Philosophy of writing

[Child of Immanuel]

I thought this would make for an interesting discussion. Why do you write?

[CynanMachae]

You know, CoI, I saw this thread a few days ago, and I've been thinking about it. There really are so many reasons. I almost feel like I have to think of it some more before I could give a good answer. There are lots of factors; faith, joy, the challenge, the relationships I develop with my stories/characters, and many more.

In answer to your question, I think I would say that I write because I have to write. I cannot not write. If asked why I cannot not write, well, I'd have to think about that one.

What about you?

[Caledvwlch]

Well, of course there's the amazing Stephen King quote on the matter: "You don't write for the money, because if you do, you're a monkey. You don't write for the fame, because if you do, you're a monkey. You don't even write because you like to write, because if you do, you're still a monkey. You write because to NOT write is suicide."

While that's the larger answer, it doesn't deal with the specific "why." For me, it's like the universes and people and cultures and relationships and especially ideas (in the philosophical sense of the word) are all burning embers in my chest, so hot that to keep them inside is simply unthinkable. I write to share, to try and make the world a more noble place, to try and make people more noble themselves.

I'll also admit that I write to vicariously fulfill some dreams I have--such as having a character buy a Lambhorghini or build the perfect house, or to have a character's symphony be performed by the Paris-London Symphony Orchestra...

I write because of Story. Because story is essentially the core of all Art. Music is the emotion of the story; still art is the attempt to sum the story up in one image; film is what the story looks and feels like; and fiction is what happened and what people thought about it. Story is what gives life meaning, in a way--we look for purpose in life because we feel like there needs to be a conclusion, a climax and a denouement and a message to the world or maybe just to a single soul who finds meanin in it (either the life or the literature).

I write to express the joys and hardships of life; the hope and the despair, and how Hope is stronger than Despair.

And ultimately, I write because to write is beautiful.

[Child of Immanuel]

What you say about Story rings true. I've been meditating desultorily on that for a while. Story is about meaning and ennoblement and it's beautiful. Do I have anything to add to your comments? I'll try to come up with something (and not forget to respond like I did to Cynan's post).

[CynanMachae]

That's okay, I'm not hurt, CoI.

I definitely agree with Caledvwlch. And I love the Stephen King quote. If I could add to your thoughts about "writ[ing] to vicariously fulfill some dreams," I would say that I feel that way many times while writing. In a way, the characters of my stories are living their lives inside my head (whether I bother to write or not), and writing their actions down on paper is the only way to realize the joys of their existence. My characters live adventerous, happy-go-lucky lives, probably because that's how I lived as a child and, even though I'm forced to do "adult things" nowadays , I still try to hold on to all the fun I had as a kid. Does that make sense?

That's why I would classify myself as a "children's author." Had I a choice in the matter, I probably wouldn't have decided to label myself as such, but I've found that it's just the way I write - like a kid. I have a strangely overactive imagination, and it's a blessing and somewhat of a curse as well. As Caledvwlch mentioned in the Stephen King quote, to not write is suicide (that is not to say that if I didn't write, I'd be suicidal, but rather, all the things going on in my head would be begging to get out and it might just drive me insane .

[Child of Immanuel]

In response to your comments on art, Caledvwlch, what do you think makes art so meaningful to humans? Is it part of our being made in the image of the Creator? And where do you go from there to establish a theology of art?

[Caledvwlch]

Hmm, lots of questions. I'll have to think about them one at a time.

For meaning, it depends upon what sort of art we're talking about. If we were to discuss visual art, for example, I think that at its basic level what we love about it is its universalness and honesty. Visual art (generally speaking) isn't restricted to any one language or society, though further knowledge can sometimes be helpful. And it's emotional; people are willing to put down on canvas or paper or into stone what they would never say aloud to anyone. It's sort of like putting a piece of one's soul on display.

So is writing, of course, with the differences being that the images have to be created in a reader's mind through words. Those words, of course, limit its audience to those who speak the language it's written in. But regardless of medium, I think that art is appreciated because of the avenue if offers for expression, its sometimes didactic qualities, its honesty (both in letting us appreciate the views of the author and in shedding light and wisdom on universal subjects, such as fear, anger, love, compassion, pity, etc.), it's beauty and emotional impact...and probably other things that I can't think of at the moment.

And yes, I do think being made in the image of God is a part of it. Just as he is the Creator, one of the greatest gifts he gave us was the ability to create. It's one of the primary ways that we are like him, in his image. Just as God created the universe from nothing, so our minds long to create a story where there was none before. It's not quite ex nihilo, but it's the the best we can do with what we have. And as I said above, I believe that Story is the core of all Art, that all its forms are trying to tell a story or a piece of one in some way. And in this, it could be said that Art is simply a representation of life; a condensed replication of Life. As Alfred Hitchcock said, "Drama is life with the dull bits left out."

As for a theology of art, I'm not completely certain what you mean by the term. Peronally, the creation of art is a sort of worship for me, especially when it comes to writing music. But I get the feeling that your question is more directed toward "What's the role of Christians in the arts?" Am I right?

[Child of Immanuel]

Yes, that's part of it. I was thinking along the lines of Christians having a rationale for sacred music or going to work in the morning; they explain what they do by saying that we are commanded to sing as an act of worship and to earn our living if at all possible. Yet many Christians write kitschy novels that don't get read outside the Christian subculture: there seems to be a feeling of guilt related to writing a novel where the characters don't get saved and speak Christianese. How would a healthy theology of art liberate people from this?

On the other side, I've heard it said that 'all art is an act of redemption.' This confuses me. Who is being redeemed and how?

Now don't let this rabbit trail take us too far afield.

[Caledvwlch]

Well let me first off say that I certainly share your frustration with Christians who sacrifice Art for the sake of Christianese or what they think Christians should write/create. There seems to be this misconception that because a book is Christian, that makes it excusable from any other standard of quality. But it doesn't. A Christian book with sucky writing is just as bad as a "secular" book with sucky writing (the discussion of secular and sacred belongs somewhere else entirely...new thread?).

But I think the answer is that it is our duty as Christians to write material that is either nobly-themed, or that makes a point concerning how we could strive more towards the perfection we're called to. This doesn't mean that there are no dark stories; I wrote this winter a short story entitled "By Right Of Conquest," in which a medieval German army basically slaughters an entire village before riding off, for the sake of their own glory, and instilling fear in their enemies. It's a story that's meant to make you angry, and has some ties to Heart of Darkness. The point is that while it's a very dark story, I believe that in its own way it is an act of worship, in that it (I hope) makes us more aware of our flaws as humans and the traps of thought we fall into. By seeing those flaws more clearly, we can hope and aim to avoid them.

And as you mentioned, I don't think God has to appear in a story or novel at all to make it glorifying to him. My novel, which I'm in the second draft of, has hardly any mentions of religion at all, if any. Instead, I more went off a universal feeling of Morality; a sort of approach that is aimed to appeal to people other than Christians.

A point C.S. Lewis opens Mere Christianity with comes to mind--Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe. I think he hit the nail right on the head. Our basic instincts of Right, Wrong, and Guilt are powerful tools that we as writers can use to help point others in the direction of Christ, without compromising the story or the standards of good art.

[twyrch]

Jun 26, 2009 18:40:37 GMT -5 Child of Immanuel said:

Y Yet many Christians write kitschy novels that don't get read outside the Christian subculture: there seems to be a feeling of guilt related to writing a novel where the characters don't get saved and speak Christianese.

They almost have to... They have all seen how the "Christian" community can rally behind the AFA and James Dobson whenever they think a book doesn't have enough Christian themes, or it written by an author they find some personal problem with.

It doesn't even stop there... there's hypocrisy they have to deal with too, like J.K. Rowling... she puts magic in her books and her books get burned, but C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien can put magic in their books, and they are the greatest works of fiction ever written.

Anyone remember the boycott on Disney because of their stand on gay-rights? Anyone remember the ban on the movie, The Lion King, because they said the song "Circle of Life" was a song to teach kids about reincarnation and the song was written by a gay man, so watching the movie supported the gay community?

Most authors will just write what they know is accepted... they have Theone, Kingsbury, Jenkins, LaHaye, Perretti, Lawhead, and many others. Why reinvent the wheel? They can just model their books after the pattern set down by well-established authors and not rock the boat. Conformity at its finest.

[Child of Immanuel]

Do you think there's a chance of writing something that engages both Christian and secular culture?

BTW, I find most of Lawhead's books much better than other Christian fiction. I know gamers who love the Pendragon Cycle.

[CynanMachae]

Jul 5, 2009 10:31:58 GMT -5 Child of Immanuel said:

Do you think there's a chance of writing something that engages both Christian and secular culture?

Oh, yes. In fact, it may happen more than we think. For example, the creators, writers, and actors of the Lord of the Rings and Narnia movies were/are, as far as I know, not professing Christians, and yet there was some sort of appeal they found within the stories, otherwise they never would have been made into movies.

As far as books go, it's probably easier to bridge the Christian/secular culture gap through fantasy stories, because their fantastical nature opens up readers to accept any number of notions presented. In fantasy, the reader is expected to believe the unbelievable, to accept the unacceptable, so any worldview can be realistically inserted into a fantasy novel.

As far as attempting to WRITE a fantasy novel that engages both Christian and secular culture, I think it's important to keep in mind that God has given us the gift of writing, and He also gave us His Holy Spirit to use those gifts in a way that brings Him glory. As Caledvwlch said, a Christian writer does not necessarily HAVE TO include specific references to God in order to write a book that is glorifying to Him. To be perfectly honest, J.R.R. Tolkien did not write the Lord of the Rings to be a Christian fantasy trilogy. He wrote them because he and C.S. Lewis wanted to have a contest to see who could write a better story (if I'm not mistaken, that was when Lewis began writing the Space Trilogy). But because of Tolkien's faith, we see Christian themes throughout the book.

Speaking of Lewis' Space Trilogy; those books are no more than entertaining sci-fi stories. Does that make them any "less Christian" than the Narnia series, or Lewis' non-fiction? No, because all of them were written by the same Christian man.

That might not answer the question, and of course it's just my opinion. But that particular question you ask is one I've thought a lot about over the past couple of years.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Flannery O'Conner, possibly my favorite American author of the 20th century. When I first started reading her stories, I saw the deep themes and even some... I'm not sure how to say it; "anti-naturalistic" messages (that is, she presented naturalistic characters as people who could never in and of themselves solve their problems), and yet, her stories are quite dark and violent and some have bad language. At first, I wouldn't have expected her to be a professing Christian. But when I read some of her interviews about her stories, and the themes of redemption and grace tat she included in those stories, everything sort of clicked, and it all made sense.

From her perspective, writing Christian stories wasn't about making everything "all happy and gay" (and, frankly, boring), but it was about addressing real life issues faced by real life people. And she made it very clear in her sories that people relying on their own strength to make it through tough times are in for a VERY unpleasant surprise. She said in one interview that she included violence in her stories because she found that violence often brought her characters to a point of grace that they could not reach on their own.

[Caledvwlch]

In response to Twyrch's comment about the Christian market, I'd just chip in and say that our duty as artists is not to try and make it in the Christian market. Who cares about the Christian market? Our calling is to make art and story. If it sells in the secular market, so much the better. It means we're connecting. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

[rhiannon]

I write because it's what I'm made for and love to do. I may be a college grad with an anthropology degree. But I have to write--it doesn't matter what as long as I write. With out writing I would be incomplete. I've always written ever since I was a kid.