Inspired by the Hogwarts Professor I’ve decided to give everyone the secret to writing a classic. John Granger said,
The three quick but fail-proof tests of an English fiction ‘classic’ or ‘great book’ according to C. S. Lewis are “Does it make you better, wiser, and happier?’ with the necessary follow-up ‘Do you like it?’ (because if you don’t like it, the book’s no good). Those are grand tests on a personal and subjective level (and perhaps that is the only one that matters).
So how can you hope to write a tale that will thrive through the test of time?
There is only one secret to it.
Don’t.
Lewis himself was fond of reminding us that there’s a place for everything and everything has its place. What does that mean? Just an encouragement to prioritize properly: put your family ahead of your job; value your friends more than popularity – as seen on the Disney Channel or Lifetime at any moment. So when writing, what is your priority?
Tell a good story.
That’s it. How can I be sure?
Name a movie you saw last year. Now name any movie that was nominated for an Oscar. The correct answers were “The Dark Knight” and “uhhhh…”. Unless you’re a movie nerd, can you name any of the films nominated for an Oscar in the last two years? Four? Once upon a time, the Oscars were given to truly great and memorable films (see: Rocky) and those films are still remembered and appreciated today. Now, the Oscar nominees are a category all to themselves and we have a genre of movie we call “oscar bait”, a genre of movies quickly forgotten because they are pretentious, overblown, boring, etc. and nobody wants to watch them. And people want to enjoy classics, hence why they endure. (Yes, this means that Shakespeare was the summer blockbuster of his time—that’s why people keep reading his material.)
Concentrating on making your writing “classical” is the wrong priority and doomed to failure. Even though you might enjoy temporary success (Paolini), it won’t endure (Paolini) and you’ll never be beloved enough.
Write the best story you can and a story you want to read (after all, if you don’t want to read it, why should anyone else?). As Lewis once said to Tolkien, “If they won’t write the kinds of books we want to read, we shall have to write them ourselves.”
P.S. I know Hemingway is a debatable exception to this rule. But if you think you’re Hemingway and able to get around this…well you’re not.
P.S.S. For reading on the friendships and rivalry between Tolkien & Lewis.
SlyShy on 10 March 2009, 07:27 said:
Ursula Le Guin had some really eloquent words on this subject; I’ll try to dig them up in a moment.
falconempress on 10 March 2009, 08:22 said:
yup. she wrote an article called “What Makes a Story” or something along those lines. It was really good.
haha you made my day with this:)
you made some neat points. an enjoyable article:)
Nate Winchester on 10 March 2009, 08:38 said:
It seems like everyone and everything is conspiring me to read Ursula K. LeGuin. (well, I think she’s done some work for the magazine I subscribe to – have to check my archives)
Maybe I’ll ask for one of her books for my birthday.
Ari on 10 March 2009, 09:06 said:
I’d like a link to Le’Guin’s article if it’s online. I’ll try to find it, but if you have the link can you post it? Sounds better than Pao-pao’s articles on writing. >.<
Travithian on 10 March 2009, 09:43 said:
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/WhatMakesAStory.html
Are you guys referring to this one?
Nate Winchester on 10 March 2009, 11:33 said:
Or mine probably. ;-)
Juniper on 10 March 2009, 11:40 said:
Does Paolini write articles on writing? Where? I want!
I started this article thinking you actually had some secret “rule” you were going to share with the world. I was pleasantly surprised by the twist. Awesome. Thanks!
RandomVisitor on 10 March 2009, 13:06 said:
This was amusing and perfectly true. Thanks for the article! … although Ursula Le’Guin? ACK! Her stuff’s dryer than sun baked sawdust. I wouldn’t trust her advice on writing o.O
SlyShy on 10 March 2009, 14:32 said:
Are we talking about the same person? I’ve always found her writing style to be very engaging and personable, not dry. I’m reading Language of the Night by her, which is a collection of her essays on fantasy and sci-fi, and it’s a very interesting read. Modern fantasy owes a lot to Le Guin for making fantasy respectable. Fantasy didn’t used to sell well in America.
Kitty on 10 March 2009, 18:11 said:
Paolini is the Oscarbait of the literary world.
Rand on 10 March 2009, 18:40 said:
“Write the best story you can and a story you want to read”
Hmm… I’ll…try…? What exactly are we supposed to do then? Is it supposed to be focused on human ‘lessons’, is it supposed to be dated, how can a story be stopped from being self-conscious on being classic-worthy? Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever started writing a book saying to myself “…better be a classic…”.
Other than that, I like the Oscar comparison.
Apep on 10 March 2009, 21:05 said:
“If they won’t write the kinds of books we want to read, we shall have to write them ourselves.”
Words to live (or write) by.
The Drunk Fox on 10 March 2009, 22:25 said:
“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever started writing a book saying to myself “…better be a classic…”.”
I think some people do, or at least that it’ll sell well and make them famous.
Nate: Great article!
SlyShy on 10 March 2009, 22:32 said:
No… A novel should simply tell a profoundly human story about a profoundly human character.
falconempress on 11 March 2009, 01:21 said:
Kitty, do not insult Oscarbaits:P
Nate Winchester on 6 April 2009, 15:22 said:
Because I love being right-
Actually, I’m posting this as more evidence of my point and because I thought everyone here would enjoy some literary humor.
6 Writers who made classics not trying (#1 might surprise you)
and
Was Shakespeare really that great? (yes, yes he was)
VikingBoyBilly on 30 April 2011, 17:34 said:
Nate, I get what you’re trying to say – on your work, you should focus on substance rather than the superficial (or emulating things you loved without it entering your mind that it was already done), but you don’t elaborate, specifically, on what makes a story overblown or trying too hard to be epic. Any amateur mistakes we should try to avoid? Some element that makes what you want to write more enjoyable to yourself and others?
Nate Winchester on 3 May 2011, 09:48 said:
I think it starts with the author. The more the author tries to be epic, the worse the story comes out.
I’m a big fan of C.S. Lewis’ principle of “putting first things first” or to put it another way: “the proper ordering of things”. The idea is that creating an epic or a classic should be very very low on your list of goals (if not removed from the list – period).
Worry about writing a good story first (plot, motivation, characters, etc). Worrying about whether it’s “epic” or “memorable” or “generic adjective” will distract you from what you should be focusing on.
Since I think that’s based on personal tastes – not really. Go – discover for yourself what you like. And it will be good. =)