Martin@YALE.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (07/30/83)
From: Charles Martin <Martin@YALE.ARPA> Re Tolkein's not knowing which way the plot winds were blowing when the characters were at Bree: I remember hearing something similar about Katherine Anne Porter's "Ship of Fools"; that the characters and their stories took effective control of the book. Thesis: Tolkein's works are better for his having to meet editorial pressures, in that the characters forced the story, and not the author. (Don't be too literal-minded with me; you know what I'm saying.) The question is, how can this state be reached in the writing process? It is futile to speak of "Philly in '86" bids. This implies some weird fascination with an absolutist view of time. The Mpls in '73 bid is still active, and gaining momentum along parallel time tracks. We can expect this to be the next (in a perceptual reference frame, at least) interval of faan activity. (You always knew it was a state of mind.) -------