Stuff and nonsense

[annavere]

So, in my infinite wisdom, all my winterizing prep (getting firewood stockpiled, skirting the house, putting a new rug on bare floor) did not take into account the concept of drafts. The house has begun to leak like a sieve, and since the mild autumn (for which I was grateful every day) was replaced with instant heavy snowfall and below zero wind-chill on December 2nd, this has not been a fun week.

However, on the good side, the shock effect from last winter (where every day felt like three) has worn off and time is moving at a more normal pace. So the blast of cold misery will be over before I know it.

Things I've been doing, to relax during the cold mornings and evenings under blankets, include:

Discography dives. I used to do that for fun as a teen, and I've taken it up again, because everything is available online, and it's fun to have context and actually form an opinion. So far I've done Buffalo Springfield and half of Simon & Garfunkel, writing my impressions in a wordpad doc. I did check to see if there's a music community on DW, so I could post them, but nothing looks like a good fit.

Reading fic. For the past year I have read next to nothing, but I've finally found myself in the mentality to enjoy it properly, so I'm getting back into that. And the Shortcuts stories will be available soon. I don't regret sitting this year out, it was absolutely the right decision for me, but commenting on everything will give me the chance to say hi, anyway.

Writing fic. I have this forlorn ambition to actually finish both Sidelined and Counterclaims this month. I doubt it will happen, but I'm trying to treat it like a real deadline, because that busts up my usual procrastination and makes words happen.

I would also really like to finish reading Dune this month. I respect it, but I've also discovered that I don't actually enjoy worldbuilding. I love lore on TV shows because it's a spaghetti disaster with dozens of inputs that often contradict each other. It provides me a mental workout trying to make sense of nonsense.

Book lore is the work of one vision. The heavy lifting is done and there's nothing to parse. Unless the writer is incompetent, I guess (which Frank Herbert isn't). It's a superior medium for worldbuilding, but it turns out I don't actually care about any of that stuff. I don't want an encyclopedia, glossary and map - that takes all the fun out of it.

Comments

[teratornis]

That cold and draftiness does not sound fun, I hope you're able to keep warm okay! D:

I'm really fascinated by your commentary on Dune and worldbuilding. I've always been a massive worldbuilding lover, it's so interesting to me to see what people come up with, but at the same time I can also really see your point. There's a level of worldbuilding where it feels like too much. As a worldbuilder myself I understand the drive to write a full encyclopedia on the world in question, but for a narrative or a story it gets to a point where the descriptions of the worldbuilding has the chance to detract from the tale.

It's been a while since I read Dune, but yeah, it's pretty damn heavy on a lot of that. I think there's a level of worldbuilding depiction in writing that adds a lot to the story, especially if it manages to leave big chunks to the imagination, but Dune goes pretty hard on all hard and fast the background details, doesn't it? I enjoy the comparison between TV worldbuilding and book worldbuilding, I think you're dead on about the way that works. Also love the term 'spaghetti disaster'.

[havocthecat]

You do have the post-death Herbert stuff where it might start spaghettification. I don't read past Dune because that worldbuilding is bugfuck nuts and and Herbert is too. Oh my God. SO CRAZY. I CANNOT EVEN WITH THE CRAZY. It's potentially crazier than The Chronicles of Amber! How do you get potentially crazier than Zelazny? Because Zelazny is...sometimes I wonder what the hell was wrong with that man.

Dune. Man. Herbert got weird. But whatever. Dune still rocked my world. Even if Herbert is goddamn bonkers.

If there's one thing I have, it's opinions on books! (One thing?)

Sorry to hear about the drafts! What do you do about them? My front door is drafty as all get-out and sometimes I literally stuff a kitchen towel in it. (Plus I need to get out the thing that goes at the bottom to block that draft.) Also I've got a very nice selection of lined pants, I'm considering hunting up a new pair, a bunch of wool sweaters and long-sleeved shirts, and a reasonable number of wool socks. I layer well. And drink a lot of tea.

[annavere]

I think the best type of literary worldbuilding for me personally would be where the creator's design is partially obscured. I read Mistborn a few years ago and the parts that lingered in my mind were the overarching mysteries of the world. Both of the first two volumes also ended with reveals that only added bigger questions, and which I thought made them very effective horror stories. I'm a firm believer in effective horror being explained just enough to be comprehensible, but never enough to actually know what happened.

This all backfired, as I was in the story for the cold shudders, not the scientific magic system, and was demotivated to read the third volume lest all the eldritch elements be explained away. :)

I agree that the encyclopedia system has to be subordinate to the tale being told. And Dune has a good story, but it's also very much A Guide to the Flora (rip), Fauna, Geology, Topography and Weather Systems of the Hell Planet Arrakis, now with Expanded Subsection D (Travel Options for the Permanent Resident).

It's rather a lot. Impressively crafted, but it doesn't leave me much to wonder about between chapters.

[annavere]

It is extremely nuts. And Herbert obviously spent a lot of time thinking about it and coming up with ways to be more nuts, like he entered a competition and was determined to WIN.

I currently have a bath towel shoved at the bottom of the door. There's weather stripping but I think it's gotten old. Layers and layers of wool. Felted wool house slippers (I was smart enough to buy those a month ago). Extra blankets. A footstool. Hot tea.

Also, the old trick of going outside for a few minutes and it feeling warmer indoors by contrast.

[teratornis]

I had to share that description of Dune with some very nerdy friends, that's hilarious. Accurate, though, and it really is a lot.

I agree, very much prefer the sort of worldbuilding that shows you snapshots of the world and how it works, but doesn't try to explain the whole thing, so you get a sense that there's so much more going on with the setting. I feel like it makes the world feel a lot more alive.

I did also enjoy Mistborn and a lot of the worldbuilding there, but the second book didn't hit as nicely for me. In that one and the handful of Sanderson's other stuff I've read, his worldbuilding feels kind of inconsistent to me, like he's throwing stuff into the stew pot whether it fits into the established setting or not. Mistborn itself had some pretty neat stuff, though. Fascinating magical system.

[annavere]

Yeah, I can see how the second volume could lose you on the worldbuilding. Another thing I noticed was Sanderson being a bit too keen to kill characters. Overall I just felt like quitting while I was ahead and never really regretted the decision.

[teratornis]

Yeah, he definitely can be. He's also fond of piling more and more wildly powerful abilities on his protagonists in a way that just doesn't make sense to me, either mechanically or narratively. Definitely feel you on the quitting while you're ahead.

[annavere]

I forgot about the overpowering, but now that you mention it, that was another thing I wasn't wild about. Vin kept gaining new abilities, and she was already the special underdog to begin with. Obviously main characters tend to be special, and to have plot armor, but that makes it more important that they have limits on what they can achieve. It really damaged the sense of stakes in a lot of places.

I don't mean to make it sound like I hated the books. I enjoyed them both for what they were.

[teratornis]

It's unfortunately not just Mistborn. Everything I've read by him is like that, and I've heard the same from people who have read way more of his work than I have. It's a shame, because so much of his worldbuilding and setting and characterization really is incredibly compelling.

[annavere]

What a pity!

World building

[dswdiane]

Agree

Re: World building

[annavere]

👍