Squeetus summer book club: The Goose Girl, chapter 4
Happy Fourth of July! Internet traffic dies on holidays and weekends, but I'll post anyway and hopefully you can catch up later. Please join me July weekdays for this ongoing exploration into The Goose Girl.
This is an interesting journey for me. I finished writing this book eleven years ago and have written 15 or so since, so I'm trying to channel old memories. I'm surprised how much I do remember, given the brain rot post-kids and all.
Wind
Foreshadowing!
pg 65. confrontation with Selia
Was it the wind itself or the wind reminding Ani of the handkerchief that gave Ani the strength to withstand Selia's people-speaking in that moment? Did her handkerchief have power? Or was it simply her talents with bird and horse and warned her? Ani believes one way now but will change her mind later.
Further intrigue in the forest
Originally I thought I needed more buildup in the forest journey to what would happen at the end. You can read a partial cut chapter in this book's deleted scenes.
Tales of blood pg 66
I made up those ones, but there are many such strange, violent, bloody fairy tales.
The forest
I love forests, and it was fun for me to get to describe what the forest feels, smells, sounds like. A writer friend had suggested to me to change the tale so the princess travels across the sea to the new kingdom, and the separation of the sea is what prevents her from running back home. It was a good idea, but a forest is so highly symbolic in fairy tales, I didn't want to lose that space.
Breaks
I used more a lot more breaks in this book than I do anymore in my writing--several times a chapter empty lines separate different scenes. I wonder, does this affect your reading? Do you notice it? Do you like/not like it?
Mutiny in the forest
One thing that always bugged me about the original tale was why the princess just let the lady-in-waiting steal her identity, not to mention why a princess was sent to another kingdom with only one woman as an escort. This change solved it for me. Part of retelling a fairy tale for me is making sure it's all believable.
"she bounded into a gallop"
Ooh! My own stomach tensed up as I read the end of that chapter. Run, Ani, run!
Aquinnah asks, "how important is research, specifically in a fictional book? I noticed that you did not stress too much about the three rabid wolves, which leads me to believe that extensive research is a matter of preference". Research is very important. It bothers me a great deal about the wolves. Initially I had a pack of wolves attack until research showed me wolves wouldn't attack a large encampment like that and rarely attack humans at all. So I thought making them rabid would allow them to do something contrary to species while still making the situation dangerous. But after I published the book I found out that rabid animals don't tend to travel in packs. Blerg. I don't like to be the bearer of false information. All fiction should be mostly fact. Especially fantasy fiction. Without the foundation of reality, a reader can't accept the fantasy part.
Here's something to blow your mind: I wrote The Goose Girl before the internet was the internet we know and love/loathe today. I did most of my research in a library. It was hard to find some information. I interviewed knowledgeable people as I could. I read a lot. But alas, I made some mistakes. Probably many more that I'm not aware of.
Liz K asks, "how do you decide on perspective for your narratives? As in, first-person versus third, etc.?" It's just whatever the story needs. Close third person is the most useful generally for the kind of language I like to use, but in something like Book of a Thousand Days first made more sense. That book was the main character, and there was no room in a tower to take a step back and see a wider picture that a 3rd person narrator would have provided.