Squeetus summer book club: The Goose Girl, chapter 3
If I wrote this story today, it would be a different book. I'm both a different writer and a different person than I was. While I like and am proud of this book still, I wouldn't have done it the way I did. For one thing, this book would be shorter.
This is the first piece of fiction I wrote that attempted to draw so close to the main character. My previous writing kept the reader a little more at arm's length. I think that was the right choice for this kind of novel, and I followed the advice of my editor in that.
The Dream, pg 41
The banquet with the roasted swans and the dream that followed had been written out in the chapters I cut. I liked it well enough to find a way to put it in still.
Talone
One thing lost in the cut chapters was a renewed relationship between Talone and Ani after the incident at the swan pond in chapter 1. But opportunity always comes from cutting, and the uncertainty about the leader of her expedition increased tension. Better to leave things uncertain for now and develop later.
The handkerchief
This is from the original tale. It's suppose to protect the princess, and the lady-in-waiting cannot oppose her until the handkerchief is lost. Or so the lady-in-waiting believes. There's no evidence of this in the tale. Ani is the type of person who thinks the belief, the show, the token itself is the power, no real magic behind it. But someone like Enna would believe the handkerchief held power.
The Blue Mouse
Inside story - there was a small artsy movie theater in Salt Lake City called The Blue Mouse. I went there once as a teenager to see award winning animated shorts (short films not short pants) and sat next to a friend of mine called Dean who I liked very much. When I was thinking of a name for the tavern, I thought to call it after that movie theater.
Selia
Sly, sly, sly...
The Journey
For me, the heart of high fantasy is in a journey, a travel from one place to another, and through a forest is especially archetypal. I quite enjoy journey stories (the literal ones, as well as the metaphorical ones that usually go hand in hand) and so I overwrote this one as well. I cut lots and lots from the journey. But overwriting is great for me, because then when I rewrite, I get to cut all but the best bits.
Rabid Wolves
Would there really be three rabid wolves traveling in a pack? I'm not sure about that.
Ingras, Ishta, Ideca
Three "i" names! And Isi too. That's way too many "I" names. I'm a visual thinker and tend to recognize names and unfamiliar words by their first letter, so I've made an effort to avoid this in future books. In the first edition, I mistakenly referred to Ideca (who comes later) as Ishta.
Ishta
*shudder*
Chapters
When I began writing The Goose Girl, I was still getting an MFA, my thesis a collection of short stories. I tended to think of each chapter as its own mini-short story, with a beginning, middle, and end. The chapters were longer than most of my later books and have a different structure and feel to them I think.
Lindsay asks, "Can you tell us how to pronounce Isi?" For me it rhymes with "busy" but I honestly don't care how people pronounce my names. Whatever flows off your tongue easiest.
Eliza asks, "She's Ani in this book and Isi in all the others. What do you think of her as?" When talking about The Goose Girl, she's Ani. But otherwise, I think of her as Isi.
Danielle asks, "Do you find it limiting or freeing to follow the main plot of a fairy tale? Do you find yourself straying from the original plot too much or does it just help your creativity?" I've retold several fairy tales and the process is different with each one. With this one I stayed pretty close to it, wanting to honor the original tale. I don't think retelling a fairy tale vs. making up a new story is either easier or harder. Each book brings its own challenges.