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On Message Fiction. Again.
Aug. 30th, 2014 10:04 amReproducing (and expanding) a comment I posted elsewhere, because I think it should be said to the larger world. The question was asked (paraphrased) "How much of ourselves and our POV do we (or should we) put in our fiction?"
I've written several stories with recognizably Biblical angels and demons in them, and they certainly reflect my own ideas on how such things would "work" in the "real world" were they more obvious. In fact, I daresay that I would be constitutionally unable to write something that went astray from my deeply-held beliefs in that regard, at least in any meaningful way. It's a major reason why most fiction that stars angels leaves me cold--I can't suspend my disbelief enough to actually enjoy the story. This is the reason I don't watch "Supernatural" or "Legion" or "Michael."
And there's nothing wrong with that. "Write what you love" is and always has been my mantra. I don't begrudge the writers of things like "Supernatural" their own bliss; I just acknowledge that it's not for me and move on.It would be nice if others would do me the same courtesy, but, you know, I'm one of those Evil Conservatives, so I don't get that consideration. Not that I'm bitter.
That being said, it all depends on the story you're trying to tell. I have other stories in which my religious viewpoint is conspicuously absent, and in which protagonists act in ways (such as killing an enemy who is down and helpless) that are the opposite of what I would do--but are true to what that character would do. On the other hand, Ben is a soldier and a private investigator. His views on guns are going to closely reflect my own simply by virtue of what he is. Were I to write a pacifist character (ahaha), that person's viewpoint wouldn't necessarily line up with mine.
And maybe I should do that, just to take myself out of my comfort zone. Because I have so little on my plate right now!
In the end, all fiction is message fiction. The problem comes, in my view, when Story is sacrificed to Message, the characters are little more than mouthpieces for the cause du jour (whatever it is on either side), and where Message is shoehorned down our throats with a garden trowel. Most of the time, I have no idea what Message I'm aiming for until the story is actually complete.
And sometimes, I just want to tell a fun story.
I've written several stories with recognizably Biblical angels and demons in them, and they certainly reflect my own ideas on how such things would "work" in the "real world" were they more obvious. In fact, I daresay that I would be constitutionally unable to write something that went astray from my deeply-held beliefs in that regard, at least in any meaningful way. It's a major reason why most fiction that stars angels leaves me cold--I can't suspend my disbelief enough to actually enjoy the story. This is the reason I don't watch "Supernatural" or "Legion" or "Michael."
And there's nothing wrong with that. "Write what you love" is and always has been my mantra. I don't begrudge the writers of things like "Supernatural" their own bliss; I just acknowledge that it's not for me and move on.
That being said, it all depends on the story you're trying to tell. I have other stories in which my religious viewpoint is conspicuously absent, and in which protagonists act in ways (such as killing an enemy who is down and helpless) that are the opposite of what I would do--but are true to what that character would do. On the other hand, Ben is a soldier and a private investigator. His views on guns are going to closely reflect my own simply by virtue of what he is. Were I to write a pacifist character (ahaha), that person's viewpoint wouldn't necessarily line up with mine.
And maybe I should do that, just to take myself out of my comfort zone. Because I have so little on my plate right now!
In the end, all fiction is message fiction. The problem comes, in my view, when Story is sacrificed to Message, the characters are little more than mouthpieces for the cause du jour (whatever it is on either side), and where Message is shoehorned down our throats with a garden trowel. Most of the time, I have no idea what Message I'm aiming for until the story is actually complete.
And sometimes, I just want to tell a fun story.
