“I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which ‘Escape’ is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?” – J.R.R. Tolkien
I follow a lot of writers on social media, read the words of many more in blogs and actual print, and even watch the videos of even more on YouTube. The idea is to educate myself and model the success of others. I am no trail-blazer – none of us are – the trail has been trekked before us by a thousand struggling feet. It is wide and clear though still long and arduous and fraught with dangers. For as many that have traversed its length, there are just as many that have straggled to a stop at the wayside – their bleached skeletons a testament to all the various ways we might fail.
One thing I hear repeated over and over is the idea of a ‘message’ to our writing – it must have a theme and a purpose.
It has to MEAN something.
I disagree – strongly, vehemently, and with a fair share of invective and hurled cupcakes. Writing can mean something, of course – that is undeniable. But it is my belief that for the writer to set out with the intention to deliver a profound message is unbearably arrogant and egotistical. To read such works is like cracking the spine on an overlong and ham-fisted sermon. I generally fall asleep within the first few chapters – or get so angry at the bald-faced propaganda disguised as fiction that I dent the wall across the room with that self-same spine.
There is nothing wrong with writing to entertain, and as fiction writers I believe that should be out highest, shining goal. To provide entertainment and escape. Let the meaning fend for itself in the imagination of the reader. After all – they’re going to do it anyway. I quoted Tolkien above in part because his works have been dissected for ‘meaning’ so many times it’s a wonder they haven’t fallen apart into meekly shivering filets of themselves before now. The number of articles, reviews, opinion pieces and hit-pieces written about Tolkien’s work would drown even the most ardent of readers – and yet the wonder, majesty, and pure joy of reading Tolkien endures.
Why?
I believe it is because he was never trying to sell us something – not even a message, theme, or ideology. Oh, they’re there to be found – lurking like the Arkenstone deep in the Smaug’s hoard of his works – but they were never the purpose of his writing. Like so many of the old great authors I adore, Tolkien wrote a STORY – not a message. He wrote to inspire and entertain, to offer escape and enjoyment, and he never had the hubris to think he was writing something important. He wrote what he wanted, and infused it with what he felt and believed, and left it to his readers to decide what to do with that.
If we do that, then the messages and themes will take care of themselves, will be honest, and not leave the reader feeling preached at or clubbed over the head. This is my mission – may the gods help me.
They say that to write well, one must read – and this is true.