Oh Nigel

Y’see, Nigel, there is a subtle difference here.

Making 10 louder may well accomplish the same as having amps that go to 11 across the board, but having amps that go to 11 across the board kinda demonstrates, in an obvious way, that your ten isn’t loud enough.

I need to amp u p a lot of things in Doleful Creatures –characters’ motivations (notably the evil ones or neutral evil ones) among many things. But I don’t want to do it with characters that are obviously pegged at 11. Because my potential readers are going to read and say, yeah, 11 across the board. And it’s obvious and a bit expected and boring.

I want the natural ten in the books I read. And trust me, I can tell when someone hits 11. I think that’s what drove me nuts about Terry Brooks’ books. Many of his characters shot up to 11. Others, like Tolkein and Pratchett, can get up to that ten and make it believable and subtle enough you don’t notice that their ten is as loud as potentially an eleven could be.

Granny Weatherwax sticks out as one who hits ten on a regular basis (viz, the climax in Lords and Ladies).

No exclamation marks. None. And she doesn’t need them. We see the transformation from Queen to “elf-woman” as a natural consequence of what Granny does and says. We don’t need to go to 11 to see it.

Ray Bradbury goes to ten in Fahrenheit 451, and doesn’t need to hit 11 across the board:

“If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it. Peace, Montag. Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they'll feel they're thinking, they'll get a sense of motion without moving. And they'll be happy, because facts of that sort don't change.”

I’ve got some ideas for Doleful Creatures. It’ll hit ten yet.