Beyond - Legends Blue and Silver [OC's, NJO, action, angst] - --Final Notes Added 2/03/06--

Glad to hear it! I look forward, of course, to your review, and trust me when I say that I truly do undersetand just how busy life can be...

- Keralys

 

First off, I love how you use the musical terms to sort of give a hint of what the chapter holds in store. Very creative.

Secondly, the description of the duel between Jamin and the Scarhead was brilliant. I felt like I could have been right there, seeing it as it happened. The detail was sort of in-between Tolkien and Lewis. With Tolkien you?re wondering when he?s going to stop describing the hills and get on with the book, and with Lewis, you?re left thinking ?What hills? There were hills there?? Balance is a good thing. I like it when I am able to get a perfect ?mental picture? of what I?m reading, and you achieved that wonderfully.

The sort of tension with Kiana and the guys is quite intriguing. The entire time, I was debating in my head which of them she should choose. I never did come up with a conclusion.

This was absolutely poetic, ner vod ! It seemed as though you had choreographed a dance rather than a violent battle to the death. The storm and lightning just added so much. It?s sort of like their anguish over her death was reflected in everything around them. (This, I assume, was the idea.)

I?m guessing either you?re a walking thesaurus or you had one on hand because I loved how ?blue blade? or ?blue lightsaber? was not overused. Sapphire blade, indigo light, silver flame- wow?That?s all I can say. Great imagery!

Why'd you have to kill him??

Awesome is really the best summary I could come up with.

-Roain <><

 

Roain! First off, let me express my most heartfelt thanks to you for reading! It's always wonderful to have a new reader go through it. Which reminds me once again to go yell at the Ewok. I am so grateful to you for stopping in to this little corner of the universe.

Roain_Xantos: First off, I love how you use the musical terms to sort of give a hint of what the chapter holds in store. Very creative.

Thanks! I'm not sure how much you read of all the other people's replies - I myself usually end up skipping most of them in a longer story, to be honest - but as I've mentioned before in the course of those replies, I can't really take credit for the idea; Kathy Tyers did it first. On the other hand, it was something directly related to the story, thanks to the origin and genesis of the ideas in my brain. And it's hard not to let musical metaphors come out when you're a crazy composer geek like me.

Secondly, the description of the duel between Jamin and the Scarhead was brilliant. I felt like I could have been right there, seeing it as it happened. The detail was sort of in-between Tolkien and Lewis. With Tolkien you?re wondering when he?s going to stop describing the hills and get on with the book, and with Lewis, you?re left thinking ?What hills? There were hills there?? Balance is a good thing. I like it when I am able to get a perfect ?mental picture? of what I?m reading, and you achieved that wonderfully.

Again, thanks! I'm honored by your praise, to be sure, and I'm glad to find that I struck the right balance between description and narrative - it's actually something I've always struggled with. Usually I tend to be overly descriptive, though occasionally I do find myself drifting the other direction (usually with regards to the characters themselves). So it's something of a relief to find that I did indeed strike a suitable balance. As for giving you a good mental picture - I'm glad. It's how I write, so I always hope that it's what ends up coming across (when I'm writing action, I visualize as I go, and simply try to communicate that to the reader... in fact, thinking about it, I do that in general).

The sort of tension with Kiana and the guys is quite intriguing. The entire time, I was debating in my head which of them she should choose. I never did come up with a conclusion.

Glad to hear it. Tension... such a perfect word to describe it. And it's there in such an unusual way, I think... all friends, left in the situation almost unwillingly, all wanting the very best for each other. I never could figure out which of them was better for her, either, so I let the plot answer the question for me. In all seriousness, I knew from fairly early on that Chris would die, but I fought it for quite some time... In any case, I should clarify by noting that I didn't kill Chris to deal with the romantic triangle; the romantic triangle was solved because Chris died. Very different things.

This was absolutely poetic, ner vod! It seemed as though you had choreographed a dance rather than a violent battle to the death. The storm and lightning just added so much. It?s sort of like their anguish over her death was reflected in everything around them. (This, I assume, was the idea.)

Thanks. People often comment - accuse? - me of writing nearly poetic prose. Sometimes it's a good thing; other times not so much. I'm glad it works here. I was indeed intending to let the physical reflect the emotional/spiritual, but at the same time, I just needed it to be storming because the fight didn't work without it. It didn't even make sense without it. It had to be pouring rain; it had to be flashing lightning and sending ripples of thunder across the sky... it was there from the getgo in my brain, well before I had decided exactly how things would play out with Kiana. I write so organically that it's difficult for me to say what causes what in terms of tha

 

*sigh*

I?m sorry, ner vod. Most deeply sorry, that I?ve made you wait for so long, and whatever doubts may have arisen from my tardiness, they?re likely justified in full.

Still, I can at the very least attempt to mend some of my long-broken promises, and I hope the following thoughts will go some way towards making amends.

*ahem*

I?ve read the final chapter many times since I last posted in this thread, and on each reading I?ve come away more and more impressed. The poetic imagery, the very real sense in which this funeral, the outpouring of grief for the fallen Knight, are in fact a celebration of his life, it?s all deeply moving and no less impressive, and at the rate I?ve been going I could probably spend years trying to do the entire chapter proper justice, but as it is I hope these few thoughts will suffice.

As I?ve likely mentioned before, it was quite exciting, certainly from the perspective of the reader, to see two of my characters had been granted the honour of appearing at this very important scene, and I?ll have to congratulate you again on how true to character your depiction of them is, not to mention how moving the sentiments expressed by them were to me, Eclan?s in particular.

As well, I enjoyed the glimpse of the many other characters of your creation in attendance for Chris, all those whose lives he touched in his life, bringing home the truth of how ?No Man is an Island? very effectively. I?ll look forward to reading about them all in the future.

However, one thing about this story captured my attention a little more than the other elements, and I?ll try to describe it the best of my rather limited ability below.

For one reason or another, this was the thought that possessed me as I read the final chapter of Blue and Silver, and it struck me on a very fundamental level.

On one level or another, I think we all know dawn will come again. That?s simply the nature of our reality. It?s cyclical, and in many ways, we define our existence by it, as it defines us.

We?re born, we live and we die, days go in and out, seasons change, conflicts come and go, history repeats itself, and the Galaxy Far, Far Away is no different.

Peace endures for a little while, or for a thousand years, but it never lasts forever. Enemies invade, traitors scheme, and once again the Star Wars rage as the Sith rise and the Jedi fall, whether to death or to the Dark.

That, is the way it?s always been. That is how it always will be, and the knowledge of that inevitability, the seeming futility of our mortal existence, can easily bring despair, like that which drove ancient civilizations to visions of globe-encircling serpents with their tails in their teeth, or flaming wheels, ever turning yet never moving, things of futile and wasted energy, encapsulating the horror of questions for which no answers could be found.

It?s not hard to slip into such a state of mind. Everything around us, everything we accomplish is transient, and we don?t see swept away before our eyes will be obliterated by death, but that?s only part of the story. A sound-bite. A fact divorced from context.

We have the Truth. We know the answers to the great questions. We know that there?s something greater than death, and knowing that, we know how to live.

And in their own universe, in their own way, so do the Jedi.

As you?ve noted before, the Jedi endure the pain and suffering that the cyclical nature of existence brings back time and time again because they are Jedi. They too know something greater than themselves, and greater than death.

In a sense, they?re in some ways seperate from that cycle; what our Medieval ancestors would have seen as the revolutions of Fortune?s Wheel, because like Boethius, it could be said that they also understand the consolation of philosophy, and such sentiments as "honour is not accorded to virtue because of the office held, but to the office because of the virtue of the holder" are things I imag

 

Quiet_Mandalorian: I?m sorry, ner vod. Most deeply sorry, that I?ve made you wait for so long, and whatever doubts may have arisen from my tardiness, they?re likely justified in full.

Don't beat yourself up about it. I know how life gets, and I know you'd have had it her sooner if you could. I appreciate more that you worked till you had it how you wanted it before posting much more than I would have wanted it sooner.

Still, I can at the very least attempt to mend some of my long-broken promises, and I hope the following thoughts will go some way towards making amends.

*nods* As I said, I'm not in the least offended by the length of time; I'm far happier about the overall response you've given.

I?ve read the final chapter many times since I last posted in this thread, and on each reading I?ve come away more and more impressed. The poetic imagery, the very real sense in which this funeral, the outpouring of grief for the fallen Knight, are in fact a celebration of his life, it?s all deeply moving and no less impressive, and at the rate I?ve been going I could probably spend years trying to do the entire chapter proper justice, but as it is I hope these few thoughts will suffice.

I'm honored. It was (and is) probably my favorite chapter in the whole story. There is a degree of literary sophistication in it not present anywhere else in the work, because it was something I wrote after having digested a good bit of literary style from my reading and my AP English Lit class... it gave me an ability to add depth that I didn't have before. As to your observation that this is really a celebration of Chris' life: you're right, of course. And I think that there's something in me that instictively realizes that, given the thought of an afterlife, the funeral ought to be celebratory as well as mournful. As for your continuing tendency to denigrate your own commentary, I'm going to ignore it from here on, because it's completely unwarranted.

As I?ve likely mentioned before, it was quite exciting, certainly from the perspective of the reader, to see two of my characters had been granted the honour of appearing at this very important scene, and I?ll have to congratulate you again on how true to character your depiction of them is, not to mention how moving the sentiments expressed by them were to me, Eclan?s in particular.

*nods* I imagine it would be. It sent a little thrill through me just to have the mention of Chris in your last update to HBWT. I can't imagine quite what it will be like to actually read some of the, erm, for reasons of secrecy I'll phrase it this way: revelations that will come out regarding other characters' relationships to each other in the course of your story and mine. Speaking of which, there are things I can't get into in the next chapter of H&S until you reveal them in HBWT (though they've been mentioned, I can't get into the details I want until then), so get cracking!

I'm once again very glad to hear that my depiction of them managed to capture the essence of the characters in the situation effectively. It was (as you know) a strong concern of mine as I added them to that scene. In the end, I feel their addition makes it far stronger, and gives it a sense of greater meaning in our overall continuity. Thanks for letting me use them there.

As well, I enjoyed the glimpse of the many other characters of your creation in attendance for Chris, all those whose lives he touched in his life, bringing home the truth of how ?No Man is an Island? very effectively. I?ll look forward to reading about them all in the future.

*nods* Good! I'm glad to hear that that worked out the way I wanted. It was a conscious decision to gather all of those people together, because, as you note quite correctly, the John Donne reference is essential to any proper understanding of the way one life intersects with so many others.

However, one thing about this story captured my attention a

 

Heh, I'm finally here, and I've finished Blue and Silver!

First of all: I quite enjoyed it! I love your writing, your details and your descriptions. You sure have some skill in writing fluid action scenes, and even more peotic and emotional stuff. I liked your characters, I liked the ground and the space battles (latter even more, actually), and the story was quite alright too - just another desperate struggle in the beginning of the YV invasion, and yet another victim fallen prey to it.

Although, there were also some tidbits that bugged me with your story: first, there are the names Chris and Alex - too earthly, in my opinion, and I still can't get fine with it - they don't fit for SW, imho. That's nothing really bad about your story, but I just wanted to let you know that. And, talking about names: since I'm German, I quite laughed at the name "Nagetier", especially 'cause I can't figure how to pronounce it in English (it means something like "rodent" in German, say "rat" or something^^). The next point would be the, well, overpowering of your character. I bet I'd think the same about my OCs if I was a stranger and not the writer - I think it's just that if you've got your very personal, original character, you always tend to overpower him. There is his ship, faster and better than any other (what model's it excatcly, anyway? ), and his piloting skills even above those of Master Skywalker (or so you said in the beginning), he sacrificing himself for everyone and making the day, and then his death touching lots of "big" Jedi persons... had you used an official character, like Kyle Katarn, maybe, I wouldn't have thought so, but I can't quite get on with an OC with such an importance - but, I think that's just me. It's not as bad as it sounds tho... when reading most of the fic, I didn't think too much about that and still enjoyed it, but I think it's still something that had to be said.

Now, don't get the impression I didn't like it because my "cons" were longer than my "pros"... that's just me, 'cause I'm better at getting cons than pros, and I've got always more words for cons than pros.

Anyway, I can't wait to read the sequel, now... - could you send to me what you've got as a doc or pdf, please?

One more thing: I think you should make a Dramatis Personae - those lots of original names sometimes confused me from time to time...

@QM

I really hope that you returning to this story will also mean returning to HBWT and, maybe, my stuff?

(you could at least answer my PMs, tho... )

 

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply... I kept meaning to and then not.

Corran_Fett: Heh, I'm finally here, and I've finished Blue and Silver!

Huzzah!

First of all: I quite enjoyed it! I love your writing, your details and your descriptions. You sure have some skill in writing fluid action scenes, and even more peotic and emotional stuff. I liked your characters, I liked the ground and the space battles (latter even more, actually), and the story was quite alright too - just another desperate struggle in the beginning of the YV invasion, and yet another victim fallen prey to it.

Thanks. It's always nice to hear that I have some modicum of skill at these sorts of things, seeing as it's one of my favorite things to do. I've seen enough people who love writing but are terrible at it that I very much want to know where my weaknesses are.

Although, there were also some tidbits that bugged me with your story: first, there are the names Chris and Alex - too earthly, in my opinion, and I still can't get fine with it - they don't fit for SW, imho. That's nothing really bad about your story, but I just wanted to let you know that. And, talking about names: since I'm German, I quite laughed at the name "Nagetier", especially 'cause I can't figure how to pronounce it in English (it means something like "rodent" in German, say "rat" or something^^). The next point would be the, well, overpowering of your character. I bet I'd think the same about my OCs if I was a stranger and not the writer - I think it's just that if you've got your very personal, original character, you always tend to overpower him. There is his ship, faster and better than any other (what model's it excatcly, anyway? ), and his piloting skills even above those of Master Skywalker (or so you said in the beginning), he sacrificing himself for everyone and making the day, and then his death touching lots of "big" Jedi persons... had you used an official character, like Kyle Katarn, maybe, I wouldn't have thought so, but I can't quite get on with an OC with such an importance - but, I think that's just me. It's not as bad as it sounds tho... when reading most of the fic, I didn't think too much about that and still enjoyed it, but I think it's still something that had to be said.

Indeed! I knew these criticisms would probably exist. It's important, with this story, to understand that it doesn't exist in a vacuum. As I mentioned in the notes, this story has a background to it that's extremely important to understanding it - and it wasn't originally intended for public consumption, but rather for the enjoyment of some of those on whom the characters were based. The names... well, if Luke doesn't bother you, Chris and Alex shouldn't. I understand what you're saying. As for Nagetier, well, I also wasn't counting on German readers; it was intentional and something of an in-joke because my friend on whom that character is based had a huge thing for rodents for a while.

Now, in terms of the stuff with Chris, I can see how you get that impression. I disagree, and not because those complaints would be invalid if true. I very intentionally showed that they weren't, though - there's a difference between characters' perception of each other and reality. That comment by Alex in the beginning was explicitly meant to indicate her frame of mind regarding Chris (something bordering on hero-worship), and the contrasts with reality and with other characters' opinions are there to set that off. His ship is roughly comoparable to an XJ-class X-wing, though slightly more heavily armed. It's a KDY model, I don't recall the production number I assigned it, of which there were only 9 actual models ever produced. How'd he get it? That's another story, but suffice it to say it was work, and he earned keeping it. His sacrificing himself and saving the day I don't find unrealistic, simply because that's what all the Jedi have been doing for the las

 

It lives!!

 

A bit, aye. I'm still not planning on updating H&S anytime soon, unfortunately... but that's partly because you haven't updated HBWT, and I need you to be getting out certain details in there before I bring them out here. And then there's the whole "rest of life thing." Psh. Details.

- Keralys

 

Um, yeah... sorry about that... it just doesn't really seem to have been coming along.

Ack, tell me about it.

On a more positive note though, let me make a proposal: I'll work night and day if necessary to crank out the next chapter, and in the meantime, you can write up that review of the current chapter that you mentioned back when I posted it.

What say you?

 

Sounds like a good plan.

- Keralys

 

Well, I?ve just finished Blue and Silver, and I?m still getting my breath back. Some words that come to mind to describe my response:
Inspiring, gets to the essence of what Star Wars is about; grabs the emotions; satisfying; you made me cry, damnit ; beautiful prose; unique way of describing fight technique.

I found your explanation of the genesis of the story particularly interesting, and I love the thought that the story is, by virtue of its history, an expression of love (of Star Wars and of friendship itself, and of a shared passion for music). I can feel the music in your narrative style as well as in the movement of the action in the story ? and this makes your story quite unique. As a result the story hits the emotions more deeply than most, because the emotion is IN the prose style as much as in the words.

I really like the rhythm in the prose. Being into poetry, I look for writing that has a kinship with it in terms of technique and also a relationship between form and content. You have a distinctive ?voice? which I think you should be proud of.

I loved the strong theme of love and sacrifice that came through ? love in its widest meaning. I am also impressed with your method of describing fight scenes. Very hard to do well ? but I think, because you were writing them in terms of a musical score, you invoked a rhythm into the description. It appealed to me because, not being a person who has ever learned fight technique, I find I describe fights in terms of ballet, with which I AM familiar. LOL And ballet and music have a lot in common.

Most of all, it?s an uplifting story ? and the ending is perfect in that it invokes a complete emotional response: sadness, loss, but also hope in the triumph of unconditional love. A bit like the essence of 1 Corinthians 13 and very strongly Star Wars.

 

You're right, you know.

There are many interesting facets of the Galaxy Far, Far Away that reach out to our most deep-seated emotions, but one thing that seems lacking for the most part is music, and by that I don't mean the score to the films themselves, but rather music that the characters themselves hear and experience and are a part of, but in Blue and Silver, though there's no actual music that Chris, Jamin, Kiana or any of the others can hear, in battle, in this war, they're not without it either. As Tahi has so perceptively pointed out just now in her post, there's a music in the narrative of the story itself, in its structure, in the words, the "notes" with which this last movement of Chris's life-song is played out... there's a very real sense in which the characters and their actions are themselves themes in the greater music that you've called into being through the act of sub-creation, of telling a story.

 

Tahi: Well, I?ve just finished Blue and Silver, and I?m still getting my breath back.

First off, thank you so very much for reading. I can't even begin to express how very much it means to me. With as few of readers as I've had, getting new ones from time to time is always a very great pleasure. As for getting your breath back, well... good.

Some words that come to mind to describe my response:

I like this! It's something I hoped people might do at some point, and it's a fantastic help and source of insight. Thanks for doing it that way.

Inspiring

Hmm. Interesting. If you don't mind my asking, how so?

gets to the essence of what Star Wars is about

I'm very much glad to hear that. It was, of course, my goal in this story. Thus, I find it a great encouragement to hear that you found it accomplishing that purpose.

grabs the emotions

Glad to hear it. That, too, was a goal, though I'd no idea just how successful I'd be when I first started writing it.

satisfying

Even better. I hate stories that don't satisfy the reader.

you made me cry, damnit

Much as I hate to say it... good. It was my intent to grab at the heartstrings, though again I had no idea just how successful I was going to be at it, even when I actually started publishing it online.

beautiful prose

*bows* Thank you, very much. It means a lot to hear.

unique way of describing fight technique.

I didn't really notice it until you commented on it, but you're right. Thanks for noting it.

I found your explanation of the genesis of the story particularly interesting, and I love the thought that the story is, by virtue of its history, an expression of love (of Star Wars and of friendship itself, and of a shared passion for music).

Really? That's fascinating to me, on several levels. I'm glad to hear that the notes and explanation added to the story at some level, because I'd feel terrible if everyone simply thought they were a horrid waste of time. In all seriousness, of course, it's very much good to hear that the theme and the real-world correspondence to that theme came through so clearly. Certainly that was goal in writing the piece. As you note here, the ultimate point of this story is love, and love of all varieties is a powerful thing. "Madness? Have you looked at this recording carefully? On his face... that's not madness... it's love. Something considerably more dangerous." (The Operative, Serenity)

I can feel the music in your narrative style as well as in the movement of the action in the story ? and this makes your story quite unique. As a result the story hits the emotions more deeply than most, because the emotion is IN the prose style as much as in the words.

Fascinating. I understand what you mean, and certainly my intent was something along those lines, but I'm not sure I'd have been able to put it so clearly, or even to really identify in those terms exactly what was going on the text that allowed for such emotive power and sentiment to be communicated. It certainly doesn't surprise me that the music embedded itself so thoroughly into the text, because I am first a musician, then a poet, then a fiction author. I once had it said to me that my prose was rather poetic, and it's stuck with me as being true. I believe it really comes out of the fact that I think more in terms of musicality than simply word choice. Since my music must nearly always be communicating at least emotion, if not story as well, it makes sense to me that the same sort of meaningfulness in the very structure of the piece would appear in my writing as well as in my compositions. Interesting indeed!

I really like the rhythm in the prose. Being into poetry, I look for writing that has a kinship with it in terms of technique and also a relationship between form and content. You have a distinctive ?voice? which I think you should be proud

 

Q_M
there's a music in the narrative of the story itself, in its structure, in the words, the "notes" with which this last movement of Chris's life-song is played out... there's a very real sense in which the characters and their actions are themselves themes in the greater music that you've called into being through the act of sub-creation, of telling a story.
Nicely expressed, and yes the prose does work like a musical score. I feel it in the rhythm and the pacing, and the variations thereof. And YES, the characters' lives are like individual themes interplaying and harmonising. I think Chris especially is the one whose music they have all learned to harmonise with.

M_K
You are more than welcome for the review. As I said the story was a joy to read - very cleansing, if that makes any sense. I used the word inspiring because it's the kind of story that celebrates virtue and sacrifice, and the characters have ideals that they attempt to live up to. You also showed in the story how the main character?s life had affected others for good ? setting an example by actions and non-judgmental humanity.

The music is there in the phrasing and the pacing of the prose. And I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say the prose has to ?sound? right. That?s my belief, too, and sometimes I?ll agonise for days about a paragraph that doesn?t ?sound? right. It?s a combination of word choice, phrasing, pace and rhythm, and it has a lot to do with music and poetry. In your case ? as you often express your emotion through the piano ? I?m wondering if there?s a connection between the idea of expressing the feelings through the fingers on the keyboard and with letting that same emotion flow through the computer keyboard into prose. I wonder? Curious thought.

I suppose there is a connection between Jedi fighting style and music and dance because of the fact that Jedi often learn a specific style of lightsaber technique, which they practice, much like one would a dance. And in dance, there is always music. But it?s still not something you see very often expressed in prose ? even by the profic writers.

This is the kind of story that behooves rereading, and as I read it, I often reread bits that really touched me.

You have a very special piece of work here.

 

My thanks.

Strange? I?d never before considered his prose in that light, but now that you?ve brought it up, I can see that?s only too true.

For my part, the only instances I can actively recall of music being used in-universe to give voice to a particular emotional response are in Karen Traviss?s works concerning Mandalorians and the interaction of others with them, though that?s not, perhaps, surprising, coming from me.

And I would agree, entirely.

Not for no reason, I think, would Tolkien in his works have chosen to cast all of Creation itself as the ?Great Music? of God.

Music has always been related to worship, and as a metaphor for the act of creation I can imagine no finer metaphor than song, in its own way perhaps the most essentially similar means by which we can imitate our Creator (save one only), requiring as it does nothing that is not intrinsically, physically of ourselves, calling form and beauty out of nothingness, to hang in the empty air for but a little while before they fade away again, and yet the essence of that song, if it is truly good, will remain with us and within us, echoing our own mortal natures, to be born into the world, to live a little while, and, if our life-songs prove good and beautiful, to return, at last, to our Singer.

 

I'm a horrible writer; it's been forever since I've stopped back by here to respond to your comments. (And I'm so far behind on other stories they've been locked... how pathetic is that???)

Tahi: The music is there in the phrasing and the pacing of the prose. And I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say the prose has to ?sound? right. That?s my belief, too, and sometimes I?ll agonise for days about a paragraph that doesn?t ?sound? right. It?s a combination of word choice, phrasing, pace and rhythm, and it has a lot to do with music and poetry. In your case ? as you often express your emotion through the piano ? I?m wondering if there?s a connection between the idea of expressing the feelings through the fingers on the keyboard and with letting that same emotion flow through the computer keyboard into prose. I wonder? Curious thought.

Interesting. That is a very curious thought, and I don't know that I'd really pondered it till you brought it up here, in this context. I suppose there's very much an element to which that's true. I am very much tactilely communicative, and so it wouldn't surprise me to find that there's a way in which my use of the computer keyboard mirrors my use of the piano. I find that my writing poetry on the computer is about as compulsively emotional as my flurries of improvisation on the piano (and rarely is my poetry more than a moment's improvisation). It's really cool to hear that the music is so deeply layered into the prose, though... in the phrasing and the pacing itself. Looking back, I can certainly see it to some extent, though it does take a bit of work to get that degree of perspective on one's own work. I don't think I've ever agonized days at a time about a particular paragraph - or rather, not all in a row. I've certainly spent that long on particular paragraphs, sentences... even phrases. But for me it's more a matter of leaving it and coming back, leaving it and coming back, all in a long cycle until I'm finally happy with it. It's funny how closely related one's prose and one's poetry can be...

Quiet_Mandalorian:

First off, I owe you a reply in the PM world from long ago, and I'm hoping to take care of that in the next few days. Next:

For my part, the only instances I can actively recall of music being used in-universe to give voice to a particular emotional response are in Karen Traviss?s works concerning Mandalorians and the interaction of others with them, though that?s not, perhaps, surprising, coming from me.

True enough, but I have to agree. Other than that and KJA's rather corny band references, there's very little music in Star Wars, particularly of the sort we're accustomed to. Which is interesting, given the fact that there's a band playing in the background in two of the major situations in the original trilogy...

And I would agree, entirely.

Not for no reason, I think, would Tolkien in his works have chosen to cast all of Creation itself as the ?Great Music? of God.

Indeed! I think the notion of creation as a great symphony was one of his most brilliant conceptions, and I find it interesting that his notion of creation through symphony and Lewis' notion of creation through song in Narnia were so similar (and, I'm sure, influenced somewhat by each other, though probably Lewis was more influenced by Tolkien than vice verse, from what I understand).

Music has always been related to worship, and as a metaphor for the act of creation I can imagine no finer metaphor than song, in its own way perhaps the most essentially similar means by which we can imitate our Creator (save one only), requiring as it does nothing that is not intrinsically, physically of ourselves, calling form and beauty out of nothingness, to hang in the empty air for but a little while before they fade away again, and yet the essence of that song, if it is truly good, will remain with us and within us, echoing our own mortal natures, to be born into the world, to live a little while, and, if our life-songs prove good and

 

Great to see you here again M_K.

I'm a horrible writer; it's been forever since I've stopped back by here to respond to your comments. (And I'm so far behind on other stories they've been locked... how pathetic is that???)
Rubbish - RL claims us all so don't worry. And I'm in the same situation with stories languishing and locked. LOL

I'd forgotten about the fact that song is used as an act of creation in Narnia. But it's certainly true that song has always played a strong part in the history of human endeavour. I know quite a few people who derive a lot of their inspiration and lyrical mood from music and who often write with music playing in the background. Sometimes a particular song can become a kind of theme for a character, too - I know that's true in my case.

But anyway - there's a definite musical movement and cohesion in this story which works almost like a kind of subtext.

I hope everything's going well for you in the non-SW universe.