tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post3316266355664561841..comments2024-03-09T11:34:22.175+00:00Comments on The History Girls: New Worlds - by Katherine LangrishMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-47639217852533347032012-01-05T21:55:55.506+00:002012-01-05T21:55:55.506+00:00I have just bought The Last of the Wine to read. Y...I have just bought The Last of the Wine to read. Yes, it is amazing how much one has to do that doesn't actually come out on the page - or rather, apparently not, and yet, as you say, it's the creation of a world, and your knowledge has its effect on every word you write and every speech the characters make.Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-56166236702173261652012-01-05T09:57:56.148+00:002012-01-05T09:57:56.148+00:00Thankyou all - and Louise, I so agree that the ski...Thankyou all - and Louise, I so agree that the skills to build a convincing world in fiction are all one whatever genre we're writing - and I ought to add that everyone goes about it in their own way. I just happen to be one of those writers who can't proceed unless I can see everything in minute detai, but I'm not sure it's always a benefit!Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-17747805173266158492012-01-04T23:01:56.508+00:002012-01-04T23:01:56.508+00:00This is such a brilliant post, Kath - and very hum...This is such a brilliant post, Kath - and very humbling. I wish my sketches were good enough to be posted on a blog, but I can't usually even work out what they're meant to be myself :(<br /><br />But it's so true to say you're creating a whole world with your research, and I think it's particularly important that you've included the different mindsets and perspectives with it by showing your Norse heroes from the outside. I simply have to read 'Troll Blood' now.<br /><br />And you're right, writing a novel set in the future must be involving many of the same skills - as well as a whole lot more I can't even imagine. It's all world-building in the end, and I've often thought sci-fi and fantasy writers are really our sisters under the skin...alberridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15986443240923520466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-68308295931327652592012-01-04T20:20:20.712+00:002012-01-04T20:20:20.712+00:00A very topical post, Kath, since I have just spent...A very topical post, Kath, since I have just spent most of the day struggling to draw a fantasy map of Wales, trying to reimagine it in the 6th century for the 3rd book of my Pendragon series - and that's somewhere I've actually lived, yet I still have a first draft full of dodgy geography! (To say nothing of angry dragons...)Katherine Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-21931210835532890162012-01-04T17:05:01.686+00:002012-01-04T17:05:01.686+00:00How brave to imagine a whole new world. Historica...How brave to imagine a whole new world. Historical research presents its own problems but is arguably more straightforward. Novels are always the tip of the iceberg that lies beneath and the research and composting down of the story is perhaps the most crucial aspect. Good luck with your exciting venture.Linda B-Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01599899073420595717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-85602265565021320412012-01-04T13:01:04.365+00:002012-01-04T13:01:04.365+00:00Fascinating, Kath. Am hugely impressed by the map,...Fascinating, Kath. Am hugely impressed by the map, in particular!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-6950333321228781472012-01-04T10:59:19.477+00:002012-01-04T10:59:19.477+00:00This is a brilliant post and I agree with Caroline...This is a brilliant post and I agree with Caroline about The Last of the Wine...<br />It also makes me feely guilty about my LACK of research...oh dear! <br />And can't wait to read your novel set in the Future....adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-61996173888257121812012-01-04T10:26:17.283+00:002012-01-04T10:26:17.283+00:00I know exactly what you mean about creatign worlds...I know exactly what you mean about creatign worlds in the future needed as much rigour if not more than creating past worlds. I spent months creating my Peace Child world before I started writing. <br />I'm going the other way now: I'm now writing a novle set in the 1940s.Gill Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00632631163777155215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-4980303753197975502012-01-04T07:43:12.872+00:002012-01-04T07:43:12.872+00:00Wonderful post, Kath! Not least because you quote ...Wonderful post, Kath! Not least because you quote from the book that changed my life by sparking my interest in the Classical world. The Last of the Wine is probably my favourite fictional book. Every line is wonderful. Her books, like yours, absolutely transport the reader to that world, thanks to her imagination and research (like yours). If Patrick O'Brian is the king of historical fiction - and he is! - then Mary Renault is the queen.Caroline Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249424644829463560noreply@blogger.com