Recently, I've been fretting about the ratio in Scylla and Charybdis again. The two cultures depicted in the novel are meant to mirror each other, which means that I wanted to have both sections roughly the same length and weight. To briefly explain for those new to my rantings, if you break SaC down to its basic elements, you've got a female-dominated society and a male-dominated society. (Of course, it's more complex / granular than that.)
However - and somewhat to my surprise - I've found that I have spent slightly more time in the male-dominated civilization, and I won't be done with that until I finish the current segment. Considering that part of the exploration is showing how broken each side is, this kinda makes me feel guilty. ;-)
The imbalance isn't massive, and I can't put numbers to it, but it does exist. I've figured that I'm okay for the following reasons:
Of the pages I consider to "belong" to the MD sections, one episode occurs on a spaceship rather than in MD territory, so it's less fully immersed.
The start and end point is on Anaea's home turf ... which is a space station with no (that's zero, zip, nada) male presence.
There's also a section in the Sanctum that I haven't counted in the above, which is on FD ground.
Of course, all assessments are tentative until I've had a chance to study the whole draft and tear my hair out about it.
About Me
- Lindsey Duncan
- I'm a professional harp performer, chef / pastry chef, and speculative fiction writer from Cincinnati, Ohio. My contemporary fantasy novel Flow is available from Double Dragon Publishing, and my science fiction novel Scylla and Charybdis is now out from Grimbold Books. I've also sold a number of short stories and a few pieces of speculative poetry. I write predominantly fantasy, usually epic and/or humorous, with some soft science fiction. I play the traditional lever harp with a specialty in Celtic music - but I also perform modern and Renaissance tunes. And yes, you read that right - I have a diploma in Baking and Pastry and an Associates in Culinary Arts and am currently working in the catering field at Kate's Catering and Personal Chef Services (Dayton, KY). I am a CPC (Certified Pastry Culinarian) and CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine).
2 comments:
I think it's okay to have a little asymmetry. Sometimes I have that with POV. If it's too equal, it gets predictable, so that switches it up a bit. Your WIP sounds very interesting with the two societies. The female one is much better, though huh? :)
Normally, I wouldn't worry about it, but the balancing act is a huge part of the theme of the novel.
(... did I just use the word theme? Noooo ... what has *happened* to me!)
And ... bwahaha. Actually, if there's a bias, it's slightly in favor of the male society. At least they're honest about being ruthless. ;-)
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