Katrine Cady
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hi Lois, How do you know when a novel is “finished?” Do you find yourself tweaking things for weeks after you first think you are done with a story, or are you more of a “once and done” kind of author? When I paint, once I’ve signed my work, I never touch it with a brush again. I was wondering if writing was the same.
Lois McMaster Bujold
I pretty much know by gut feel when the events of a novel have come to the right conclusion on the scene-by-scene level -- although for Cryoburn I added the codicil/drabbles after some comments from test readers, to keep folks from galloping off in all directions with sequel speculation. There follows a revision pass, when I have collected and collated comments from test readers and editors, on either the finished first draft or chapter by chapter, depending, and respond to them as seems right. On the sentence and word level, I tweak till the thing leaves my hands for publication, and on the typo and polishing level, for decades after, as opportunity permits.
So, not much like painting, no.
(Although very much like sand painting in a windstorm.)
Ta, L.
So, not much like painting, no.
(Although very much like sand painting in a windstorm.)
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Joseph
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Regarding Barrayar's Time Of Isolation, if I've got the timeline about right: 0-90 years, still had a dwindling tech base; 100-400, Bloody Centuries, regression to Agricultural Age; 400-450, Unification under the Emperor and canonization of the Vor caste; 450-600, Golden Age of the Vor; ~600 years, End of the ToI; ~625, Cetagandan Invasion; ~645, Aral born, ~650, Barrayar freed. Roughly on target?
A Goodreads user
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Uterine replicators are happening. "Dr. Hanna said he and his colleagues had taken fertilized eggs from the oviducts of female mice just after fertilization — at Day 0 of development — and had grown them in the artificial uterus for 11 days." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/health/mice-artificial-uterus.html https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03416-3 ?
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