The Role of Fantasy - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

DaughterofVana · 11-08-2002, 11:14 PM

As for Tolkien, I'm sure I read somewhere that his books started out for these reasons:

The Silmarillion--backround for his language
The Hobbit--story for his children, published on a whim
The LOTR--another "story about hobbits", developed over time which eventually ended up containing all three.

But I think it was more than that. Just writing a story to function as a "background" or an "escape from reality" gets a person only so far--it's like taking a train all the way across the country, expending huge amounts of energy to get to this specific spot on the earth... and then forgetting the reason why the journey was made in the first place and having no way to get back. An "escape from reality" or "a background" can be the INSPIRATION for a story, but not its entire reason for existing. Do that and you don't have a story... you have daydreaming. It all must have a reason, a struggle, a... POINT, I guess. And the more believable that struggle is, the more sucessful the story.

The reason I write... well, I write stories that I would like to read. That's why I started writing in the first place.

-'Vana

[ November 09, 2002: Message edited by: DaughterofVana ]

11-08-2002, 11:14 PM	#7
DaughterofVana Wight Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: twirling contentedly in a flower-filled field Posts: 134	As for Tolkien, I'm sure I read somewhere that his books started out for these reasons: The Silmarillion--backround for his language The Hobbit--story for his children, published on a whim The LOTR--another "story about hobbits", developed over time which eventually ended up containing all three. But I think it was more than that. Just writing a story to function as a "background" or an "escape from reality" gets a person only so far--it's like taking a train all the way across the country, expending huge amounts of energy to get to this specific spot on the earth... and then forgetting the reason why the journey was made in the first place and having no way to get back. An "escape from reality" or "a background" can be the INSPIRATION for a story, but not its entire reason for existing. Do that and you don't have a story... you have daydreaming. It all must have a reason, a struggle, a... POINT, I guess. And the more believable that struggle is, the more sucessful the story. The reason I write... well, I write stories that I would like to read. That's why I started writing in the first place. -'Vana [ November 09, 2002: Message edited by: DaughterofVana ] __________________ "There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes." Hi! Did you miss me?