Welcome to a conversation with Malazan series authors Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont! The two will be chatting back and forth about various elements in the Malazan books, starting after the cut and continuing in the comments.
Steven Erikson: Hello to all readers, oh, and to Cam who is now sitting opposite me overlooking the hotel lobby. It’s horking cold out (that’s a Canadianism, by the way). We’ve been sitting around discussing what we’d talk about here; one thing I noticed, on the Malazan forum, was a thread on the the world map, to which one thing needs saying. Cam is left-handed and I am right-handed and this has led to confusion again and again on how we internally visualise things. As an aside, the opening line in Lees is wrong, and “west” should read “east.” (I think, I don’t have the map with me at the mo.) Anyway, Cam’s written something so I’ll pass it over to him now…
Ian Cameron Esslemont: Hello everyone from WorldFantCon.
Firstly, thank to everybody for opening up this re-read to the wider Malaz world beyond the Book of the Fallen. Steve and I are here side by side to chat and answer questions.
I understand Steve started talking about maps. We have a world map from way back that showed the continents and their relationships, etc. When life took us to separate cities and then countries I believe the world map got buried, and Steve ended up adding a new continent. That complicated things but I believe we worked out that one. Anyway, perhaps some inconsistencies can be blamed there. (On him! Ha.)
The conversation continues in the comments!
Ezramon asked about how much we exchange information, touch base, and such. Actually not nearly as much as we would wish (or perhaps should). Remarkably, however, very little trouble has arisen in continuity and such as a result. The world is set in our minds, the arcs stand, and we are just realizing in prose what we’d played through (in general) years ago.
Maps! I’m always to blame when it comes to maps, since I drew most of them, and no doubt added things here and there in the process. While Letheras was indeed squeezed in at a later date, the actual gaming of certain events that took place on that continent preceded the addendum by a few years (IIRC). I don’t quite recall when I mocked up the final world map, but that was when I did the revision, inserting that continent.
If anyone is interested, we could talk a bit about climate and geography, but best wait to see if anyone is interested in that.
Hi Mr. Erikson and Esslemont
Ok here’s a question concerning maps in general. I have been struggling with knowing where to go with the mapping process as I have been writing my first book. So I’m hoping you can explain the process you went through when you started to write the Malazan series. D id you write the book then come up with the map or did you develop the map through your first draft?
Following on to Cam’s response: we tend to cram in conversations at these conventions, which is usually the only place we can link up face to face. In fact, and as a teaser, Cam’s been telling me all about the Darujhistan novel, which follows my Toll the Hounds. What impressed me yet again was Cam’s ability to plot — I can’t wait to see this manuscript.
Feel free to tell us all about the Darujhistan novel. ;-)
Yes, Steve did most of the mapping in terms of geography, outlines, etc. I don’t know how the labour broke down in terms of filling things out but a number of blank continents came my way which I then filled out with peoples, cities, civilizations, and such. Usually who was ‘running’ that game determined who would fill in the map. For example, Steve ran me in north Genabackis and so filled all that out. Then, later, I ran Steve in south Genabackis and filled out all the south.
This is a question I like to ask of any author when I have a chance. What is your average daily word count when you’re writing, and what is the average word count of one of your books? Okay, so maybe it’s two questions, but as an aspiring author myself, I like to gauge my productivity against those who have succeeded where I intend to tread. Thanks!
There was a question asked whether we ever ran into a situation where one of us sais ‘No! You can’t do that!’ and the quick answer is never. The thing with writing fiction is that it is inherently flexible; we always begin with agreeing on the general recollection of the ‘events’ to ensure our memories more or less match; but at the same time so much of what we do, is invention on the fly. In this sense, we can continually surprise each other, which is great. One of the disadvantages Cam has faced is that, since I was first off the mark with these novels, he has had to contintually readjust his storylines when I rail off on some inventive madness. For all you writers out there, imagine teh challnge you’d face when your stories can in a flash get knocked askew, forcing you to make changes, invent new stuff, and make it all work…
I asked this before, in other parts of this site, but do you two write in British English for your books, and why are GotM and DG in American English (Tor editions), but none of the others from both of you? Is that publisher and editor decisions, or how they were written? (and I realize that Tor editions from HoC onward use British typesetting imported to the colonies).
[Sloemode: I never work on word counts. I pretend they don’t exist. What counts is the time put in. I do four hours a day and whether that produces a paragraph or ten pages doesn’t matter to me at all.]