Gradual Interview
(answers from August 2005, as of Jan 11 2026, 11:28:02 PM)
www.StephenRDonaldson.com
© 2004 by Stephen R.Donaldson

John Schwarting

I'll take my time getting to the question, because I feel some background and praise is needed. I think I have a bit of giant in me. I discovered The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant six years ago, when my aunt gave me a copy of Lord Fouls Bane. It was a catalyst in my life because after I was done with both the series I started devouring books of all types day after day. I still have never read a series that I am more fond of. When I read in my aunts beat up and cover torn copy of Lord Fouls Bane that you lived in New Mexico I was thrilled, I asked her and she said you frequently go to signing and conventions that come to Albuquerque.I started a search then in used bookstores everywhere to find a good condition hardcover copy of Lord Fouls Bane. Well from 1999 till now I have been looking and the internet finally yielded an end to that search. So now the question, at the upcoming BUBONICON 37 on august 26 will you be signing any books so my long search can come to an end?

I'm always happy to sign books when I'm "out in public" (e.g. at conventions, conferences, and book tours).  And I'll definitely be signing at Bubonicon later this month (August 2005).

(08/08/2005)

Michael Hudson

Dear Mr.Donaldson, 
Your books are credited for drawing me into read for the shear joy of reading (As opposed to being forced to read school books). 20 something years ago as a teen I dared to follow Tomas Covenant across the land(from the safety of my bedroom). But as creative as I think my mind is, I have never been able to picture your characters in my mind's eye. I really want to know what your creatures from your mind really look like as you have envisioned them. I've always wanted to see from your eyes what these people and some of the places look like. Even in your descriptions I still don't know how revelstone,mount thunder,or revelwood look like. Is there anyway you could get together with someone who might draw these things for your website or a book just of characters and places of the chronicles? Thats what I am really asking for. Except, well its kind of silly, but the printers never seem to have given a leigable map of the land in any of the printings I have of your books. Alot of names of places are unreadable and its not always clear where the place is. For example I see mithil stonedown written on a map and no dot as on a regular map indicating its position. Will you have someone do these things someday soon?
Sincerely,
Michael Hudson

Setting aside the issue of maps for a moment....

There are a couple of issues involved in my visual descriptions.  First, as I keep saying, I'm not a visual person.  I "see" with words.  In other words, I don't have a visual in my mind which I then translate into words.  Rather I think of words which then evoke visuals.  I see scenes and characters because I have described them rather than the other way around.  So what you get in the text is pretty much all there is.  If I were to sit down with an extremely gifted and intuitive artist and suffer over it for hours, I still wouldn't be able to show you what's in my head.  What's in my head is words.

But within that context, I do emphasize certain kinds of descriptive words and de-emphasize others because I'm not interested in literal "accuracy" (which doesn't exist anyway because I don't have visuals in my head):  I'm interested in the power of words to evoke emotional and imaginative reactions.  I figure if I can engage the reader's emotions and imagination, the reader will create his/her own visuals (which will be far more effective than any literal description).

In short, you're never going to see the kind of visual representations you're looking for.  Sorry about that.  (But if you're just *dying* for something literal, look at the Holt cover art for "The Power that Preserves" on this site:  there you'll see a mundane, unevocative, but fairly accurate image of Revelstone.)

Maps are a different problem.  (And there's nothing anyone can do about the difficulties caused by spreading the maps over two pages:  detail will always be lost in the crease.  Squeezing the map down onto one page would make it virtually unreadable.)  The original "Covenant" maps were exactly what I wanted--and I didn't try to be precise about things like exACTly where Mithil Stonedown is because I didn't care:  all I wanted to convey was a general idea of where things are in relation to each other.  Unfortunately, the maps in "The Runes of the Earth" are *not* what I wanted.  They were produced in an atrocious hurry; I don't like the style; and the artist and I had no effective way of communicating with each other.  Perhaps the situation will improve with "Fatal Revenant."  I hope that I'll be able to work with a professional who will take the original "Covenant" map and elaborate on it according to my specifications.  But I don't have the clout (i.e. my books don't sell well enough) to make any promises.

(08/08/2005)

Will

Dear Mr Donaldson,
Barring the few "authorial screwups" that you have admitted in the GI, I think that you have done an excellent job of maintaining internal consistency within incredibly complex stories (particularly the GAP series and the Covenant books).  So much in these stories builds on what took place earlier that being internally consistent must be very important. And I imagine that this must be particularly the case with the Last Chronicles, where caesures are bringing bits of the past story literally into the present.

My question is how do you do this?  How do you keep track of exactly who did and said what with whom and where and when?   Do you use some sort of story mapping tool?  

I've already discussed this at some length.  But it's been a long time; so briefly....

I don't know what a "story mapping tool" is, but I certainly don't have one.  I have mountains of notes, which I deliberately keep disorganized (so that when I want something specific I have to refresh my memory of all my notes).  I re-read (and rewrite) a LOT.  I work from heavily annotated copies of the first six books.  I write out Q&As for myself.  When all else fails, I'm fairly clever about finding creative uses for apparent inconsistencies.  And I have diligent readers who help me watch for authorial screwups before my books get published.  (Editors and copy-editors used to do this sort of thing; but now they simply don't have the time.  However, they contribute generously by allowing me to make corrections *after* books are published--which they are *not* required to do.)

(08/08/2005)

James Hastings

I just posted a joke on here, but then remembered a real question I wanted to ask.  I won't post again for a while:

Do you still get money when we buy newly published copies of the first Covenant books? 

Also, from Forbidden Knowlege: "...and the term 'an Estevez' referred to "a major blunder with beneficial results."  Did you know that the same year FK was published, the simpsons officially defined "Pulling a Homer" as "to succeed despite idiocy," due to a situation at the power plant that is similar in theme to Estevez's invention of the gap drive?  Dig the synergy.

Unless a book is "work for hire" (not relevant in this discussion), the author gets a royalty for every copy of every book that's ever sold (legally, anyway:  pirates don't pay royalties).  However.  Publishers acquire the right to publish a book by paying the author up-front money:  an advance (literally "an advance on royalties").  From that moment forward, every penny of the author's royalties goes to the publisher to pay back the advance.  The author receives no more money until the advance has been paid back (this is called "earning out"):  after that, the publisher passes the royalties on to the author.  So it follows that small advances earn out with relative ease, while large advances may never earn out.

In practice, it all comes down to how much risk a publisher is willing to assume.  For unknown writers, publishers tend to pay small advances because the presumed risk of publication is large.  For well-established writers, publishers tend to pay large advances because the presumed risk is small.

But nothing is ever that simple.  Publishers have no objective way to measure risk.  And there's a difference between the up-front risk (the advance) and the publication risk (sales).  So publishers tend to make small efforts to promote books for which they have paid small advances:  they tend to make large efforts to promote books for which they have paid large advances.  This introduces an element of "self-fulfilling prophecy" which complicates EVerything.

btw, thanks for pointing out the synchronicity between "an Estevez" and "pulling a Homer."  I was unaware of it.

(08/08/2005)

Robert

Stephen

Firstly let me thank you for giving us so much over a long period of time, you're books are a joy (the Gap Cycle far and away my favourites).  I had a friend tell me that the best fantasy series ever written was King's "Dark Tower" so we agreed to swap "Dark Tower" and the first TC chronicles.  She came back several weeks later and apologised for her ignorance and pleaded with me to borrower the second chronicles to which I refused and told her to buy her own.

Now to my question.  I may be drawing a long bow but in reading "Runes" I keep drawing the parallels between Linden often speaking of the daunting task ahead of her and that she is unprepared for what she has to face, with several comments that you have made about your own task ahead in writing the Last Chronicles.  Am I off the track or are you projecting your concerns through Linden.  If so you shouldn't be, your public has every confidence in you.

PS please stop answering stupid questions on the GI, including this one and get on with Fatal Revenant.

Writers often channel their own emotions through their characters, usually (if not always, at least in the case of good writers) without being aware of it.  What else can a writer draw on, if not on his/her own experiences, emotions, and capacity for empathy?  So I can't argue with your observation:  it seems eminently plausible.  All I can say is:  1) I'm not conscious of "venting" through Linden; and 2) Linden's emotions are justified (or not) by her circumstances, not by mine.  In any case, if you have to understand the author in order to understand the book--or the characters--then the author has failed pretty dramatically.

(08/08/2005)

Perry Bell

Hi Stephen,
 I was wondering about "Lord Fouls Bane". When Mhoram took his fathers staff, Covenant was offered Tamarantha's staff. Covenant said "burn it". What happened to Mhorams original staff? I know thats odd for a question, but I noticed nothing said of the one he carried from Revelstone.
Thanks for a great series!

Well, I think we can safely say that no one burned a staff.  <grin>  But other than that, all I can say is:  d'oh!  Sure looks to me like the author lost track.

(08/08/2005)

Michael Den Tandt

Dear Mr. Donaldson:

      I'm a journalist, screenwriter and black belt (shodan, goju-ryu) from Ottawa, Canada. I was weaned on Thomas Covenant, loved the Gap series, just discovered The Man Who Fought Alone.

       My question: Why no mention of Goju-Ryu in Fought Alone? Developed in Naha, Okinawa, based on Crane-style Gung Fu, it bridges hard and soft, striking and grappling. I've dabbled in Judo, Jiu-Jutsu, Aikido, Muay Thai, and incorporated techniques from all of them into my Goju. My teachers tell me all these techniques are buried in the Goju katas - that it's a complete fighting system.

   Just curious - did Goju-Ryu ever come up in your research? 

     Enjoy your books,
     Best, 
     Michael Den Tandt  

Well <rueful sigh>, there are mumblety-mumble times ten martial arts styles that aren't mentioned in "The Man Who Fought Alone."  Goju-Ryu just happens to be one of them.  In fact, I've taken a couple of Goju-Ryu seminars.  And I've had the good fortune to study (very occasionally) with two Goju black belts.  But when I wrote "Alone" I already had more material than I could use, so I left a lot out.

Just as a casual observation:  to my eye, Goju-Ryu looks like a more obviously "complete" system than Shotokan.  (So is Hapkido.)  But that, I think, is because so much of Shotokan is "hidden":  the style is designed to conceal many of its uses from the casual observer.  In recent years I've had the regular opportunity to watch both Wing Chun and Chinese Kempo closely, and I still haven't seen anything that isn't hidden away in Shotokan somewhere.

My point--to the extent that I have one--is something I like to say at every opportunity.  There are no good martial arts--or bad ones, either.  There are only good martial artists and bad martial artists.

(08/08/2005)

Dennis Grant

Mr. Donaldson,

Allow me to add my thanks for what you are doing here with the Gradual Interview. The opportunity to see into a favourite author's mind comes rarely if ever, and the opportunity to have the process be *interactive* is beyond price.

I'm enough of a hard-headed realist to know that [earning a living as a writer is] Just Not That Easy. I do *not* have visions of Stephen King or JK Rowling dancing in my head. Writing is not a "get rich quick" deal, nor is it necessarily a "get rich EVER" deal.

I also realize that there's a certain element of luck involved; that even if we make the (completely unwarranted) assumption that I am the greatest writing talent since Billy Shakespere, that doesn't necessarily mean that success is inevitable. I confess to being very suprised that the Gap series did not sell well. 

So "success" as a writer, as I am currently imagining it, means being able to pull in enough income as to match a reasonable professional salary (say on the order of $50k-$80k annually) soley on the proceeds of one's writing.

And that's where I'm having trouble conceptualizing how that's even possible.

A quick look at the outlets for short fiction shows that the going rate for newbies runs between $0.06 and $0.20 per word. (Fortune, it seems, favours the verbose) That makes my story, at roughly 4000 words, worth between $240 and $800. In order to gross $50k to $80k, I'd need to sell somewhere between 70 and 350 stories *PER YEAR* to pull that off.

That seems excessive.

OK, so maybe novels is the answer. At one per year (which would be, as I understand it, superhuman levels of output) that means I need to sell each book for $50k to $80k each. One every two years seems far more reasonable, which means that each book needs to sell for $100k to $150k each. Etc.

Plus there's an agent involved, who gets a percentage....

I absolutely cannot see how this is possible. There must be some aspect of the economics of writing of which I am utterly ignorant.

Could you fill in the blanks for me? How is it economically possible for you to subsist off your writing?  How does a pro writer pay the bills?

Any information you'd be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

DG

(I pruned your message heavily to save space.  I hope you don't mind.)

First, let me refer you to a very recent answer in which I discussed sales, advances, and royalties.  With that information as context, I can respond more directly.

It's true:  no one earns a living writing short fiction.  Even if you're one of those one-in-a-bazillion people who gets a short story made into a movie, all you get is a single intoxicating rush of cash:  after that, you're back to 5-20 cents a word.  And even if you write enough stories to publish a collection which sells very well, you'll still only make about 20% of what a novel of average sales makes.

Add that to the fact that first novels usually get pretty small advances (for the first three "Covenant" books *combined* I received $10,000), and the picture looks pretty grim.

So the standard advice for new writers goes like this:  DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB until you've been selling short stories and perhaps a novel or two *steadily* for at least five years.  What you're hoping to do is establish the kind of track record that a good agent can leverage into an advance (for a novel) in the $50-100k range.  And even then, DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB unless you believe that writing full-time will enable you to produce a novel a year.

Of course, there are a number of writers out there who succeeded while ignoring this advice.  (I'm one:  the first three "Covenant" books earned out so quickly that I was able to live on royalties).  But there are also a number of writers who followed this advice and still failed.  And then there are the people who succeeded for a while and then failed; the people who failed for a while and then succeeded; and--well, you get the idea.

But one truth holds NO MATTER WHAT:  you cannot earn a living as a writer unless you are able to be steadily productive day after day, rain or shine, sick or healthy, married or unmarried, with children or without.  This stricture becomes a bit more flexible when you've established a long and healthy track record; but it never goes away (unless you happen to be Stephen King or J. K. Rowling or Tom Clancey, and those people are about 1% of 1% of 1% of regularly published writers).

<sigh>  As I say, it's not a pretty picture.

For the sake of completeness, I should mention that there *are* other roads.  "Work for hire" is one.  I'm no authority on such subjects.  But as I understand it, in "work for hire" a writer produces a novel according to the specifications of a particular publisher; the publisher pays a flat fee for ownership of the novel; and after that the publisher gets everything and the author gets nothing (usually not even the right to put his/her name on the book).  Writing "Harlequin Romances" would be one example of "work for hire."  I'm told this can be fairly lucrative--*if* you happen to be good a producing work which exactly meets the publisher's specifications.

(And there *is* a middle ground.  Writing "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" novels, for example, closely resembles "work for hire"; but the writer does get royalties--and does get to put his/her name on the book.)

Another road--about which I know even less--involves writing books on behalf of some famous person (writer or celebrity) who may or may not have an actual idea, but who either can't or won't do the work of writing that idea.  I'm told that in some cases this is pure "work for hire," while in others the famous person shares income (and possibly credit) with the writer.

All of which serves to demonstrate another standard piece of advice:  "Anybody who *can* be discouraged from being a writer, *should* be discouraged from being a writer."  Are you having fun yet?

(08/10/2005)

Lonoman

I've heard a few authors say this, but since you're a writer, when you read, fiction or non, do you find yourself wondering what hell the writer he/she put themself through to complete the work?  Does it bring reading to a halt or add to the magic of imagination?  Thanks. 

Strangely, I never think about that.  But I think a lot about what I believe the writer was trying to accomplish (often in very specific terms); about whether or not he/she succeeded; and about what I might or might not have done differently.

(08/10/2005)

T. PIper

SRD,
I may be in the minority, but Covenant won't translate well to any screen (though Willem Dafoe 10 years ago had the right face).  The Gap Cycle, however . . . Book 4 in the asteroid field was 200 pages of riveting SF that deserves to be shared with the non-reading public.
I consider the Gap Cycle an excellent SF effort, never mind hard SF nitpicking.  The key is always the characters.  Nick, Morn and Angus . . . well, you know.
I wanted to ask this question back in '96.  No matter how much I enjoyed the series, the ending did leave ME wondering; Angus on the loose, the Amnion threat.  Did you ever, including notions and inklings, consider a continuation or spin-off?
I understand how busy you will be for . . . ever, but I hope there's an opening in your future.

As I've said often before, I have no plans to continue the GAP saga--or "Mordant's Need" or any of my short stories.  That doesn't mean I *won't*:  I can't predict what ideas will come to me.  But I don't write unless I have an idea I believe in; and at present I have no ideas for continuations of anything except the Axbrewder/Fistoulari novels.

(08/10/2005)

D.R.

I've been a spell bound reader for a long time and I was wondering if there is any chance of a grand prequel, going back to the old lords, Many of Their deeds are mentioned and I think it would be very intersting to be able to read all about them, right up to Kevins rise to lordship and fall to dispair....I hope it dosen't sound like a dumb question, but I love the series and I'm just curious.

As I've had occasion to say before, I have no intention of ever writing prequels.  Their fatal flaw, as I see it, is that their essential outcome is already known.  Over-stating the case a bit:  a professor where I went to college was fond of saying (and I'm paraphrasing here), "We really don't need the story of Moby Dick as a suckling whale."  In practice--and I mean no disrespect in saying this--I find the prospect of a prequel simply too boring to contemplate.

(08/11/2005)

Jerry Erbe

Not a question, just a comment -
The line, "Well, it's the jacket" from the fantasy bedtime hour, had me on the floor! :)
If it was scripted, it was great, if it was improvised, it was BRILLIANT!

Just as a point of information:  nothing that the "experts" do or say on "Heatherly and Julie's Fantasy Bedtime Hour" is scripted--or even planned.  Heatherly and Julie give the experts absolutely no clue of what to expect:  the experts don't even know which scene(s) they'll be discussing until the tape is rolling.

(08/11/2005)

Stephanie

Mr. Donaldson:

In reading some of the questions posted over the past months I find it heartening I was not the only 13 year old who fell in love with your works.  I can still recall sitting up late at night crying over what happened to Hile Troy when I was supposed to be studying for a middle school history test.  

Fortunately I made it through those horrific teen years and now I'm sitting in my college apartment reading Runes for the second time.  I should probably be working on a paper, so if I end up with a "C" on it I blame you.  :>

My question ......  

I love the way you convey life, spirit and courage in your female characters.  I read a great deal, and in my opinion no other male author in the fantasy/SF field comes close to your ability to do so.  

Now that I've passed along my compliment, here comes the question.  Do you have a friend/editor/wife/girlfriend/mistress who assists you by making specific suggestions as to how to bring your female characters to life?  I write the question perhaps partially in jest, but I'm curious just the same.  If you have someone special who does offer suggestions from time to time, keep that person!

And, if I may follow with a second question, which female character gave you the most difficulty.  Did you struggle with any one of them in particular?

Oh well.  Back to my P.R. paper.  

Thank you!  I'm actually quite proud of my female characters.  (Pure ego, of course.)  When I was much younger, I was assured--vehemently--that males are psychologically incapable of creating female characters.  I made a conscious decision not to believe that (in part because of Doris Lessing's dictum--I'm paraphrasing--"It is the responsibility of the imagination to accept no limitations"), and I'm glad you like the results.

No, there has never been a woman in my life who guided me with my female characters.  But I was raised in a family full of sisters; and my mother was much more "real" and "present" than my father.  In addition, one of the underlying postulates of the missionary world in which I grew up was that women are inherently morally superior to men.  (This concept now strikes me as demeaning to both genders.  Still it's "bred in the bone," in a manner of speaking, and it shows up in my work in unexpected ways, especially in "Mordant's Need" and the GAP books.)

The female character who caused me the most trouble was Linden Avery in "The Second Chronicles."  (I was much younger then, and still floundering in some of my attempts to understand my characters.)  However, the argument could be made that Davies Hyland (a woman's mind in a man's body) was actually my greatest challenge--and elicited the least satisfying results.

(08/12/2005)

Michael from Santa Fe

So, now that you've been on Fantasy Bedtime Hour Higgins, I think the question we all have is: are Heatherly and Julie REALLY naked underneath that sheet?

It is with sorrow that I'm forced to report:  it's all done with smoke and mirrors.  <grin>

(08/13/2005)

Ethan

Hello again Stephen,

while visiting Kevins' watch I noticed in the "cover art" section a record titled, "The White Gold Wielder". Any idea what this silly looking thing might be about? Perhaps a childrens' version of the last book in the second chronicles? (can you imagine?) The reason I say this is because the artwork is extremely hokey. 

Please.  The artist in question (Real Musgrave) is a dear personal friend, and he tackled that cover at my request.  This is clearly an example of "casting against type," since Real's natural bent is toward the gentle and whimsical (for which I admire him); so if you don't like the results, you should blame me, not him.

The "record" itself (an LP from Caedmon) is a (as I recall) condensed scene from "White Gold Wielder" read by yrs trly.  Caedmon originally intended to do a whole series of these recordings; but the sales were so poor that they scrapped the project.

(08/13/2005)

Peter Purcell

Hi!

I'm glad you're making such progress on Fatal Revenant.

A request if possible.  I've seen postings mentioning your reading the first chapter of the new book.  

Could you perhaps post it on your site?  Or maybe an audio of the reading?  It would somewhat satisfy the appetites of your loyal fans as we wait the years til publications !! (making you feel guilty?  ;) )

Regardless, thanks for bringing joy to so many.  Foamfollower got it almost right ... joy is also in the eyes that read!!

Peter

My publishers would be justifiably outraged if I posted anything from "Fatal Revenant" on this site without first letting them see it--and give their approval (since they've paid good money for the "first publication" rights).  And since I have no intention of letting my publishers see anything until I have the whole book on paper--simply to avoid duplication of effort--I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while longer.  Or come to one of my readings and get *really* confused.  <grin>

(08/13/2005)

Connie Martin

I do hope you can help me. I have been trying to find an Agent to handle my manuscripts. Publishers want to go thru Agents and all I am finding are the Self-Publish people.
Could you point me in the right direction to find the 'old fashioned' Agent? I have run out of ideas on places to look.
Thank you for your time!
Connie

Any good guide to modern publishing (e.g. "The Literary Marketplace" or "Writer's Digest") as well as any "writers' advocacy" organization (e.g. Poets & Writers) should be able to supply you with lists of "old fashioned" agents.  Whatever you do, stay away from agents that require you to pay a fee before they'll consider representing you.  That's a scam.

(08/13/2005)

Mark

Thanks for this wonderful resource, excellent work!

My question: can you give any more insight as to why the people of the land lost their ability to 'see' between the first and second chronicles?  In reference to this, the only specific reference I can find is in TWL, during the Clave's soothtell, where it merely states that "Through the centuries, they had grown blind, and had lost the means to know that the man who had been named the na-Mhoram ... was a Raver."  It seems as though they lost the ability to 'see' before the coming of the Sunbane, so was it Foul's early corruption of Law and Earthpower that cost them this health-sense?
Having said this, I now wonder did the Haruchai also lose this ability?  I can't recall whether its mentioned or not, and my re-reading has only brought me 2/3 of the way through TWL so far.
Thanks again!

The short answer is that, yes, it's an effect of the Sunbane, which is after all a corruption of Earthpower (the "energy" that enables health-sense) rather than of the actual sun, and which must in the beginning have been developed by small increments, changes that took generations to affect the people of the Land.

Were the Haruchai affected?  That question, I suspect, takes us outside the text.  If so, we've entered the realm of speculation; and in that realm your guess is no doubt as good as mine.  (I'm not trying to be glib.  I just don't remember caring whether or not the Haruchai could "see" when I wrote "The Second Chronicles.")

(08/17/2005)

J C Bronsted

I was considering what you have said about thinking (at least so far as writing goes) in words, and not visually.  In my own experience, while writing, I usually watch the movie in my head and try to describe what I see, but at times I think of a phrase or sentence that then triggers a visualization.  This is not apparently how your version of this works, as you’ve said it is all about language.  You have also said that when a story suggests itself to you, it is from the ending forward.

I was curious how these stories come to you, whether in language, or (if not visually) in some other way.  You did say (I believe) that Names began the process for the GAP books, and these names themselves suggested to you the characters that (I assume) suggested the story.  In your consideration of the story, building it backward, or discovering it, do you do this through language?  Do you write to work it out?  Or is it merely something that plays in your head, teasing you with sentences like mantras until you are forced to go to a keyboard and bang it out?  This may be something difficult to characterize, along the lines of “Where do you get your ideas?”  I try to ask myself the same question and the short answer is that I “see” it (although I do not always know my endings and almost never know how I will get there); my curiosity may arise from how differently (from mine) your mind works at your writing.

I suppose this suggests another question I hadn’t intended: If you do write your ideas out in exploration, did you do any of that preliminary work on the Last Chronicles 20 years ago when it first came to you?

As an aside, in hindsight: I suppose I may come closer to understanding the process you go through in composition in my own revising and editing: it is there that the words, phrase structure, meter and prosody, and other purely language-based formulations come to the fore.

Thank you for this interview: it is invaluable to us.

I'm perfectly serious when I say it's all about language for me.  Still, your comments suggest that I've inadvertently created some confusion.  Stories seem to come to me from a wide variety of directions, sometimes from names (the GAP books), sometimes from someone else's sentences ("Mordant's Need"), sometimes from sentences which simply unscroll in my head (stories like "Reave the Just" and "By Any Other Name"), sometimes from simple statements of purpose ("The Second Chronicles," "The Last Chronicles").  However, no matter where an original idea comes from, I can't write it until I know how it ends (in other words, until I know why it's worth telling).

Part of my creative method is that no matter where an idea comes from, or when it arrives, I write nothing down (except in those cases where an idea is a specific sentence) until I'm actually ready to commit myself to the story.  Writing things down has the advantage of preserving them--and the disadvantage of limiting them.  (It also has the disadvantage of giving poor ideas more permanence than they deserve.)  So I let sentences, or fragments of sentences, or mere rhetorical possibilities, simply flit through my head, sometimes for decades, until I'm ready to get serious (in a manner of speaking); until the back of my brain lets me know that the time has come for my conscious mind to start work.  After that, I write things down like mad (often as cryptically as possible in an attempt to avoid premature limitation or permanence).

In addition, the process of planning a story (which is usually an on-going process in my case) often involves doing a fair amount of writing *about* the story.  I write out questions that I'll have to answer, or lists of problems that I'll have to solve, or themes that I'll have to develop, in order to write the story itself.  Writing inspires writing.  ("Service enables service.")  As a critic named Newman said of Beethoven, "Great composers do not compose because they are inspired.  They become inspired because they are composing."

However, none of that happens until I'm ready to do concrete work on a story.

While I'm actually writing, I sometimes tap into a vein of sentences that seem to pour forth of their own accord.  In those cases, I scramble frantically to try to get it all down before I lose the vein.  (Unless it's "quitting time" for the day:  then I scrawl out fragments that I hope will help me access the vein later.)

But whatever happens, I never "watch the movie in my head and try to describe what I see."  The closest I ever come is hearing the sentences in my head and trying to transcribe them before I lose them.  And I don't even do *that* unless those sentences apply to the work immediately in front of me.  (In other words, I never write "ahead," not even in small fragments of scenes.)  My general philosophy is that any idea or sentence that deserves to live will provide for its own survival.

OK, I'm rambling.  I'll stop now--and hope that I haven't sown more confusion than I can afford to reap.  <grin>

(08/17/2005)

Dianne Sherratt

Dear Mr. Donaldson,

How generous of you to be so interactive with your readers! I have read much here, but I am surprised that all seem to miss the metaphor that I find to be so obvious. I would love to hear your opinion and find out if it is me who has missed the point.

Your Chronicles of Thomas Covenant seem to be an examination of trauma and dissociation. I see evidence of this on a macro and micro level, as well as dissociation on both a personal and social level.

Lord Foul and the Land seem to be the embodiment of the internal workings of dissociative process, and the Land itself goes through trauma as do all the major charactors. Healing involves bringing together the good with the bad as it is the rupture of the self which causes pain. 

Can it be coincidence that Lord Foul is named the Despiser when despair is the most difficult part of trauma to overcome? Can it be coincidence that white gold is so powerful against despite because it is an alloy?

I have read that both Tolkien and Lewis used their writing as a metaphor for exploration of the role of religion. Am I wrong in thinking of your works as an exploration of trauma and it's effects? 

I find yours to be a beautiful work despite all of the pain described, because it describes so accurately the arduous journey to oneness and health after picking up the dissociated aftereffects of trauma. Anyone with such a thorough knowledge of the dissociative process must have been witness to great pain.

But, of course I could be wrong. I would love to hear your thoughts on his.

As I've tried to say at several points during this interview, I don't believe that you could possibly "be wrong."  Reading is as private as writing; and we all see through the lenses of our own minds.  What you see is inherently valid *because* you've seen it.  (Of course, paying attention to what's actually on the page does count--especially if you want your views to be understood by other readers.  But in your case there's clearly no lack of attention to the actual text.)

That said, my reaction is that you say "trauma" and "dissociation" while I tend to say "illness" and "alienation," but we're really talking about the same things.  Of course, you use words that have special meaning to you.  I do the same.  In my case, "culture shock" was the first profound trauma of which I became conscious in myself (although it was far from my first profound trauma), so words like "alienation" have a particular weight in my thinking.  (So do words like "sin," "guilt," "healing," "salvation," "integrity".)  But it's easy to see that "culture shock" entails both "trauma" and "dissociation."

In short, I agree with you.  I just use different words.  As do many of the readers who post questions and comments on this site.

(08/17/2005)

Rob Murnick

Dear Sir,

     I fear that if the short answer to this question isn't "no", then I have little hope for a long answer, as it may entail you spoiling the story.  But here goes:  Do you have plans to expand further on Foul as a character?  I've been used to thinking of Foul as an epitome of evil, and, at the same time, a manifestation of Covenant's dark side.  (I'm afraid I haven't yet thought of him as a manifestation of Linden's dark side - Is that coming?  A female version of Foul?  Foulette?  :) )  But thinking of Foul as a dark reflection of Covenant implies that his development depends upon Covenant's development.  Your response to a question in November (11/27/2004) stating that Foul is as free to make choices as the other characters are seems counter to him being the "anti-Covenant".  Please forgive me if I'm being too rigid, I love your novels more than words can express.

The truth is I would be thrilled to read the "dirt" on Lord Foul.  What is his "secret origin"?  Has he always been the epitome of evil (and nothing else)?  If he hasn't, then I may have to chuck the "Foul is Covenant's dark reflection" POV out the window, to be replaced by "Foul is a fallen, tragic figure".  Then again I doubt you'll make it that cut and dried.

Thank you so much for the new series!

Rob Murnick

Not intending to waffle timidly, but:  why can't all of your theories (and all of mine, for that matter) be correct simultaneously?  Surely the affirmation of inherent contradictions is the very life-blood of the "Covenant" books?  Speaking purely for myself, I see no difficulty in stating that LF is "Covenant's dark reflection" AND "a fallen, tragic figure" AND Evil Incarnate AND a being as capable of choice as any other.

Some might argue that by definition Evil Incarnate can't be "capable of choice" (since it is what it is, and is only what it is).  But I don't see it that way.  Even a character as simple and black as Sauron still makes choices in how he pursues his aims.  The fact that he *does* make choices proves that he *can* make choices.  And if he *can* make choices, who's to say what those choices can *be*?  (Well, Tolkien, in this case.  <grin>  The possibility that Sauron *might* make a choice that wasn't evil didn't fit the story Tolkien wanted to tell.  But that doesn't affect the point I'm trying to make.)

Your desire for "the 'dirt' on Lord Foul" (his "secret origin," etc.) would require me to truncate my intentions; to restrict the rich (and admittedly contradictory) variety of things that I want to say about "evil" in general, and about Lord Foul in particular.  I'm not willing to do that.  Even if it means that I have to spend the rest of my natural life answering questions in this interview.  <broad grin>

(08/17/2005)

Stephen Elmore

 I was wondering if Mr. Donaldson had ever considered fleshing out the other books that Covenant wrote, after his first journey to the Land? In the Wounded Land they reference a novel called "Or I Will Sell My Soul For Guilt". I think that it would be fascinating to deal with some passages of this book, either within the context of the Last Chronicles, or with SRD writing it as Thomas Covenant.

I appreciate your interest, but what you're asking doesn't seem likely.  I've never had the faintest hint of a glimmer of a suggestion of an idea for a novel that might have been written by Thomas Covenant.  And I hope I've made it clear that without an idea I have no reason to write.

(08/24/2005)

Brian Gannon

Hi,
I have just one quick question for you. Have you ever thought of writing a short story on the giant story of 'Baghoun The Unbearable and Thelma Two-Fist who tamed him'? (forgive my poor spelling from memory). I've always wanted to hear that story.

Thanks

Bri

Frankly, I've always wanted to hear that story myself.  <grin>  But for now, I'm afraid this falls into the category of RAFO.

(08/24/2005)

Paul

As you might have noticed, a few of us are waiting for the next book (mild understatement - I bet you can almost hear the gnawing of fingernails and drumming of fingers on the desk). You have said you are a slow reader, but are there any new books that YOU are anxiously waiting for? 

At the moment, the only one I can think of is the next installment in Steven Erikson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series.  At one time, I was pretty impatient for Stephen King's "Dark Tower" saga; but the final installments became available just when I discovered that I enjoyed them more if I spaced them out.  So far, I've read the first five, and I'm just about ready for book six.

(08/24/2005)

Ethan Firl

Stephen,

greetings and congratulations on another fine novel. Is there any chance of seeing you on BookTV?

Ethan

Since I've never even *heard* of BookTV, the odds don't look good.  <grin>  Surely if they had ever invited me to appear, I would at least know that they existed.

(08/24/2005)

Karl (Vector)

Not realizing the length of your backlog, I feel I wasted my earlier first question with a not so important question.

I own your older original paperback novels of the "The Man Who.." series.  Somehow, I never read them and having just reread everything else of yours, I decided that I am now going to pick up that series.  Is it worth that I should pick up the new editions of these novels since you have indicated that you add revisions to correct internal consistency, are the changes worth purchasing the latest novels ?

As a side note to the above question, I am now looking forward to the paperback edition of ROTE since your revisions will add some additional meaning to my next reread of that novel.

Another question, you have indicated that you turned to writing mysteries since you felt that you could fix something that you perceived as broken.  Another author, perhaps my second favorite modern author (at least in his older works - he, like you, evolves himself over time, however I find myself having trouble adjusting to his latest style - a problem I do not have with your work), Peter Straub moved from his version of supernatural fiction to attempt his hand at Mysteries.  I very much liked his "Koko", "The Throat", and "Mystery" novels (though I like even more his "Shadowland", "Ghost Story", and "Floating Dragon" stories).  I was wondering if you had any opinion on these works especially since I like him for some of the same reasons that I like yours - fidelity to his vision, for example.

Also, I think Arturo Perez-Reverte with his genre of historical/literary mysteries such as "The Club Dumas" and "The Flander's Panel" (especially after noting your reading of Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" - I tend to think of Arturo Perez-Reverte as writing a more intelligent version of this type of fiction, though less action packed).

No, it isn't worth purchasing new editions of "The Man Who..." books if you already own the original *Reed Stephens* versions.  The changes are very slight, and they have nothing to do with internal consistency (except in the case of Axbrewder's handgun).  Most of the changes were for readability; a few simply polished dialogue (again for readability); and in a very few cases I adjusted the names of characters to make them less "clunky".

I've always been a Peter Straub fan.  He's one of the important writers of our time.  "Koko" is brilliant.  After that, "Shadowland" is my favorite of his books so far.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with Arturo Perez-Reverte.

(08/26/2005)

Jim Melvin

Have you ever been told approximately how many of your books have been sold in the U.S. and around the world? Or is that something that is too difficult to estimate? And if a writer's books have sold in the tens of millions, is that a guarantee that the writer will have made tens of millions of dollars?

My royalty statements tell me exactly how many books were sold in the US.  But with the first six "Covenant" books, I sold all of the rights to Del Rey/Ballantine.  So DR/Bal acted as agent for all overseas publications, including England.  As a result, foreign publishers report sales to DR/Bal, but DR/Bal does not then report those numbers to me:  I'm simply told what my share of the "take" is.  Since I don't know what the royalty rates were, I can't even try to estimate how many books were sold overseas.

And no, millions of books sold does not mean that the author made millions.  Two facts, one general, one personal.  1) Books published in languages other than English pay VERY low royalties because the cost of publication is so high:  the publisher has to pay for translation.  So when a book is sold in, say, France, DR/Bal probably gets a nickel--which means I get 2 1/2 cents.  2) My royalty rate for the first three "Covenant" books is around 2 1/2%.  Taking an arbitrary average cover price of $5 (they were first published at $2.50, which was when the majority of the sales occurred; now, of course, the price is close to $8), that gives me 12 1/2 cents per book.  Then spread the total out over 27 years.  When you do the math that way, it gets downright depressing.  <grin>

(08/26/2005)

Mark Morgon-Shaw

How fast are you at typing ?  I've seen voice typing software demonstrated on which a trained operator far exceeded the speed of even the best typists, I'll buy you a copy if it gets the final chronicles here quicker !

I'm a very slow--AND inaccurate--typist.  I've always had poor small motor skills.  But that's OK because I also think slowly.  <grin>  However, if I had to write books longhand, I'd go into some other line of work.

(08/26/2005)

caeriel

I have three questions:

1. I know many of your characters' names come first; their details arrive later. But what happens when you have a character you already know about but who hasn't yet found a name? Do you wait for the name to appear? Do you brainstorm possible names? Or?

2. How do you discipline yourself to write on the hard days? Do you reward yourself for pushing through your own resistance? How? If you let yourself take "time off", how long before you absolutely make yourself sit down and get back to work?

3. How do you balance dignity with reality? You've frequently mentioned that you are committed to imbuing your characters with dignity, and we are all grateful--it's awful when a story (especially an epic story) is robbed of that dignity by careless writing or an embarrassingly undignified character (Jarjar Binks comes to mind). But in real life I find that many people lack dignity; they're messy and petty and careless and banal. Is it just that the people who find their way into your tales are exceptional? Or do you see this kind of dignity in everyone?

Thank you for your work. It's been an inspiration to me for more than half my life. 

1) I pause briefly in case a name chooses to appear:  then I start brainstorming (and as a corollary of brainstorming, I allow myself to change my mind later if I come up with a better idea).  I can't write about a character if I don't have a name for him/her.

2) Well, of course, I'm addicted to the sensation that my life has (admittedly self-imposed) purpose.  That helps to motivate me.  But one of my secrets is that every day I give myself permission to write badly--not because I'm prepared to accept a bad final result (I'm not:  I edit and revise heavily), but because I know that during my creative phase preserving forward momentum is much more important than initial quality.  And then I follow a consistent, even rigid, daily routine that helps to "get me in the mood" even when I don't feel like it.

3) I contest your assumption.  Just because in "real life" people can be "messy and petty and careless and banal," not to mention demeaning or abusive, doesn't mean that they lack dignity.  Of course, I know that I'm using the word "dignity" in a specialized sense.  What I mean is that every person--even the slobs/tyrants/butchers/whatever--has an internal story which explains and (in his/her own terms) justifies or motivates his/her behavior; and that if we could know that story, and that if we were sufficiently open-hearted, we could give it our empathy.  In my lexicon, "giving my characters dignity" means understanding and empathizing with them:  it doesn't mean "causing them to behave in a dignified fashion".  Jarjar Binks is an embarrassment, not because he behaves like such a geek, but because he has no story.  Lucas didn't give him the dignity of a story.

(08/27/2005)

Yvan Le Terrible

Hello to you Mr SRD,
firstly, many thanks for the pleasure of reading such a great SF story as the Gap Cycle
I must say that, as a french fan, i Had to earn it the hard way as only 3 books were translated, so I had to switch to original version to have the full story !
Ok that was source of good improvement for my English level, specially in the field of spaceships Alien technology and robotics (fields which are not so commonly used  but it was VERY worth it).
Your writing was so "visual" that i Still see the images of that Zero-G fight in the deck of the ship-with the drops of blood spills...(many years after)
I still do not understand the way some music you are listening while reading gets forever connected with complete visions of the books.
I believe there are special momments the reader gets so deeply lost in the his new world and swith to a better perceptive level to get this "print"
maybe our mind is like some E-PROM waiting for the right Flashing light.

Af course, this story would make a very good movie as Mr Orson Wells said to an interview :
Q : What does it takes to make a good movie ?
A : You need 3 things : A good story,... A good story, .. and a good story
Ther Mr Donaldon, There is in the Gap cycle evrything to get a perfect movie !
In the hope to read you
A French Fan
Yvan Le Terrible

As I think I've said before, I believe that both the GAP books and "Mordant's Need" (not to mention some of my novellas) could more easily be made into good movies than anything "Covenant".  But the people who own the option on "Lord Foul's Bane" aren't giving up, so who knows what the future will bring?

(08/27/2005)

Tom Simon

Not a question, but a point of information for Richard Castano, Jr. (Unfortunately, Mr. Castano's address did not actually make it into your answer to his question in the GI.)

The pirated e-texts have been taken offline, along with the pirate's entire website. However, scanned ASCII files of the books may be available from becquet.com. Send a request to this email address:

Books@becquet.com

If that fails, I downloaded all six of the pirated files before they were taken offline. I don't read them or distribute them, of course, but sometimes use the search function of my word processor to locate specific passages; in effect, I use the files as an electronic index. It can be quite handy. (I have all six books in hardcover, and planned to scan them into text files for just this purpose. So the pirate saved me some work that I could have done legally myself.)

If you are willing, I can forward copies of the text files to Mr. Castano. If he is totally blind, or almost totally, so that he can't read even large-print books, he probably has a computer with a Braille display. Since the files are plain ASCII text with no special formatting, they would be ideal for reading in Braille.

Please forgive my presumption if this is not helpful.

I, too, don't know how to contact Richard Castano.  So I'm posting this in the hope that the information reaches him somehow.

(08/27/2005)

Michael from Santa Fe

OK, this is nitpicking and totally pointless (but what are fans for!)  In the dust cover inside text of "Runes" it states that "the inhabitants named him The Unbeliever".  Now, I'm almost positive that Covenent gave himself that title when he met Lena's parents at the beginning of Lord Foul's Bane, when he was still in complete denial.  The inhabitants certainly accepted that title, but I believe "Unbeliever" is the only title he gave himself.  So you can imagine my shock when I read the quote mentioned above!  So my question is, who wrote the text for the dust jacket, and will they be sacked in short order?

Dust jacket copy is pretty much never written by the author.  Sometimes the editor writes it; sometimes a publicity person writes it; sometimes an assistant of some kind gets the job.  Sometimes the copy is then sent to the author for his/her approval.  And SOMEtimes even the author doesn't catch obvious mistakes (since the author is occasionally hard at work on something else and doesn't really want to be interrupted <grin>).

But no, no one would ever be fired for a mistake this trivial--as I'm sure you've already assumed.

(08/27/2005)

Michael Carolan

Hello.. I wont take up too much of your time..
I read the first two chronicles maybe as much as three times each... I loved them. They were for me such a breath of fresh air in a genre that was very very repetitious...  When I saw that the Runes Of The Earth was coming out I was a little apprehensive... but after reading it I can now say it is great.. a credit to you. 
Questions.
1, My concern is over finding a way to make the arrival of Thomas Covenant on horseback plausible.... He's dead.. Therefore has no physical form.. Have you found a way to make it plausible? I would greatly struggle to read on if I cant be made to believe.
2, Is there any chance of me getting a signed bookmark?? I can send one if you would be willing. I cant imagine a more fitting way of enjoying the rest of the series than having such a token to keep my place in the story....
Thanks for your time.. now stop reading this and get back to work!!
Michael.

1) RAFO.  But don't you think I've earned a little trust here?

2) You can get an autographed bookplate by following the procedure described elsewhere on this site.  If you absolutely have to have a signed bookmark, contact my agent at the e-address on this site, ask for an s-mail address, and mail the bookmark to him.  He'll pass it along to me, and I'll sign it and return it to you--probably months later <sigh>.

(08/27/2005)

Tim H.

Mr. Donaldson,
As I recall, somewhere in the first two chronicles, there were mentions of gold and other precious metals being used in the land.

This always made me wonder...if all the metals used to create the alloy of white gold are available in the land, what prevents a competent smith from creating white gold?  Is one of elemental metals(nickel or palladium) missing completely from the land or would physics in the land not allow the metals to mix as they would in the real world?

Geekishly yours,
-Tim

In a non-fantasy novel, such issues would naturally arise.  And they would have to be dealt with.  But in fantasy novels (LOTR is a prime example) people simply don't think in mechanistic, mundane terms:  they think in magical terms.  For example. the Elves live forever--and they've had plenty of time to think.  So why don't *they* have any technology; or metallurgical skills; or any apparent interest in the compostion and possibilities of the physical world?  It isn't because they're stupid.  And it isn't because Tolkien didn't think it through.  It's because LOTR simply isn't that kind of story.  It's about the spiritual essences of things, not about their physical properties.

Well, the same general principle applies to the "Covenant" books.  I admit that I opened a conceptual door when I used the word "alloy":  it suggests possibilities which the story does not address.  But I used the word because it also suggests *other* possibilities which the story *does* address.  Other than that, the only real "point" of white gold is that it doesn't occur naturally in the Land (whereas "pure," non-composite metals such as gold probably do exist, if not in the Land then elsewhere in the Earth); it has to come from outside the Land's (and the Earth's) known magical reality.

Many years ago, when I was still mulling over "The Last Chronicles," I considered introducing various forms of technology (metallurgy and steam engines); but I soon realized that such developments would violate the fundamental nature of the story I'm trying to tell.

(08/28/2005)

Phil V

As others have, I'd like to first thank you for this wonderful body of fantasy work.  I was given the original Chronicles in high school and was startled at how drastically it differed from the other cliche-riddled bologne on the market.  I hear the comparisons to LOTR, and quite frankly, I just don't see them (they both have a ring...COPYCAT!!).

My question(s)...

How does your interest in the martial arts correlate to your interest in the deeply internal fantasy that you write?  Also, are the Haruchai in any way a literary manifestation of your interest in martial arts?

While I have you...  I have purchased Lord Foul's Bane for quite a few friends because I felt so strongly that they could not know fantasy as a genre without having experienced them.  Many had difficulty with the early chapters.  My antidote was always to describe the Bloodguard to them as a spoiler.  Worked every time.  By far one of the coolest concepts you've ever devised.  Thanks again.

Regards,
Phil

You couldn't know this, of course; but you're getting the cart before the horse.  I started work on "Covenant" in 1972.  I started studying the martial arts in 1988--and I didn't truly become interested in them until 1989.  Well, my imagination has always run a considerable distance ahead of my conscious mind (not to mention my life <grin>).  It could easily be argued that I became interested in studying the martial arts *because* I write deeply internal fantasy--and had already created the Haruchai.

(08/28/2005)

Steve Elmore

 I am re-reading the second chronicles and was wondering about something. It seems that through out these books we learn things about the Earth and about Creation that we did not know. For instance we knew that the Creator forged the Arch of Time, but there was no mention of the Worm's role in this. I was wondering of the Clave story of a-Jeroth and the Seven Hells might be proven to be more relevant than merely being the twisting of the Earth' history? I have a tendency to look at the Sunbane as the projection of Foul's internal reality, his essence in at least one form, onto the Land, so I though that maybe there might be some metaphysical truth to this legend.

I tried to suggest--*much* earlier in this interview--that I think there is significant truth (metaphysical and otherwise) in *every* legend or myth presented anywhere in the "Covenant" books.  What we *know* (in concrete, undeniable terms) is that the Worm of the World's End exists.  But as far as I'm concerned, that doesn't mean for second that stories like "the broken Rainbow" or "a-Jeroth and the Seven Hells" are in any way untrue.

We all see the world through perceptual filters.  We emphasize some things and leave others out.  The various myths and legends of the Land reveal some truth about the Land itself (the creation of the Earth, etc.); but they also reveal some truth about the people telling the story.  Those myths and legends diverge because the people telling them are different from each other.

(08/28/2005)

Kristen Steffenhagen

Hey there, Steve!

I think you're a magnificent story-teller.  You create worlds beyond imagination, your plots are wonderfully constructed, and your characters are beautiful.  I really enjoyed the GAP (I'm rereading it for the second time now).  I've enjoyed all your books so far, and I can't wait to get my hands on "Runes".

Now, I'm curious... when did you start writing?  Was it something you always did?  Perhaps you had a flair for writing?  What inspired you?

Sincerely,
Kris

I think I've answered this in some detail--but I can't remember where or when.  <sigh>  So briefly:

I started writing fiction early in my Freshman year in college.  Until then, I hated writing--although in some sense I've been a storyteller since I was five.  When I discovered writing, I definitely had "flair".  But I had no skill at all.  So learning skill became my driving motivation through college and graduate school.  And, in my view, I didn't become skillful enough to write effective stories until my 3rd year in grad school.

What inspired me?  The short form is:  college itself.  After just one year in a public high school in the US, the intellectual stimulation of college was an ecstatic experience for me.  Without that catalyst, I doubt that I would ever have given writing stories a try.

(08/28/2005)

BigMick

Hi there!

I've been a big fan of yours for many years since discovering "Lord Foul's Bane" in my school library in the 1980's.  I particularly like your short stories, though I love all your work.

Considering that novels and short stories can be considered two different disciplines, which do you prefer to write? Do short stories give you an opportunity to examine themes and ideas that novels fail to meet?

--
BigMick

PS Runes of the Earth - Fantastic!

Well, it's certainly true that "Differences in degree become differences in kind."  (Karl Marx)  In that sense, short stories and novels *are* different disciplines.  But I don't think in those terms.  As far as I'm concerned, they're all just stories.  The only difference that matters is that some stories have more inherent content (e.g. multiplicity of characters, or thematic complexity) than others.

But.

It has become obvious to me that one of my strongest talents is my ability to organize a large narrative canvas.  In addition, I get comparatively few ideas for stories; so when I *do* get one I have to milk it for all it's worth.  <grin>  So the vast majority of my writing life has been spent on novels.  In fact, I didn't become *capable* of writing an effective short story until after I had completed the first "Covenant" trilogy.  At that point, I realized that a short story is *not* different than a novel:  it's just shorter.  So my first published short story, "The Lady in White," was written *after* three "Covenant" novels.

These days, the special attraction of short stories is that I can actually imagine finishing them.  <grin>  After the prolonged strain of a huge project, that's a great relief.

(08/28/2005)

Robert

OK OK. I admit it. You are my favourite author....*grins*...Thanks for the great works of literature you have given us all. As an aspiring author, I'd be happy if I could achieve a small measure of your success.

When I read your works....and other books too..I sometimes find myself falling in love with a certain character...*laffs*....the Platonic kind......and trying to put a face to them. Do you ever "put a face" to a character while writing about them?

I've read the little bits about a possible Covenant movie. It's exciting, but I have often thought that Covenant would be extremely hard to bring to the big screen. Too much of what makes the Covenant series great is how you convey his thoughts, etc.....which is hard to do without using large amounts of narrative,,,or relying on the idea that the audience knows what the hell is going on because they have read the books. In this reguard I believe Mordant's Need would be much more adaptable to the big screen.It's a shorter work, got more of a romance to it, has many many strong believable characters...Any thoughts on this?
 
Sorry for such a long winded question...

I think it would be fair to say that I never "put a face" to a character in the way you do.  It's not just that I don't base my characters on anyone I've ever known--or even seen.  It's also, as I keep saying, that I "see" with language.  I don't even remember what my characters look like while I'm writing about them (although I often get brief intense glimpses when I'm writing their descriptions):  I remember what I *said* they look like--which isn't at all the same thing.  (So it probably goes without saying that my visual memory is pretty weak at the best of times, while my verbal memory is usually reliable.)

I've already spent more than enough space in this interview on the entirely-hypothetical "Covenant" movie.  I'll just repeat myself to the extent of saying that, yes, I think "Mordant's Need" could more easily be translated into a good movie.  However, wherever possible film producers think "franchise" (e.g. James Bond), and "Covenant" clearly has more potential in that regard than "Mordant's Need"--or even the GAP books.

(08/31/2005)

John Butcher

Dear Mr Donaldson,

First of all, let me add myself to the many others who have thanked you for the enjoyment your works have brought us.

You have said that the First Chronicles were self-contained and intended to have no sequel. In that case, the references therein to Elohim, Bhrathair - and now also Demondim - were not intended to lead to ever encountering these beings. Did you know when you wrote the First Chronicles what they were, or did the names come first and the creatures later? Elohim is of course a very resonant word.

The names came first:  I developed the characters/creatures later, when I needed them.  As I keep saying, I'm an efficient writer in the sense that I only create what I need.  In the first "Chronicles," what I needed was world-building; and one time-honored technique for world-building is to refer to races and countries etc. which never appear in the story (thus creating the sensation that the world is "bigger", and hence more real, than the particular story).  Of course, I was very aware of the resonance of the word "Elohim" when I used it; but I didn't go beyond that in the first "Chronicles" (at least not consciously).

(08/31/2005)

Jim Melvin

It is important for fantasy epics to contain some degree of historical accuracy or believability (in terms of settings, weapons, dialogue, etc.) But do you think that some of today's successful fantasy novelists (I won't name names) carry this too far? I have found several of your fellow best-selling authors to be amazingly well-educated in the historical sense, but not so clever in the this-is-a-great-story sense. Which is more important? What the story is about? Or how it is told?

I'm inclined to contest your opening postulate.  Of course fantasy epics require believability:  every story does, in one form or another.  But do they therefore require historical accuracy?  That sounds like an oxymoron to me, since fantasy is by its very nature, well, fantastic (i.e. it does not conform to any known consensus about external reality).  In any case, weak writers use "accuracy" (however defined) as a substitute for imagination:  strong writers use it (when they use it all) as a springboard for imagination.  Using "Covenant" as an example (if I may do so without arrogance):  the whole point of the information about leprosy is *not* that it is accurate (although it was when I wrote those books), but rather that it enables what follows.  And the same can be said of "historical accuracy...in terms of settings, weapons, dialogue, etc.."  A case in point is Dan Brown, who regularly wins the I-know-more-than-you-do sweepstakes hands down, but who couldn't tell a good story if his life depended on it.  At its core, storytelling is about character; and (as someone observed in an entirely different context) Dan Brown "writes about human beings as if he's never actually met one."

(08/31/2005)

Kristen Steffenhagen

Mr. Donaldson,

I have two questions for you today.

1) In the GAP series, you used such terms as "swashbuckling" and "buccaneer."  Angus and Nick were pirates.  These words -- what seem like pirate terminology -- made it seem to me that Angus and Nick were pirates out at sea.  I was just wondering whether is was some strange coincidence that these two were ore-pirates and you were using such words when describing them?

2) My second question has to do with the death of Nick.  How did you feel about killing him off the way you did?  To me it felt like the worst death he could have had, trying to get revenge on Sorus Chatelaine and she ends up killing him.  

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Kris

1) It has recently come to my attention that words like "swashbuckling" and "buccaneer" once had very specific and concrete meanings which could not possibly be applied to the GAP books--or to any form of space opera.  In my view, however (a view confirmed by at least one modern dictionary), the meanings of those terms have lost their specificity over the centuries, and they can now be used in a whole host of contexts only loosely related to literal piracy and crime.  For example, 200+ years ago the word "buccaneer" could only be used metaphorically unless it referred to "piracy," which in turn only took place "at sea."  Now even "piracy" no longer requires a nautical denotation.  Better writers than I am have been tossing around "swashbuckling" and "buccaneer" pretty freely for decades.

2) From Nick's perspective, he got exactly "the worst death he could have had."  From my perspective, he got exactly the death he brought on himself.  Considering the relentless pettiness of his desire for revenge, any less futile death would have violated the terms on which he lived.

(08/31/2005)

Nathan Graber

I was just recently introduced to your work and have just finished the first Covenant trilogy, and I am very intrigued by the philosophy of the books, especially the end of the third.  I noticed both Christian and eastern religious symbolism, and I am wondering what your personal philosophy of life is.

As regular readers of this interview know, I'm not interested in discussing my "personal philosophy of life."  For one thing, I consider it irrelevant:  only the books themselves matter.  And for another, well, this is a public forum, and my personal philosophies are private.

Please accept my regrets.

(08/31/2005)

Michael from Santa Fe

One of my favorite parts of "The One Tree" (besides the romance developing between Linden and Covenant) was that it took place at sea, on a Giant ship.  You really made the ship come alive to me and I believed I was sailing along with them.  So, my question:  do you have much real life experience with sailing and ships or did you just do some basic research to get the ship terms straight and go from there? 

I've spent significant periods of time at sea, literally as well as metaphorically <grin>.  But I have very little experience with actual sailing:  mostly I've been on cruise ships, freighters, and oceanliners.  My (very limited) knowledge of sailing comes from reading stories about sailing (Hayden's "Voyage," Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," a whole bunch of Melville and Conrad, Russell and O'Brian) rather than from more mundane forms of research.

(08/31/2005)

David Flood

Hi Stephen,

I have read in your previous replies that all of Kevin's Lore is now 'lost'. Is that an irreversible situation - have the Masters destroyed the Wards and other items in Revelstone? 

Does Anele have the skills and knowledge (as what amounts to being an Unfettered One) to resurrect a new line of Lords, or are they gone forever?

Again, thank you so much for your writing. Thank you.

David, Ireland

I'm afraid all of this falls under the heading of RAFO.  But I think it's very unlikely that the Masters would *destroy* a Ward if they ever found (or had) one.  That doesn't sound like them to me:  whatever else they may believe, they have too much respect for the Lords.

(08/31/2005)