Sometimes you just have to cheat
That's all there is to it. You have to cheat.
EK is constructed almost entirely out of 'real world' concerns. All the mythology and monsters mentioned are 'real'. The guns, the horses, hell, even the doorknobs are real. The magic is real. It all comes from concerns people had and have over this side of the mirror.
But sometimes, though, sometimes you have to shoehorn something in. Bend it a little. It's kind of cheating. 'Massaging the story' someone once said to me, and I like that. Of course, 'Braveheart' was massaged and we were left with a story that was historical in so far as yes, there's a place called Scotland...
The next scene I'm going to write in EK is based around the idea of rune-magic. Seidr, Viking sorcery. Sort of. And I'm going to invoke a few terms from that particular philosophy. The thing is, the scene I'm writing will require a bit of loose interpretation, a bit of ignoring of the facts. The vast majority of readers will neither know nor care about my slippery idea. Those in the know will see what I'm doing. And I'm not exactly sure what percentage of my audience, or Burns', is particularly interested enough in runic interpretation. Probably a few. I've got some canny ones.
However, you'd be amazed at the kind of mail you can get for these little slip-ups. People love to catch them. Some can be quite malicious.
Fiction, however, has one special freedom. And that's the freedom to lie like a motherfucker!
Sometimes you just have to trust that people trust you to know what you are doing and let you cheat a little. Besides, if they wanted to read an essay, they'd be sadly disappointed with my little tale of bittersweet horror cowboys.
Besides, the scene has loads of outdoor voodoo shagging...
EK is constructed almost entirely out of 'real world' concerns. All the mythology and monsters mentioned are 'real'. The guns, the horses, hell, even the doorknobs are real. The magic is real. It all comes from concerns people had and have over this side of the mirror.
But sometimes, though, sometimes you have to shoehorn something in. Bend it a little. It's kind of cheating. 'Massaging the story' someone once said to me, and I like that. Of course, 'Braveheart' was massaged and we were left with a story that was historical in so far as yes, there's a place called Scotland...
The next scene I'm going to write in EK is based around the idea of rune-magic. Seidr, Viking sorcery. Sort of. And I'm going to invoke a few terms from that particular philosophy. The thing is, the scene I'm writing will require a bit of loose interpretation, a bit of ignoring of the facts. The vast majority of readers will neither know nor care about my slippery idea. Those in the know will see what I'm doing. And I'm not exactly sure what percentage of my audience, or Burns', is particularly interested enough in runic interpretation. Probably a few. I've got some canny ones.
However, you'd be amazed at the kind of mail you can get for these little slip-ups. People love to catch them. Some can be quite malicious.
Fiction, however, has one special freedom. And that's the freedom to lie like a motherfucker!
Sometimes you just have to trust that people trust you to know what you are doing and let you cheat a little. Besides, if they wanted to read an essay, they'd be sadly disappointed with my little tale of bittersweet horror cowboys.
Besides, the scene has loads of outdoor voodoo shagging...
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