path toward success.
But Laurel and I could enlighten her.
I'm sure.
About the Author:
Laurel Anne Hill's award-winning novel, "Heroes Arise," was published by KOMENAR in 2007. Two-dozen of Laurel's science fiction/fantasy/horror short stories have appeared in a variety of publications, most recently in the anthologies How Beer Saved the World, A Bard in the Hand, Horrible Disasters, Fault Zone, and Shanghai Steam, a steampunk-wuxia collection. In April, 2013, Shanghai Steam was nominated for an Aurora Award in Canada. Visit Laurel's website and podcast at http://www.laurelannehill.com.
Please join me next Friday for another fantastic Steampunk feature! Thank you very much to Laurel Anne Hill for joining us today. I feel like my characters "find" me as well. It is nice to see another writer discuss their characters in this way. I makes me feel more normal. Thank you for sharing. Until next Friday . . .
Class Dismissed!
Thank you, Melanie!
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonderful post! Thanks for participating, Laurel!
ReplyDeleteDear talented Laurel Anne Hill,
ReplyDeleteWhat an engaging interview!
I was honored that you had asked me to read your "Moon-Flame Woman." I didn't even know what steampunk was until you and Cho Ting-Lam got involved in the anthology. Hearty congratulations on your contribution to SHANGHAI STEAM and your continuing success with HEROES ARISE.
Sincerely,
22-Day Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan