Concept Sci-fi

Charles Stross interviewed by Gary Reynolds (August 2008)...

How do you approach the art of writing a novel from initial idea through to editing of the final manuscript?

I have no set method and approach each novel differently - until final submission. (After that point it's in the publisher's pipeline, and the editing process happens via their standard process.)

All novels are different, and sometimes it's not clear at first that the idea I'm working on is going to give rise to a novel. Sometimes it's as clear-cut as "we want to buy books 4 - 6 in this ongoing series you're writing -- when can you deliver number 4?" (In which case, you're working with pre-existing characters and situations and a well-understood story arc -- like working on a chapter in a novel, except the chapter is a novel in its own right.)

But sometimes it's more ambiguous: it can start with an idea in search of a character (what about a humanoid robot, built to interact with people who's now obsolete, because biological people are extinct?). That one could fizzle out, on exploration revealing itself to really be a short story idea. Other ideas turn up like hitch-hikers, hopefuls begging a ride and recomplicating the vehicle until there's something meaty to get into. Or finally a novel can arise from the realization that what looked like a series of short stories at first is actually successive chapters in an episodic novel.

In each case, there's only one way to start, and that's by putting words in a line. Outlining will only get you so far. I usually work by keeping an outline or a notes file, updated in parallel with work on the story proper, not as a prescriptive guide to where I'm going, but as a descriptive guide to where I've been (and, more importantly, where I thought the novel was going at any given time -- the logical structure of a book may look very different at chapter 12 from the way it looked at chapter 4.)

Sixteen of your novels have been sold since 2001! That's some going. How does that work?

Well, two and a half of them were written before 2001, and three of them haven't been written yet (they're sold under contract, meaning I have to write them next year or the year after). So I'm not that prolific compared to some.

As for how it works: the received wisdom in midlist fiction is that publishers can effectively promote only one book per author per year. This is not strictly true -- it's just that publishers are sausage machines, geared around producing books on a production line basis, and it's most convenient for them to schedule one book per author per year. If you write one book per two years, you risk losing your regular annual slot in their list; conversely, if you write more than one book per year and they like your sales figures, they can find extra slots for you. Or you can write in a different genre or under a different name or work with two or more publishers.

What was it like trying to get that first sale?

Can't remember; it was some time in 1985. Seriously. I've been selling short fiction for a long time. As for trying to sell a first novel -- I've had bad luck, with a series of near-deals falling through or blowing up over the years, until I hooked up with my current literary agent.

What are you currently working on?

I'm finishing off a novella titled Palimpsest, the centerpiece of the short story collection that Ace and Orbit are publishing next year. (It's a re-examination of an old SF classic -- the time patrol.)

I'm also working on the copy-edits to The Revolution Business, book #5 of the Merchant Princes series. Once I finish that, I've got to go straight into writing The Trade of Queens, book #6 in that series. The first draft of which is due by the end of 2008.

After that, I've only got two novels to write in the next two years. Luxury!

What do you enjoy reading?

A variety of stuff, including contemporary SF and literature and non-fiction (largely geared around my research needs.) I read around various topics then come up with story ideas that leverage the last couple of years' reading.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

A sequel to Halting State. Another Laundry novel (following on from The Jennifer Morgue).