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ajkal2 reblogged your post “worldbuilding
May. 9th, 2019 01:34 pmvia http://bit.ly/2Ha4yAy
ajkal2
reblogged your post “worldbuilding textures”
[image description: tag art reading #hey look! another fencer! #ive been an epeeist for like 8 years #and some swordfights in fiction… hoo boy. #catch me screaming at pirates of the carribean #just stab them #some of the slashes in films wouldnt even make contact! #wheres the footwork #in books its a lil less Hoo Boy #but sometimes its like ‘they clashed swords!’ #GIVE ME MORE #which line are they on? why dont they disengage and hit? was it just a beat or a proper lock of blades? WTF IS GOING ON]
See, while this is also Extremely Valid™, don’t get me wrong [Hi! I fenced epee intermittently, but wound up mostly fencing sabre because otherwise we couldn’t field any sabreurs, and I only did it for like two or three years and really sucked, it is impossible to overstate how terrible I was], I don’t even think it’s super necessary to describe it a whole lot? I don’t need to be shown every gory detail, though in visual media I do like it when you can follow the action somewhat realistically– like, make the effort!! But it’s like any worldbuilding thing– I’ve seen this ruminated on before. If you’re going to put two suns in the sky for aesthetics you better goddamn have some idea what having two suns would actually do to the setting. You don’t have to explain it all, but the difference between an okay work and a great work is things like that. what does it mean, practically speaking– is it ever night, then? The author really ought to spend a while and work it out entirely, so that it can then be slipped back into the description– and even the plot!– seamlessly enough that the audience isn’t left wondering. And it’s such a great feeling when you work out that, say, a moon orbiting a gas giant could plausibly have an occasional very cold long night despite otherwise being tropical, and then you can work that in to your plot and have it matter where they really are, beyond just being a pretty backdrop painting for your action.
And so you don’t really have to have studied fencing, or whatever specific technical thing I’m talking about, I don’t think, to write it well, it’s just that it’s so much easier. As with any action sequence, the author really has to block it out and understand what is going on in order to describe it. That’s what so often makes fight sequences so unsatisfying both in visual and written media– the creator just sort of put in a few cool action shots, but never addressed what actually happened. Sometimes, again, this is okay– like in the Goblin Emperor, the assassination attempt, the POV character is so terrified and also his view is entirely blocked by the person defending him, so he has no idea what happened, and the scene is told faithfully that way; there’s one clear visual, then there’s reactions and noise and then his bodyguard is lying bleeding in his lap and he’s like “what the– actual– fuck” and it’s a great vivid scene.
But you can’t always do that, and as an author, it’s good to have another approach available. The point is, you have to understand what’s going on in order to describe it. You can’t just say “their swords clashed!”, or, worse, have a visual medium and have the fight consist of random chopped-up aesthetically-pleasing movements that have no possible tactical explanation, and expect to wind up with a powerful scene. A clash of steel! A dramatic parry to nowhere! A close-up of a determined face! More ringing of steel foley effects, the actors are very clearly aiming to hit one another’s swords and there is very clearly no effort whatsoever to hit the person, that’s not the point of this fight Doylistically and there’s no Watsonian attempt whatsoever because who cares, swords look cool. Boring. Nobody really likes that, come on! Tell a better story.
(This goes for sex scenes too, but I’m not necessarily going to get into that– my point is, you can fade to black or tell it euphemistically or be super explicit or whatever but you have to convey the important information thereby, it’s really crucial. Sex and action scenes alike– there’s a world of choices there, and they’re not necessarily the choices people wound up hung up on. I recently saw someone on Twitter I think who was like “omg please writers, yes write sex acts you haven’t done but for the love of god research them first” and uh… yes. seconded.)
But here’s the entire level of detail in the fencing sequence that prompted me to write that previous post, and bonus, I’ve just realized it’s written from the POV of a character who does not understand fencing at all and totally sees it on a “their swords clashed!” level and I literally use that line I swear I did not edit this: (semi-spoilers for a near-future chapter of Continuing Education, but I don’t think it ruins anything to find out that Csethiro’s mania for swordplay does not vanish overnight when she becomes Empress)
*Everyone else present seemed to think this was a perfectly lovely way to spend an afternoon. Telimezh hadn’t noticed their arrival, and looked in turn at each of the two participants, who saluted him with their swords, and then saluted one another with their swords, and–
“What are we doing,” Cala said, as the goblin and the Empress leapt at one another, swords clashing.
“A solid parry,” Beshelar said mildly. “Oh! Fantastic disenga– ah! Oh! She has him!”
“Point to Zhalered,” Telimezh said.
“That was her touch!” Beshelar said loudly, finally sounding indignant.
Telimezh turned and saw him, and did a double-take, but then said, frowning, “She didn’t have right-of-way, she did not complete the parry.”
“It was a disengage!” Beshelar said. “It’s a valid–”
“If one does not stop the attack,” Telimezh said, “then it doesn’t matter if the return blow lands.”
“Ah,” the Empress said, “but his attacking blow did not land, there was only one contact! Avoidance of the attack is just as good as stopping the attack.”
“This is valid,” Zhalered said, “she won the angle, and only her touch landed, so it is just as effective as if she had stopped the attack. We concede the touch; the point is our lady’s.”
“We thought your attack had landed,” Telimezh said.
Both participants shook their head. “It fell short,” Zhalered said.
“Ah,” Telimezh said, grimacing. “This is why we need line judges.”
“Or sharp blades,” the Empress said, grinning toothily.
“At any rate,” Telimezh said, “that brings the score to–”
“Why have we not stopped this?” Cala demanded, finally catching up to Beshelar. “What is going on?”
*
ajkal2
reblogged your post “worldbuilding textures”
[image description: tag art reading #hey look! another fencer! #ive been an epeeist for like 8 years #and some swordfights in fiction… hoo boy. #catch me screaming at pirates of the carribean #just stab them #some of the slashes in films wouldnt even make contact! #wheres the footwork #in books its a lil less Hoo Boy #but sometimes its like ‘they clashed swords!’ #GIVE ME MORE #which line are they on? why dont they disengage and hit? was it just a beat or a proper lock of blades? WTF IS GOING ON]
See, while this is also Extremely Valid™, don’t get me wrong [Hi! I fenced epee intermittently, but wound up mostly fencing sabre because otherwise we couldn’t field any sabreurs, and I only did it for like two or three years and really sucked, it is impossible to overstate how terrible I was], I don’t even think it’s super necessary to describe it a whole lot? I don’t need to be shown every gory detail, though in visual media I do like it when you can follow the action somewhat realistically– like, make the effort!! But it’s like any worldbuilding thing– I’ve seen this ruminated on before. If you’re going to put two suns in the sky for aesthetics you better goddamn have some idea what having two suns would actually do to the setting. You don’t have to explain it all, but the difference between an okay work and a great work is things like that. what does it mean, practically speaking– is it ever night, then? The author really ought to spend a while and work it out entirely, so that it can then be slipped back into the description– and even the plot!– seamlessly enough that the audience isn’t left wondering. And it’s such a great feeling when you work out that, say, a moon orbiting a gas giant could plausibly have an occasional very cold long night despite otherwise being tropical, and then you can work that in to your plot and have it matter where they really are, beyond just being a pretty backdrop painting for your action.
And so you don’t really have to have studied fencing, or whatever specific technical thing I’m talking about, I don’t think, to write it well, it’s just that it’s so much easier. As with any action sequence, the author really has to block it out and understand what is going on in order to describe it. That’s what so often makes fight sequences so unsatisfying both in visual and written media– the creator just sort of put in a few cool action shots, but never addressed what actually happened. Sometimes, again, this is okay– like in the Goblin Emperor, the assassination attempt, the POV character is so terrified and also his view is entirely blocked by the person defending him, so he has no idea what happened, and the scene is told faithfully that way; there’s one clear visual, then there’s reactions and noise and then his bodyguard is lying bleeding in his lap and he’s like “what the– actual– fuck” and it’s a great vivid scene.
But you can’t always do that, and as an author, it’s good to have another approach available. The point is, you have to understand what’s going on in order to describe it. You can’t just say “their swords clashed!”, or, worse, have a visual medium and have the fight consist of random chopped-up aesthetically-pleasing movements that have no possible tactical explanation, and expect to wind up with a powerful scene. A clash of steel! A dramatic parry to nowhere! A close-up of a determined face! More ringing of steel foley effects, the actors are very clearly aiming to hit one another’s swords and there is very clearly no effort whatsoever to hit the person, that’s not the point of this fight Doylistically and there’s no Watsonian attempt whatsoever because who cares, swords look cool. Boring. Nobody really likes that, come on! Tell a better story.
(This goes for sex scenes too, but I’m not necessarily going to get into that– my point is, you can fade to black or tell it euphemistically or be super explicit or whatever but you have to convey the important information thereby, it’s really crucial. Sex and action scenes alike– there’s a world of choices there, and they’re not necessarily the choices people wound up hung up on. I recently saw someone on Twitter I think who was like “omg please writers, yes write sex acts you haven’t done but for the love of god research them first” and uh… yes. seconded.)
But here’s the entire level of detail in the fencing sequence that prompted me to write that previous post, and bonus, I’ve just realized it’s written from the POV of a character who does not understand fencing at all and totally sees it on a “their swords clashed!” level and I literally use that line I swear I did not edit this: (semi-spoilers for a near-future chapter of Continuing Education, but I don’t think it ruins anything to find out that Csethiro’s mania for swordplay does not vanish overnight when she becomes Empress)
*Everyone else present seemed to think this was a perfectly lovely way to spend an afternoon. Telimezh hadn’t noticed their arrival, and looked in turn at each of the two participants, who saluted him with their swords, and then saluted one another with their swords, and–
“What are we doing,” Cala said, as the goblin and the Empress leapt at one another, swords clashing.
“A solid parry,” Beshelar said mildly. “Oh! Fantastic disenga– ah! Oh! She has him!”
“Point to Zhalered,” Telimezh said.
“That was her touch!” Beshelar said loudly, finally sounding indignant.
Telimezh turned and saw him, and did a double-take, but then said, frowning, “She didn’t have right-of-way, she did not complete the parry.”
“It was a disengage!” Beshelar said. “It’s a valid–”
“If one does not stop the attack,” Telimezh said, “then it doesn’t matter if the return blow lands.”
“Ah,” the Empress said, “but his attacking blow did not land, there was only one contact! Avoidance of the attack is just as good as stopping the attack.”
“This is valid,” Zhalered said, “she won the angle, and only her touch landed, so it is just as effective as if she had stopped the attack. We concede the touch; the point is our lady’s.”
“We thought your attack had landed,” Telimezh said.
Both participants shook their head. “It fell short,” Zhalered said.
“Ah,” Telimezh said, grimacing. “This is why we need line judges.”
“Or sharp blades,” the Empress said, grinning toothily.
“At any rate,” Telimezh said, “that brings the score to–”
“Why have we not stopped this?” Cala demanded, finally catching up to Beshelar. “What is going on?”
*
