The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [8]
“True. I have heard the point made, though, that the novelist’s skill lies in the artful selection of detail. Do you not suppose that a volume of such length may indicate a lack of discipline in such selection, and hence a lack of skill?”
Fraser considered, sipping the ruby liquid slowly.
“I have seen books where that is the case, to be sure,” he said. “An author seeks by sheer inundation of detail to overwhelm the reader into belief. In this case, however, I think it isna so. Each character is most carefully considered, and all the incidents chosen seem necessary to the story. No, I think it is true that some stories simply require a greater space in which to be told.”
—VOYAGER, Chapter 11: “The Torremolinos Gambit”
1The university and I later sold this publication to John Wiley & Sons, Inc., though I continued to serve as editor. It eventually was sold again, to a small British publisher, who merged it with an existing publication called Laboratory Microcomputer. Last time I looked, I was still listed as a contributing editor, but that was some time ago.
2Oh, the comic books. Well, my mother taught me to read at an early age, in part by reading me Walt Disney comics. What with one thing and another, I never stopped. At the age of twenty-eight or so, I was reading one of these, and said to myself, You know, this story is pretty bad. I bet I could do better myself.
I found out the name and address of the editor in charge, and sent him a medium-rude letter, saying in essence, “I’ve been reading your comic books for twenty-five years, and they’re getting worse and worse. I don’t know that I could do better myself but I’d like to try.”
Fortunately the editor—Del Connell—was a gentleman with a sense of humor. He wrote back and said, “Okay. Try.” He didn’t buy my first attempt, but did something much more valuable; he told me what was wrong with it. He bought my second story—one of the Great Thrills of my life—and I wrote for him and for another Disney editor, Tom Golberg, for some three years, until their backlog obliged them to stop purchasing freelance scripts.
Between them, Del and Tom taught me most of what I know about story structure. I acknowledge the debt with great gratitude.
3This is a really sound technique, by the way.
4Doctor Who is unfortunately no longer on our local PBS channel, but luckily I can still do my nails on Saturday nights, while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000—which is, in fact, the only TV I do watch on a regular basis. No doubt this explains something but I couldn’t tell you what.
5It was “War Games, “for those interested in trivia.
6See “Research.”
7Via posted messages, left bulletin-board style; I’ve never been in a “chat room” in my life, save as an invited guest for a mass public interview.
8“Libraries” are electronic spaces set aside within CompuServe forums for members to post—semipermanently—things they’d like to share: stories, poems, essays, articles, shareware files, etc.
9Chat rooms and live-time interactions did not exist at the time. CompuServe messages, unlike those of AOL, exist only temporarily, with new messages essentially “pushing” old ones off into the ether.
10A slightly altered version of this synopsis appears in Part Two.
11Ignorant as I was at the time, I hadn’t realized that agents (and editors) normally want to see a complete manuscript before making a judgment on it—-just to be sure that the writer can actually finish the book. Perry, fortunately, was willing to gamble that I could.
12Who, interestingly enough, rejected the manuscript. “It’s a great story,” she said, “but it’s not really a standard romance novel, and that’s what we publish.”
13See “Where Titles Come From (and Other Matters of General Interest)”. I just love footnotes, don’t you?
PART ONE
SYNOPSES
These synopses are provided for the benefit of those readers who send me letters saying “Who the heck is Archie Hayes?” or “I don’t remember exactly how they got from Falkirk to the Duke’s house, can you clear