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Old 10-29-2002, 01:25 PM   #17
Nar
Wight
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 228
Nar has just left Hobbiton.
Sting

I consider a work in the spirit of Tolkien to be a work that is cathartic, well-told and well-characterized, with a sense of place which may include a sense of history. It need not be fantasy. I don't only read fantasy hoping for that deep reaction I got from LotR. Most of the works on my list of comparable books aren't fantasy. That inspires me to try where others have failed.

My view on cover blurbs is if your publisher feels they have to SAY a thing like that, they're tactless jerks, and as the judgement of tactless jerks is not to be trusted, this blurb tells me nothing about the author's work except that the author was unfortunate in his/her publisher. I don't hold that against the book or author. It's difficult enough to get published and if one does a 'tastefulness check' the task becomes hopeless. Publishers are going to slap across the cover the art they think will move the book, however stupidly literal, and the blurbs they think will sell, however ineffective.

The subtext of Burra's question is that it's dangerous to contemplate questions like this: 'how to be like [your favorite author here]' questions. It IS dangerous if you take a thread like this as a recipe to be followed slavishly, but I don't think anyone here does that.

A)Talking about JRRT's works gets us into the mood and mental place to work on our stories, and being aspiring writers, we like to talk about the literary aspects of his work.
B) Reading good works and analyzing how the authors pulled them off helps us learn to write more skillfully.
C) JRRT cited older works that inspired him, and devoted time to analyzing them for their literary aspects. If it worked once...

[ October 29, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]
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