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osprey_archerI know I've linked T. H. White's character notes on Lancelot before, but littlerhymes just sent me a version which included not just White's numbered list but also some extra thoughts he appended, not least of which is a sub-list of People Lancelot Is Like... which includes T. H. White himself. There it is! He just came out and said it! Glad to see the self-awareness, buddy.
On the other hand, at the end T. H. White muses about what Lancelot considered his big flaw, his fundamental lack. "On first inspection one would be inclined to link it up with no 17 ["Homosexual? Can a person be ambi-sexual - bisexual or whatever?"], but I don’t understand about bisexuality, so can’t write about it," White wrote... then proceeded to write Lancelot as a classic disaster bi. Absolutely flawless depiction of a completely catastrophic bisexual. No notes!
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I've finished revisions on A Garter as a Lesser Gift, and have been contemplating (due largely to the enthusiastic boosterism ofskygiants, who is already responsible for the fact that the Gawain retelling has become a reality) a companion Art/Lancelot/Gwen story. If this comes to pass there will ABSOLUTELY be a scene where Lancelot asks plaintively, "Can a person be ambi-sexual - bisexual or whatever?" Probably of Gwen, possibly while they're in bed together.
My hesitation about this project arises from the fact that I couldn't lift the plot wholesale as I did from "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." There are Lancelot and Guenever stories that don't immediately end in the fall of Camelot, but the basic structure seems to be Guenever is ACCUSED and then Lancelot has to CHAMPION HER because Arthur as king cannot... I don't know, maybe if I switched it around and Lancelot was ACCUSED and Guenever has to CHAMPION HIM, in a less literal sense as people were not doing trial by combat in World War II.
Or I could just plot something myself, but at some point doesn't it stop being an Arthurian retelling and become an OT3 with some Arthurian names attached for decorative purposes? Also, let's be real, part of the point of a retelling is that I don't have to plot the story myself.
I have been thinking that I should, perhaps, give this esoteric thing called "outlining" a try. I have worried in the past that this would constrain my spontaneity (insert tragic musings about smudging a butterfly's wing and destroying one's literary gifts), but there was really a lot to be said for knowing the exact outlines of the story in A Garter as a Lesser Gift, and just having to color it in. Does anyone have an outlining process they particularly like?
littlerhymes just sent me a version which included not just White's numbered list but also some extra thoughts he appended, not least of which is a sub-list of People Lancelot Is Like... which includes T. H. White himself. There it is! He just came out and said it! Glad to see the self-awareness, buddy. On the other hand, at the end T. H. White muses about what Lancelot considered his big flaw, his fundamental lack. "On first inspection one would be inclined to link it up with no 17 ["Homosexual? Can a person be ambi-sexual - bisexual or whatever?"], but I don’t understand about bisexuality, so can’t write about it," White wrote... then proceeded to write Lancelot as a classic disaster bi. Absolutely flawless depiction of a completely catastrophic bisexual. No notes!
***
I've finished revisions on A Garter as a Lesser Gift, and have been contemplating (due largely to the enthusiastic boosterism of
skygiants, who is already responsible for the fact that the Gawain retelling has become a reality) a companion Art/Lancelot/Gwen story. If this comes to pass there will ABSOLUTELY be a scene where Lancelot asks plaintively, "Can a person be ambi-sexual - bisexual or whatever?" Probably of Gwen, possibly while they're in bed together. My hesitation about this project arises from the fact that I couldn't lift the plot wholesale as I did from "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." There are Lancelot and Guenever stories that don't immediately end in the fall of Camelot, but the basic structure seems to be Guenever is ACCUSED and then Lancelot has to CHAMPION HER because Arthur as king cannot... I don't know, maybe if I switched it around and Lancelot was ACCUSED and Guenever has to CHAMPION HIM, in a less literal sense as people were not doing trial by combat in World War II.
Or I could just plot something myself, but at some point doesn't it stop being an Arthurian retelling and become an OT3 with some Arthurian names attached for decorative purposes? Also, let's be real, part of the point of a retelling is that I don't have to plot the story myself.
I have been thinking that I should, perhaps, give this esoteric thing called "outlining" a try. I have worried in the past that this would constrain my spontaneity (insert tragic musings about smudging a butterfly's wing and destroying one's literary gifts), but there was really a lot to be said for knowing the exact outlines of the story in A Garter as a Lesser Gift, and just having to color it in. Does anyone have an outlining process they particularly like?
