I have to make a record of two books that we talked about tonight...books some among us have read and enjoyed immensely (I am not one of them...I am one who should read them). One of the books is Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M. Miller, a science fiction piece from the 1950s (I don't read much sci-fi) that tells the story of what happens after the acts of people of our time effectively end civilization; it's about how civilization is reborn.
The other book is The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell, another sci-fi with religious overtones. The way it was described to me, though, by people who I would characterize as anything but religious, makes me want to read it.
Thinking a bit about what I have been told about both books, without having read them, makes me want to get back to my serious efforts to write. One of the books I want to write might be entitled Matter, telling the personal story of a slightly misanthropic scientist/physicist as she uncovers and tries to explain the principles of how all matter is related to all other matter, how those principles are simple and traceable, and how that understanding can lead to a world without strife, violence, need, inequity, and the thousands of other problems that plaque humankind. Unlike other "we had the answer and we let it slip away" stories, this story will capture all the reasons that people tend to let those simple solutions slip away. It will tantalize the reader with possibilities that can answer any question ever posed.
I think this idea has merit. Please do not steal it, lest I put a razor-sharp steal dagger deep into your worthless heart after subjecting you to intense and almost unbearable pain for days and days and days on end. Don't believe me? Try me, motherfucker. I'm not feeling particularly hospitable toward people who take food off others' tables or take opportunitities out of others' reach.
My intellectual explorations today have gone from the depts of the ocean to the depths of the human heart. Ricochet. That word rings true about my mental gymnastics.
1 comment:
Believe it or not, stealing ideas for novels rarely happens, for the simple reason that real, published writers have no shortage of ideas of their own, and those who don't are too lazy to write.
When I first started writing my very first novel, I picked up a book at the library and read the jacket cover. It was exactly like my plot! I was horribly depressed, for days and weeks, months, even, not writing another word on my has-been novel. Finally I went back to the library and read the book. (It was by Clare Francis.)
It was nothing at all like my idea. Not at all. Our writing styles were completely different.
I would imagine two different writers could take the exact same plot and write two completely different books. It's voice, a writer's fingerprints, that makes each book unique. In fact, the thing editors say they are looking for the most is Voice, and my advice to new writers is always to strive to identify their own unique voice.
Much too long for a comment, sorry--I should write a novel. ;)
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