MCM ComicCon London 2019 has, once again, provided interesting panels aiming to help aspiring writers and satisfying readers who are simply curious about authors’ lives.
Adrian Tchaikovsky (Children of Ruin), RJ Barker (Age of Assassins), Jen Williams (The Copper Promise), KK Perez (The Tesla Legacy), Catherine Webb (Timekeepers), and Susan Dennard (Truthwitch) entertained the lively audience of the Creator Stage by speaking of their techniques to create perfect and seemingly real worlds for their novels. After a short introduction of the writers, RJ Barker went straight to the point, asking if the world-building came before or after the making of the characters. “I mainly interested in world creation,” Tchaikovsky kicked off the conversation. “During my writing process, the characters initially are subordinate.” The other authors agreed on that point; the world they created influenced the characters and the scenario in which they acted tended to shape them. “I differ from my colleagues,” Williams said with a smile. “I used to start creating the characters as they’re supposed to live and forge that environment.” “The key to make our creation real is to provide a deep connection between readers and characters,” Dennard added. “If the reader can feel what your protagonists feel, they will become part of the story.” The research was a part of the job that usually took more time and caused big headaches and frustration. “I need to research and be as precise as possible,” Tchaikovsky said. “My imagination is quite lazy, so looking for the information I need works as motivation.” Jen Williams, instead, preferred to make everything up, as creating from the beginning allowed the writer to overlook details which might make the story difficult and boring. “That’s why it’s perfectly fine to be an expert of the scenario you created,” Webb interjected, “but you always have to remember that the story has to get on.” As time dramatically went by, the authors dealt with the final question regarding which flaws they tried to avoid when building their worlds. “My editor usually asks me to make the story more accessible,” Webb replied. “My worlds are quite precise historically, and suddenly fantasy corrupts them.” The main problem for Tchaikovsky was the weirdest and most unexpected. “As my main characters usually aren’t human, I get often asked to add more people.” The audience burst into a fragrant laugh. “It might seem weird, but that’s a frequent request.”
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