Jeff’s answer to “Hey Jeff, So I guess my question(s) is, do you ever feel like, 'Well, gee, I need to do some more e…” > Likes and Comments
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But in all seriousness--I put a lot of thought into what characters might or might not be able to figure out or know in various spots in the novels. I always feel it's a cheat if a character somehow susses out the mystery in an unconvincing way. So it's less about me thinking about what to reveal or not, and more trying to inhabit the characters.
Thank you so much for a great answer to a hacked up question! I had a limited number of characters to use on the question, so it ended up not really being exactly what I wanted to say. Anyway, I love the fact that you reveal just the right amount of information through your characters as to keep us, the readers, compelled. The fun is never taken out. We know what they know. Also, I'm sure your editor is a very sensible person!
My editor was really helpful in figuring out the reveals in book 3. It's definitely an important thing--too much and there's no mystery left, which is bad when the whole point is an encounter with the inexplicable. Being too vague also isn't that great, so....
I like the fact that we're not spoon-fed anything. One thing I wanted to comment on, was in both Annihilation, and Authority, the dialogue is absolutely far out. That's really the only way I can put it. The psychologist, who we later find out is the director, has such an amazing deflective quality to her speech. Also, this seems to be the case with her 2nd in command, always rebuffing, and side swiping Control. Did you study anybody in particular to give this almost chess-like thought and speech pattern to some of your characters? Is this how people in arcane organizations speak? Sorry for the extra questions.
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Jeff
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Jun 23, 2014 07:18AM
But in all seriousness--I put a lot of thought into what characters might or might not be able to figure out or know in various spots in the novels. I always feel it's a cheat if a character somehow susses out the mystery in an unconvincing way. So it's less about me thinking about what to reveal or not, and more trying to inhabit the characters.
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Thank you so much for a great answer to a hacked up question! I had a limited number of characters to use on the question, so it ended up not really being exactly what I wanted to say. Anyway, I love the fact that you reveal just the right amount of information through your characters as to keep us, the readers, compelled. The fun is never taken out. We know what they know. Also, I'm sure your editor is a very sensible person!
My editor was really helpful in figuring out the reveals in book 3. It's definitely an important thing--too much and there's no mystery left, which is bad when the whole point is an encounter with the inexplicable. Being too vague also isn't that great, so....
I like the fact that we're not spoon-fed anything. One thing I wanted to comment on, was in both Annihilation, and Authority, the dialogue is absolutely far out. That's really the only way I can put it. The psychologist, who we later find out is the director, has such an amazing deflective quality to her speech. Also, this seems to be the case with her 2nd in command, always rebuffing, and side swiping Control. Did you study anybody in particular to give this almost chess-like thought and speech pattern to some of your characters? Is this how people in arcane organizations speak? Sorry for the extra questions.
