| A Conversation with Jane Welch | |||||||||||||
| Interview by Katharine Mills | |||||||||||||
| April 2000 | |||||||||||||
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No, I had nothing published before that. What happened was that I always knew that I wanted to write fantasy novels,
and so I did not attempt any other form of writing but launched straight into it. I wrote the first three chapters
and a synopsis and this I submitted to HarperCollins. Thankfully, the commissioning editor liked it and wanted to
see the rest. Once I had that she said, "Great, I'll publish it!" and I was away. I was unbelievably lucky!
I started writing the very first chapter of The Runes of War in June 1993, but before that I think I must have
read just about everything available on writing novels. I think this helped in getting published in that, by the
time I sent my first three chapters to HarperCollins, I knew that what I was presenting to them would not be
immediately discarded for silly mistakes. I didn't write another word until I heard back from
HarperCollins. I then wrote the rest of the book whilst abroad in the Pyrenees where I was teaching skiing
during the winter months.
I think I should also say that I was incredibly privileged to be introduced to writing fiction at the age of 10 by a very gifted English teacher by the name of Christopher Richmond. He was very encouraging and inspiring in his approach and I shall never forget writing what he would call the 'Parvum Opus' (short story of 2,000 words) one year and progressing to the 'Magnum Opus' (the big work of 10,000+ words) the next. He also separated use of language, characterisation and story from grammar, spelling and handwriting, thus separating the imaginative side of writing from the technical. It was exactly the encouragement I needed.
That's a very hard question and I don't really know that I have a good answer to it. I guess it stems from wanting
to write the sort of story that I would want to read myself. For me, a good fantasy novel allows the reader to explore
the various shades of human nature within an entertaining, action-driven environment. I also love the way in which
the worlds within the pages of fantasy novels, though perhaps familiar in many ways, cannot ever be completely relied
upon to constrain the outcome of a situation; this of course is equally true of science fiction.
It is such a complicated process that it is very hard to define where and how an idea starts and develops enough to
become a story. I wanted to write about two youngsters who had conflicts in order to immediately provide an exchange
between them. And I wanted to write at least about one youngster striving to do what was right through the difficulties of adolescence.
The original setting of the castle atop an immense tor was inspired by a high mountain pass on the southern border of France and the small principality of Andorra, to which I had climbed in the spring of 1990. The goat track to the pass is several miles long and, as you progress along the path and head further and further from metalled roads, it is like being transported back in time. When I reached the pass, I thought of what a good place it would be to build a stronghold to protect the principality from the threat of invasion from the north in times gone by. I sat for several hours mulling over the problems that the guardians of such a castle might face and why they had built it there in the first place. Bit by bit, I created the pieces of the jigsaw that formed the basis for my world. When I'm writing, I have very powerful images of the scenery and events held vividly in my head. Once I have imagined enough detail around me, it becomes easier to watch the characters interact. As I fleshed out their histories, it became more apparent what nature of problems were likely to beset them. The original story grew in a progressive manner. At the outset, I had not thought beyond one book, but once I was nearing the end of writing the Runes of War, I realised I simply did not have space to say all the things I wanted to about the world I had created. I had travelled thus far with them and I was hooked.
I am just about to complete the first book of my new trilogy and I don't think I'll be ready to think about what I
will do after this until I have completed the second book. My head is so full of all the ideas I have for this current
trilogy that I can't think that far ahead yet. However, I would like to continue with this world because I believe
it becomes richer and has more character the more I delve into it and explore its different regions.
I read bits and pieces all the time and always have done so it's information gleaned over a lifetime, really. If
something triggers an idea and I want to know more about it or give more accurate details, I then go and look it up
or ask someone. I have endless dictionaries and encyclopaedias, herbals, lots of books on Celtic magic, several books
on runes and the Celtic tree magic and books on armour. I visit places of historical interest, particularly castles,
and I watch a lot of the Discovery and History Channels, which give great ideas that I then research in more
detail. There are a couple of people on the Internet who have given me some detailed advice on sword play and I am
very lucky to have a very good friend who is captain of a four masted square-rigged sail ship, who has very rare and
specialist knowledge of the sea. He has been of invaluable help.
The trinity of priestesses and the religion they represent allows me to explore the changes through which society
passes. The male-dominated new faith and the female-dominated religion are struggling against each other for
recognition. They are in many ways opposites, neither essentially good or evil, though
they are perceived by different characters as such.
The struggles involved therefore are not simply for what is right or what is wrong but what is perceived
to be right or wrong. It makes for a much more fascinating dilemma, since these qualities have to be
judged through the eyes of the characters and so it becomes an exploration, not just into faiths and morals, but also into human nature.
A scene, yes; a character, no. I like to visit places which are either wild, moody or antiquated and do my
best to capture some of the atmosphere that such places exude. I have refreshed certain skills from time to
time; horse riding and skinning a rabbit are two that spring to mind. There is a school of thought that believes
that you can truly understand other people's experiences through simulation. I do not think it is possible to
understand a character by voluntarily exposing oneself to the events that have shaped them. I had a teacher at
school who spent the night in a ditch, after which he claimed to understand what a soldier in the World War
of 1914-18 felt like. One night in an English ditch, however uncomfortable, could not in any way be the
same as coping with the misery of months of constant bombardment, the noise, cold and the knowledge that his
life expectancy was little more than six weeks.
What I do instead is to draw on my own experiences and mould them. I don't know what it is like to be knocked unconscious during a jousting tournament but I do know what it feels like being knocked unconscious during a road accident. I would be mad to deliberately have myself knocked unconscious but it comes in handy if I have already had that experience. I've also ridden a horse into a bog and been lost in the mountains but, again, I wouldn't try that sort of thing as an experiment.
J.R.R. Tolkien for the breadth of his world, extraordinary imagination and introducing me to runes. David Eddings
for having such a great control of language. Shakespeare for his beautiful tragedies which so clearly illustrate the
timeless nature of human motivation. Thomas Hardy for his exploration of human suffering and richness of characterisation.
At first, I simply start to write what comes into my head. My books are predominantly driven by my characters' foibles
and flaws that initiate events. However, once the first part is laid down and I have a clearer idea in my head of how
the characters need to develop and what problems have to be solved, I then plan out the rest of the trilogy. This
detailing of the overall layout I find a most taxing process since to plan out over half a million words is not a task
undertaken without ample consideration and often a great deal of cutting of interesting material that, nevertheless,
turns out to be irrelevant to the story.
Once I have a plan, I write the whole story out in rough without ever going back to make corrections but always moving forward. (If I realise I need to change something I have already written as events have taken an unexpected turn, I simply make a note for myself to do later. I then clear up all my little notes once I have completed the whole story in rough.) This enables me to let the story flow and stops me from getting bogged down in the process of polishing the words. Only when the story is complete do I start the lengthy process of revision. I set myself a target of a number of words to write each day and this I do every day bar Sunday until the book is finished in rough. After that I revise and revise and revise until it is polished. I always discover new characters and unexpected developments occur as I go. My outline will only cover the major plotline of the story and, as I begin to flesh it out, new subplots appear, which again will have an impact on the major plotline. I find that an outline is a rather sterile technical thing but a story has a life of its own and, as such, will develop in its own way.
I still love the first one because it was where I first met, Hal, Caspar and Brid and that was very exciting for
me. A bit like one's first child; you watch every movement, every smile and count its life in seconds.
My second trilogy (The Book of Önd) I think is more skilfully written, and if I had to choose I think my favourite of all those three books is the middle one of that trilogy, The Bard of Castaguard, because, in it, the character May, who is an ordinary young girl, goes to extraordinary lengths to protect those she loves. And though she makes many mistakes, she is always trying to do the right thing. I so admire her courage.
Let me introduce my favourite new character: Rollo is 13 years old but is more bitter and suffers a greater
sense of self-loathing than any man twice his age. He was born heir to a kingdom and yet by 5 years of age he was
already a failure in the eyes of his countrymen; for those without the skill required of the royal line cannot be
crowned. Before two more years had passed, he had watched his younger sister achieve what he could not and take his
place as heir. The seizures and rages with which he is afflicted had started at about that time and with them came
the loss of most of the friendships that he had formed within the palace...
Katharine Mills is bookish and nearsighted. She lives with an ever-expanding library and a great deal of dust in Southern Ontario, and mourns the passing of Edward Gorey, whose decorating ideas she has always admired. | ||||||||||||
 
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