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Magnus Archives: Final Q + A, Part 1
Main takeaway: Soundscaping is a LOT of work!
I don't agree with Jonny's take on prequels being inherently lessening of the first work. I think if you have well-rounded enough characters, they still fit together like a puzzle and it works fine, because their story inherently began the original. But I'm a very character-driven writer; if I have a previous generation playing a major part in a story I know their backstory in great detail when I'm writing the original, and precisely how their story intertwines with the one I'm telling. I don't see it as "you have created these characters to stand as foils to the current generation"-- I see it as yes, they are foils, but there are forces that shaped them to be those things as they in turn shaped what came after them. Where the story begins and where it ends are always arbitrary.
I would really like to see the Gertrude and Adelard Dekker prequel. Yes, we know from the beginning how it ends, but there are things that allows you to do-- you can be really blatant with the foreshadowing and calls forward if you're expecting a good chunk of your audience to already know how all this shakes out. It allows for a lot more character. The interesting part isn't the plot; it's how Gertrude becomes the person we know she became, and how Dekker got into this at all. He's basically the series equivalent of Van Helsing; I want to know how he got that way!
Also "evil creme brulee." Much laughter.
I don't agree with Jonny's take on prequels being inherently lessening of the first work. I think if you have well-rounded enough characters, they still fit together like a puzzle and it works fine, because their story inherently began the original. But I'm a very character-driven writer; if I have a previous generation playing a major part in a story I know their backstory in great detail when I'm writing the original, and precisely how their story intertwines with the one I'm telling. I don't see it as "you have created these characters to stand as foils to the current generation"-- I see it as yes, they are foils, but there are forces that shaped them to be those things as they in turn shaped what came after them. Where the story begins and where it ends are always arbitrary.
I would really like to see the Gertrude and Adelard Dekker prequel. Yes, we know from the beginning how it ends, but there are things that allows you to do-- you can be really blatant with the foreshadowing and calls forward if you're expecting a good chunk of your audience to already know how all this shakes out. It allows for a lot more character. The interesting part isn't the plot; it's how Gertrude becomes the person we know she became, and how Dekker got into this at all. He's basically the series equivalent of Van Helsing; I want to know how he got that way!
Also "evil creme brulee." Much laughter.