Creation of an epic – 21
But despite outlines and timetables, the epic developed its own life. For example, new characters whom I had not anticipated suddenly appeared. In the siege of a mountain fortress, a character emerged in the process—as the fortress was in the throes of being destroyed, Odysseus’ son Telemachus discovered a girl fiercely holding her own against […]
Creation of an epic – 22
And the process has continued. As the incidents grew, evolved, changed, the meanings they suggested also became clearer to me. One of the first most important issues was that any narration made no comment except to convey the action, settings and the mood. Meanings emerged through the characters themselves—they could at times narrate their own […]
Creation of an epic – 23
There are many phases to the creation of a large work—or, for that matter, of any serious work: the shock of revelation that provokes the need to create the artistic response; the period when the artist explores or gropes for, the implications of the provocation; the determination of the form needed for the work; the […]
Creation of an epic – 24
So the grinding work began. Douglas Campbell carefully checked spelling and grammatical errors while Carolyn started on the substantive editing. I went through line by line, sometimes adjusting metre, sometimes rewriting or cutting segments for clarification or for adding new possibilities. This phase is one in which any change may clarify or muddy what is […]
Creation of an epic – 25
That first draft took the form of a manuscript in which the three stories were arranged to be followed simultaneously: Canto One of the first would be followed by Canto One of the second, then Canto One of the third. The manuscript was so large that I had to bind it into four volumes, and […]
Creation of an epic – 26
So the grinding work began. Douglas Campbell carefully checked spelling and grammatical errors while Carolyn started on the substantive editing. I went through line by line, sometimes adjusting metre, sometimes rewriting or cutting segments for clarification or for adding new possibilities. This phase is one in which any change may clarify or muddy what is […]
Creation of an epic – 27
The final stage, once a publisher has been found, is the transformation of the manuscript into the copy ready to be printed. In the case of Odysseus, when my website was created, a draft was put on it, along with maps, some of which were animated, and during the year before it was printed I […]
Creation of an epic – 28
But this is not the end of the story. By the time you read this, there will be an eBook version of Books One and a forthcoming Book Two, as well as audiobooks of them (the audio version of my website has been removed). Hopefully, Book Three, Archer, will be ready to be printed, will […]
Apology
Many apologies for those of you who have wanted to hear from me over the past few months. The fact is, I have been immersed in revisions for Archer, Book Three of the epic trilogy, On the River of Time. Now they have gone to my long-time editor and friend Carolyn Zapf, and while I […]
An Odyssey
How all occasions do inform against us! Well, not necessarily. Serendipity can also come into play. Such a happy accident happened to me just over a week ago. In Toronto I had launched my book, Odysseus, early in April. Later, at home here in Kelowna, I came across in the New Yorker an article I […]
