some thoughts on Rosigo

[seventhe]

--Rosigo being the first short story/novel in my Ausrine universe/series. The entire premise of Rosigo was that it wasn't really going to be its own story; rather, it would be an event in my characters' pasts, a big defining event, that they would refer back to during the forward-moving stories as a common-knowledge thing. Writing it out would have been a great NaNo project because, even unfinished or with gaps, it could have been that framework for when I wanted to refer back to it.

The feel I'm going for with this universe is a weird combination of the world-based, awesome "high fantasy" + the fun of "urban fantasy" but in space, so I guess a little bit of "scifi"* -- but for me the focus is on the magic in this world - the magic of space, I guess - and how the tales and concepts of magic that people believe in forges actual magical boundaries, and how a "perfect world" guided by all-knowing magic compares to a stand-in for our world now.

I'm looking for some thoughts from fellow authors and readers here.

I've realized that, while Rosigo has a plot, it isn't really a plot. Or like - it is a plot, but it doesn't resolve itself. Basically, the cast of characters is sent on a searchquest, and in the end they find something important. We have some culture clashing and some character development, and much of the conflict of the story ties in to what happens to all of them when they find this thing, but... the point of Rosigo is that what they find is a gigantic complex mystery, which then sets the undertones for what was gonna be the first story (and now may be second). The thing they find makes no sense. It's weird. It's mysterious, it's unexplained, and there is no resolution to what it could be in this book. They make it home and say goodbye for now, the end.

Question 1 is: I am assuming that this is not a very satisfactory ending for a reader?

So then, I consider what kind of plot I would add to this story. Problem is, Rosigo is a very neat standalone little thing - this is what happened - and I think I would have to bring in an external conflict to add a plotline that could be resolved. I have some that would fit! And on one hand, this could turn it from a "short story" into a "novel", right? But on the other hand, am I adding conflict for the sake of conflict...?

Question 2: go with the original flow, or add to the complexity?

As it turns out, what I may have here in Ausrine is a wonderful worldbuilding success and a few key great characters, and all I want to do is squirrel around in it, rather than considering what actually happens.

Question 3: does anyone else do this? like does anyone else just want to write about like what their characters do on the weekends and how vampires survive in space and what exactly is so great about this one place and slice-of-life stuff?? just play in the world without a clear idea of where it's going?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

• question the Nth is why do these boundaries do this? Like, if I have fantasy but it's in space, does that make it scifi or does that make it fantasy? Or a crossover? If I have magic is it automatically fantasy? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Comments

[samuraiter]

I'm reminded of a big stack of Jenga blocks, swaying side to side, and you've got to pull one block from the bottom of the stack, but ... which block?

[p_cocincinus]

I feel like standalone shorts that add context to novels are becoming more common, I see them a lot in the YA ebook market, but Seanan McGuire has written them as well for both her urban fantasy series and for horror series as Mira Grant.

[ser_pounce_alot]

as someone who hangs out heavily in SF/F as both a reader and a writer, i can say that there are two camps: those who believe that Sci-fi and fantasy are two sides of the same coin, and those who believe they are vastly, vastly different. i am in the latter camp (because i don't like sci-fi and rarely read it, but exclusively read and write fantasy). HOWEVER, that being said, many people are in the first camp, and there's more crossover between them than ever before. i could give you some recs to things i've heard good things about on GR, but just know that it's happening more and more to be both as a work, and readers seem to really like it!

as for your novella problem... is it necessary to release that one first, or could you go into the first full novel, release that, and then, after you have a readership, release the novella as a "prequel"? many authors do that now, and it works well for short bits that don't necessarily have a "plot" but are building characters. many times they will also go back and give backstory like you described. although you have to make sure that your first full installment of the universe - which would likely be the first novel, because it's a better bet to put the full book out first and then the novellas, as often readers are less likely to pick up shorts but WILL buy shorts if they tie in to full-length works - stands alone without the novella, as it would be released after the fact.

publishers are really looking for series work, as series work sells well in ebook forms - people are way more likely to buy ebooks as opposed to print ones. if you are writing LGBTQ+, i could hook you up with my publisher, who have been a dream to work with and are super great (with an amazing family of writers who are really supportive of each other). food for thought.

/my dumb two cents

[novel_machinist]

Honestly, you could still have them find the thing and not know what it is and make it back home after that great discovery and have it be pretty cool. They found something beautiful that couldn't be explained and left it so no one else would find it kind of thing?

Question 2: I'm a go with the flow and then add as needed kinda gal

Question 3: Yes, Yes I do

Question Nth: Magical Speculative Sci-Fi

XD

unsolicited 2c worth of rambling

[queenlua]

re: question 1:

i think the important thing is if you're writing it like a mystery, vs making it pretty clear the mystery will be unresolved?

i remember watching Lost, and actually quite liking it all the way through (yes, obviously it was weaker in later seasons, but still fun). but i liked it largely because i was there for the characters, and the characters remained great, and because i was pretty sure they had no clue what the hell they were doing with the plot, i just cheerfully ignored that bit and squeed over the characters.

i'm consistently surprised talking to nerds who watched Lost, because they always fall in either camp "the characters were great i loved it", or camp "what the fuck was that ending it should've ended after season two they didn't resolve shit." i suspect Lost would've pissed people off less if they'd more clearly signaled "the plot is not going to have a logical resolution, if that's the thing you want out of this then you will be dissatisfied." (i would assume lovecraftian horror e.g. does the latter, though honestly i've never actually read lovecraft so i'm just going off what other people say here.)

i suspect in either case, it probably isn't just "they make it home and say goodbye for now, the end," though, right? this thing probably changes the characters in some way? if so, that works fine as a "point", even if whatever happened is weird/mysterious. (another dopey Lost reference—there's this one episode called "The Constant," and it's an interesting example where the plot mechanics make emotional sense way more than they make logical sense. there's a guy and a girl, right, and there's some vague scifi nonsense about how the guy's slipping out of time because blah blah physics and he needs to access a "constant" that was present in all timelines—don't think about it too much. and you don't have to, because the upshot is he desperately needs to get in touch with the girl, and we've been waiting like two seasons for this to happen because they love each other so much and blah blah, so when that thing happens, who gives a fuck about how exactly the event plays out, because it feels emotionally cathartic. was one of the most popular episodes of Lost ever. even among the people who wanted an actual plot.)

re: question 2: depends on your goals and stuff honestly; not sure how much insight i have here. in practice i have often tried to write a shot story, wrote a novella instead, and had my keenest readers peer at me over the manuscript and say "you know this actually wants to be a novel" and then i meekly reply "yeah" and realize goddamnit now i gotta go write a fuckton more pages, lol.

re: question 3: i play around in worlds all the time. usually it's more of a warm-up type thing and i scrap a lot of it once i have a sense of the stor(ies) i want to tell? but not all. the playing around is really important to me.

re: boundaries: i mean, a book very explicitly about "scifi badass rocket builders and also witches in san francisco" won the Nebula this year; i don't think people care that much about the boundary between scifi and fantasy and whatever these days :P

[seventhe]

YEP. I’m tapping blocks at this point to see which are stable and which are potential disasters.

[seventhe]

Hmmmm! Good to know. That’s kind of what I’m going for - it would add context to the world and really drive home characters, rather than me its own plot line.

[seventhe]

Hmmmmmm... honestly Rosigo would not need to be released first - actually I wouldn’t want it to go first, if I had the first novel in hand, just because it’s a key event in the past that I would like them to dance around a bit before we see it. That’s not a bad idea - I could write it for me, or write key scenes, and then focus on the first novel’s plot line.

This is definitely a planned series, and it’s, well um: a pan sexual polyamorous witch captain, lesbian werewolves, a genderqueer vampire and his/her/their occasional boyfriend, your obligatory hot companion, an occasionally active triad relationship, ......yeah there’s def some gayyyyyyyyyyyy in there. I would appreciate the hookup - in a little bit; I don’t really have enough to show off yet, but once I get there I would love that!

[seventhe]

Yeah, on one hand it could be a really good ending - hey, we found important thing, we did important thing, and some retrospective on that.

Re: unsolicited 2c worth of rambling

[seventhe]

Re: resolution— Rosigo is supposed to be first and foremost about the characters; it’s meant to tell, well, not how they met because some of them have already met, but how some of them met and how all of them kind of bonded as this great team/crew that worked together to find Thing and then analyze Thing and then deal with all the shit that happens upon finding Thing. It’s meant to explore their powers, but not just their powers, the way they as people handle and use their powers and how that ties into characterization etc. So, I guess coming back from that, the fact that Thing is still mysterious as fuck and no one knows how it came to be etc, you still have a bond formed between characters - maybe that is enough resolution to run with?

The discovery ends up being an underlying setting/occasional plot driver through the other books I have in mind, so it isn’t like that doesn’t have its own subtle changes to it that might make Rosigo feel more finished ... after I write the few novels in series I have planned ... dear god ... help

Re: i’m also worried that this is going to want to be a novel and, honestly, sometimes that just happens :P

[lassarina]

I'll agree that shorts fleshing out a universe are OK - I buy them a lot.

Also fuck classifications.