I don't blog nearly enough. But, as we all would agree, my time is best served actually writing my novels. So...
I'm very close to finishing my fifth novel Berand Fool. I am very pleased with it. In many ways I think of it as my first novel. With this book, I have been in control of every aspect, and at the height of my skills. With the first notion: "Why the heck did he make those dangerous swords?"; through months and months of notes; to shaping up the structure; to the fevered months of writing, and then the months of rewarding rewriting, I have arrived with something I feel very happy about.
As some of you may know, I am a pretty good poet. I would go so far as to say that I am a better poet than a novelist. But, what with poetry paying less than actual debt, I don't spend much time at the feet of Erato or Calliope. When fledging poets hear me read, they almost all ask the inevitable "How do I get good at writing poetry?" or the wiser "How can I become better?"
The simple answer is 'work'. No one seems to like that answer, but there it is. The second answer and the one that seems more appealing, but is deceptively much more difficult to master is 'meaning'.
When an artist infuses a work with meaning, it makes all the difference. Often we, as consumers, may not even comprehend the artist's meaning. I could go round and round with the most scholarly about the meaning flooding from Van Gogh's paintings, and both of us could be way off. But it is there. You can't help but feel it.
Meaning is something the human mind senses, even when it doesn't comprehend it. It is like a smell. We know it is there, and we love it when it is something that we savor and need, like the scent of baking bread, it sets us to salivating.
Rather than go too deeply into an examination of meaning in art, I'd like to pull back the curtain and simply tell you what was my intention, what was my 'meaning' when I wrote my books.
I think a novelist has an obligation to be clear, much more than any other type of artist. I have been such an adherent of this maxim that the ignorant has constantly accused my writing of being simple. One public reviewer called my work suitable for middle schoolers. Well, okay, but I'm sure that the reviewer meant it as a slight. I don't care.
Clarity is vital to me. Those who know have called me the Hemingway of Fantasy. That tickles me, because I write the least macho characters imaginable, but I think the notion is apt because of the sparseness of the prose. And I accept that idea as highest praise.
So. The meaning, the clear intention behind my novels is as follows:
The Last Elf of Lanis was about the heart-breaking maturity that comes with loss. I think that is pretty obvious to anyone that didn't just scan the novel.
The Archer From Kipleth is about accepting your situation and doing something about it. Again, simply clear for anyone who bothered to do more than turn the pages.
The Lord of Lightning is a little more complex. This novel is about LOVE. LOVE in capital letters. What does it mean? What are you willing to sacrifice for love? Are you willing to give your life for love? How much love is enough love? All those big ideas. I think I came pretty close to doing a damn good job with that one.
Legends of Haergill and Conniker's Tale is much more difficult to explain. My intention with this novel was to explore the ideas behind cause and effect. A bloodless thesis I admit, unless you approach it under the structure of family, genealogy, and the rise and fall of nations. I personally think I did a fine job with a very elaborate concept that is fraught with many traps. We see where character's lives came from and where they were going. It was a difficult novel to construct and execute, but I am happy with the results
Now, my upcoming novel:
Berand Fool is about authority, obedience, rebellion and personal responsibility. A really tough concept to write about in fantasy. But, then why should it be? I've had a couple of reviews on Amazon where the reviewer looks down her nose sniffing, "Oh, your books are okay, for fantasy." As if Fantasy Literature was any less a collection of fabrications than plain 'ol Literature with a lonely capital 'L'. Hey lady, all lies are equal.
Or are they?
Fiction rises and falls with the depth of meaning. What do you take away from this novel? I will admit that much of Fantasy Literature is sword clanging, magic spewing gallantry. Simple diversion from everyday life can be very satisfying, and sometimes necessary. We call it a guilty pleasure as if we somehow should not be reading such shallow fiction.
But, even 'genre' fiction can be much more. Any book can ultimately become a work that changes your life. I have read a few of those kinds of books. I love those kinds of books. I aspire to write those kinds of books. And, I think I have moved ever closer to that kind of book with Berand Fool.
I hope you agree.
cheers,
Kurt
I'm very close to finishing my fifth novel Berand Fool. I am very pleased with it. In many ways I think of it as my first novel. With this book, I have been in control of every aspect, and at the height of my skills. With the first notion: "Why the heck did he make those dangerous swords?"; through months and months of notes; to shaping up the structure; to the fevered months of writing, and then the months of rewarding rewriting, I have arrived with something I feel very happy about.
As some of you may know, I am a pretty good poet. I would go so far as to say that I am a better poet than a novelist. But, what with poetry paying less than actual debt, I don't spend much time at the feet of Erato or Calliope. When fledging poets hear me read, they almost all ask the inevitable "How do I get good at writing poetry?" or the wiser "How can I become better?"
The simple answer is 'work'. No one seems to like that answer, but there it is. The second answer and the one that seems more appealing, but is deceptively much more difficult to master is 'meaning'.
When an artist infuses a work with meaning, it makes all the difference. Often we, as consumers, may not even comprehend the artist's meaning. I could go round and round with the most scholarly about the meaning flooding from Van Gogh's paintings, and both of us could be way off. But it is there. You can't help but feel it.
Meaning is something the human mind senses, even when it doesn't comprehend it. It is like a smell. We know it is there, and we love it when it is something that we savor and need, like the scent of baking bread, it sets us to salivating.
Rather than go too deeply into an examination of meaning in art, I'd like to pull back the curtain and simply tell you what was my intention, what was my 'meaning' when I wrote my books.
I think a novelist has an obligation to be clear, much more than any other type of artist. I have been such an adherent of this maxim that the ignorant has constantly accused my writing of being simple. One public reviewer called my work suitable for middle schoolers. Well, okay, but I'm sure that the reviewer meant it as a slight. I don't care.
Clarity is vital to me. Those who know have called me the Hemingway of Fantasy. That tickles me, because I write the least macho characters imaginable, but I think the notion is apt because of the sparseness of the prose. And I accept that idea as highest praise.
So. The meaning, the clear intention behind my novels is as follows:
The Last Elf of Lanis was about the heart-breaking maturity that comes with loss. I think that is pretty obvious to anyone that didn't just scan the novel.
The Archer From Kipleth is about accepting your situation and doing something about it. Again, simply clear for anyone who bothered to do more than turn the pages.
The Lord of Lightning is a little more complex. This novel is about LOVE. LOVE in capital letters. What does it mean? What are you willing to sacrifice for love? Are you willing to give your life for love? How much love is enough love? All those big ideas. I think I came pretty close to doing a damn good job with that one.
Legends of Haergill and Conniker's Tale is much more difficult to explain. My intention with this novel was to explore the ideas behind cause and effect. A bloodless thesis I admit, unless you approach it under the structure of family, genealogy, and the rise and fall of nations. I personally think I did a fine job with a very elaborate concept that is fraught with many traps. We see where character's lives came from and where they were going. It was a difficult novel to construct and execute, but I am happy with the results
Now, my upcoming novel:
Berand Fool is about authority, obedience, rebellion and personal responsibility. A really tough concept to write about in fantasy. But, then why should it be? I've had a couple of reviews on Amazon where the reviewer looks down her nose sniffing, "Oh, your books are okay, for fantasy." As if Fantasy Literature was any less a collection of fabrications than plain 'ol Literature with a lonely capital 'L'. Hey lady, all lies are equal.
Or are they?
Fiction rises and falls with the depth of meaning. What do you take away from this novel? I will admit that much of Fantasy Literature is sword clanging, magic spewing gallantry. Simple diversion from everyday life can be very satisfying, and sometimes necessary. We call it a guilty pleasure as if we somehow should not be reading such shallow fiction.
But, even 'genre' fiction can be much more. Any book can ultimately become a work that changes your life. I have read a few of those kinds of books. I love those kinds of books. I aspire to write those kinds of books. And, I think I have moved ever closer to that kind of book with Berand Fool.
I hope you agree.
cheers,
Kurt
