Author Philip Pullman has written a new His Dark Materials short story. “The Collectors” explores the past of the antagonist, Mrs. Coulter.
Pullman’s piece was created exclusively for Audible as a ‘thank you’ gift to the company’s members; English actor Bill Nighy served as the narrator for this audiobook. The video embedded above features an excerpt.
The Guardian reports that this project marks “Pullman’s first return to the universe of Lyra Belacqua, the heroine of his acclaimed trilogy, since he published the prequel novella Once Upon a Time in the North six years ago.” Fans of this children’s book series are waiting with bated breath for the His Dark Materials sequel novel, The Book of Dust.
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Writing is normally a solitary occupation and I rather like that about it.
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| Tuscany- my shed |
There is that feeling of living with and in your characters' heads, so beautifully expressed in Ellen Renner's ABBA post a couple of days ago
Visitors From the World Called Imagination I like to slope off to Tuscany (my shed), to disappear into another place or time, and live in my head for a while.
I am not sure I know where the ideas and characters come from but I find that nothing will kill off my enthusiasm for a story idea more than plotting it all out before I begin to write.
I prefer to discover the plot alongside my characters and feel all their uncertainty and excitement.
Without this I lose that tingle in my spine and the sense of wonder and endless possibilities that make writing such a delight and pleasure. I have to admit that sometimes it can also become incredibly hard if I lose my way, and I imagine that those who plot carefully before they begin at least have signposts to keep them on track. Unfortunately each time I try to plot a story out chapter by chapter beforehand, it all too soon begins to feel a bit flat.
Some writers have written successful collaborations but I've always wondered how they did it. What was the mechanism? Were they working together bouncing ideas off each other, throwing around phrases or dialogue while one wrote it all down or working separately, each adding different segments of the story?
I once wrote part of a novel with another writer in the form of letters between two characters who knew nothing of each other to start with. Each of us took one character and replied to the previous letter as suited the character and their temperament. It was a lot of fun being really stroppy and fascinating to see how the characters developed and changed as the story progressed and they drew nearer to meeting each other. It was never finished as other writing commitments got in the way, but it might be interesting to come back to it one day.
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| from Hamish McHaggis |
Working closely with an illustrator - as I have for some years with
Sally J. Collins on the Hamish McHaggis books - is again a different way of working.
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A bit of friendly collaboration is fun! Ann Turnbull and Linda Newbery and I worked quite closely on the Historical House books but each book was individually written. I would hate input from someone else on a book, I think, unless it were something like you're doing, Linda with the letters. And even then...not sure I'd enjoy it too much. Writing is such a selfish activity...I do like to think of myself as THE BOSS! And I'm a planner. Not a chapter by chapter but a careful working out of most main things in advance. Not that the plan doesn't change as I write because it often does. Very interesting post!
Very interesting post, Linda. Thanks. I fly solo, well, it's me and the characters so it's not completely solo. I don't plan either, I like to go where the story takes me. The last, and only, time I've collaborated, my friend ducked out and I ended up writing the whole story! But I'd happily try collaborating again...
Yes,I too like to think I am the boss, Adele, that I am in control. But I think my characters snigger about that behind my back!
Savita. The collaboration thing is like any partnership it is difficult to get it right and there has to be commitment from both sides.
Having been trapped for ages by a character that stomped "on stage" and was too good to remove, I've been wishing I was a planner.
But I think I'd need a planning partner to help me qwork it all through. I am definitely a dreamer-upper and a meanderer-about until the pattern suddenly reveals itself. Not the most time effective approach.
I'm an organic writer as well. But it takes longer to accomplish a great story because there are so many rewrites as you go along. I think it was E. L. Doctorow who compared writing to being in a car at night... 'you only see as far as the headlights go, but you make the journey anyway!' As far as collaboration goes, working with an illustrator has been a great experience as once the images are there I can drop some text! I don't think I'd be a good collaborator on a novel but doing the Bath Fest story was great... it freed me up to write fast with a playful, anything goes approach.
I definitely fly solo and I am not a plotter. I am still puzzled by the fact that I will write something into the first few pages with no idea at all as to why it is there. Sometime later the reason for it appears and surprises me. Maybe it is because I am not a proper author?
I'm definitely a discovery writer but often think I should knuckle down and do a bit more planning. Most of it seems to go on in my head and it doesn't work so well if I write the plans down. I couldn't collaborate on a novel. But I have worked with two different illustrators and loved it. However, I do like working to a commission with guidelines, however brief. Set me on a course and I run with the wind in my hair.
Penny, your approach obviously works, I've just finished Mouse and it was a great read!
Dianne, I love that quote about writing being like driving a car at night. It often feels to me like I can only see a short way ahead.
Hi Cat. I don't think that makes you less of a 'proper' author, being surprised by the story is part of the fun. We all find the best way and I think all the comments show this, although I do know there are some ardent plotters out there who plot the entire thing first - it's just not how I work!
Miriam - I also enjoy sometimes working to a commission with guidelines - it is a bit of a challenge and often having a deadline pushes me to get writing.
It is fascinating to see how people work, isn't it.
Solo or collaboration, which is best? At the risk of sounding like Harry Hill in his TV Burp there's only one way to find out... Fight!
Sorry!
With the actual writing of books its solo for me, but I'm not averse to asking people close to me for ideas when I'm stuck. But recently I've been collaborating with a friend on a script which has been great fun.
Linda - I love your Tuscany shed!