Love to see you nerd out about Tang poetry :) I remember the phrase "raise my head and watch the moon associated with you" many years ago -- I honestly am not sure if it was a working title for a book, or your AIM status message -- and it's really cool to see it in context now.
Being myself a huge fan of setting, story, theme, etc. I of course strongly agree with the theory that stories don't have to be, fundamentally, about primates or similars. In some ways, even as we love to write about primates, we also love to find ways of making them a bit different in our stories! A good character in my experience channels an image or a cultural moment. I love the idea of cutting out the middle and writing without character.
(This is on my mind now especially as I'm finally getting through the 5e Sigil books and thinking about stories in the city of doors, which has characters like the Lady of Pain who are less characters and more forces of nature!)
Love to see you nerd out about Tang poetry :) I remember the phrase "raise my head and watch the moon associated with you" many years ago -- I honestly am not sure if it was a working title for a book, or your AIM status message -- and it's really cool to see it in context now.
Being myself a huge fan of setting, story, theme, etc. I of course strongly agree with the theory that stories don't have to be, fundamentally, about primates or similars. In some ways, even as we love to write about primates, we also love to find ways of making them a bit different in our stories! A good character in my experience channels an image or a cultural moment. I love the idea of cutting out the middle and writing without character.
(This is on my mind now especially as I'm finally getting through the 5e Sigil books and thinking about stories in the city of doors, which has characters like the Lady of Pain who are less characters and more forces of nature!)