— Mark Paxson
One of my proudest achievements was doing so well on the college English placement test that I got to bypass English in college. Yes, my last English class was in 12th grade. I never took a class in the English Department in college. And I have a brother and father who both majored in English.
Why was I so thrilled about this? Because I hated English classes. The writing part was bad enough — I thought I was a horrible writer and hated it back then. But what was even worse was the need to analyze poems and short stories and try to identify the author’s point. Why did they write the story or poem? What did they mean when they used this phrase? Why do you think they picked the color red for the door? Blah, blah, blah. All I know is that whenever a teacher would ask that question, I wanted to stand up and scream, “Why? Because they just wanted to write a story!!! Why isn’t the answer that they just wanted to write a story?!?”
I’ve never really understand the need to identify the “why” of fiction. I read for enjoyment, entertainment, and escape. I don’t read fiction for any deep understanding of the writer’s objectives or of the human condition. I just want a story that pulls me along and keeps me turning the page.
I just finished a book. It’s a thriller. I completed it because I wanted to see how catastrophe would be averted, but it was a struggle. Why? Because the author clearly uses his fiction to spread his view that Jesus Christ is his savior and that Christianity is the light and the way of the world. There were points in the story where the need to proselytize came up in ways that were just completely ridiculous. Like when the CIA agent was racing to prevent the imminent launch of a nuclear weapon that would have killed millions, but he had to stop and spread the word to a colleague who had been injured. I seriously don’t need that when I’m reading fiction.
When I started writing, I remember having a brief conversation with another writer. She insisted that every story has a point. I’ve heard this from others as well, and I just don’t get it. 99% of the stories I’ve written have been about me coming up with an idea for a story and seeing if I could get it done. That’s the only point to my fiction.
There is one exception to this. My second novel had a point, but it proved to hit a little too close to home and I de-published the novel. Other than that, I just want to see if I can write a story. Each and every time I begin a piece, that’s my only objective. That’s the only point. There are no messages, hidden or apparent.
This is not meant to be a criticism of those who seek to use fictioni to make a point, to serve a purpose. Fiction certainly can be a wonderful way to deliver a message to the reading audience. But … does it need to? Does there need to be an inner meaning in everything we write?
Do you have objectives when you write? Are there messages you want to deliver with your fiction or poetry? Do you look for things like that in fiction you read? Fic
Writers Supporting Writers 
Everybody has their own views on the world, and their own philosophy of life. Given this, I suppose for people who write a fiction, that’s bound to come through in their work to some degree. Especially if a writer has a large body of work, you can try to look for patterns and tease out what views they had that seeped into their writing. This makes for excellent fodder for critics and English professors.
But does every writer need to convey their beliefs, attitudes and ideas in their writing? I don’t think so. Most authors just want to tell a story. They might inadvertently let some of their beliefs creep in, but I don’t think this is the case for most. (There are some exceptions–like George Orwell’s political novels.)
My introduction to analyzing fiction critically was a book about Gilbert & Sullivan’s operas, in which the author (a critic named Gayden Wren) argued that the reason the operas had such staying power after 150 years was that they had universal themes that all kinds of audiences would find relatable. I found the case persuasive, though whether these themes were put there intentionally was ambiguous. Similar arguments can be made regarding Shakespeare’s plays etc.
I guess my general feeling is, unless you have a specific point to make that you feel you can *only* make by disguising it as fiction (as was the case with Orwell and his views on totalitarianism), you shouldn’t worry about making a point. Just focus on telling a good story, and if you happen to let some points about your view of the world come in while doing that, well, that’s cool. But that’s something for the critics to analyze later. 🙂
As for the question of whether I look for messages/points in the fiction I read: yes, I definitely do, although I don’t assume the author necessarily put them there intentionally. For example, you can learn a lot about Arthur Conan Doyle himself and Victorian England generally by reading Sherlock Holmes stories, but there’s no reason to think he intended them as anything other than good stories.
Lastly, I read a lot of science fiction, and I have a feeling that sci-fi authors are almost always trying to make some sort of statement through their fiction about where they see the world going. So I think this sort of thing may be more common in sci-fi than in other genres.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You’re right that it is inevitable that an author’s “world view” will creep into their fiction, although now that I say that I wonder what that says about Stephen King’s world view. 😉
But that’s not the same as there being a point to a story, or a message delivered in a story. I have read at times that Tolkien wrote LOTR as a parable about the rise of fascism, or something like that. Who knows? Maybe he did and there are writings of his that support this conclusion. Or maybe he didn’t and people see that parable in his story, because the “bad guys” in LOTR have tendencies that look like fascism — because that’s just something inherent in how writers see bad guys. I mean, how many times in fiction do we see the bad guys being loving, helpful individuals who help old ladies across the street? Not often. No, it is human nature, I think, to see evil as a dominating force that twists humanity. LOTR is, to me, a simple story of good versus evil — that may look like a story about fascism simply because of the generic views of good and evil.
But maybe this is the point and it goes back to some of the other conversations we’ve had. Writers write, readers read and develop their own ideas of what the writer meant, if the writer meant anything at all. I can read LOTR and see a simply story of good versus evil, while others read it and see it as a story of its time — it’s really about the rise of Hitler.
I think this is one of the reasons why I just don’t do book reviews like you, and many others, do. I just read to read, not to analyze and ponder. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tolkien is an excellent example. I’m sure he had both World Wars on his mind while writing LOTR, but I think you’re right–first and foremost, his goal was to tell a good story. He loved myth and legends and poetry, and he wanted to create a story like the old legends he loved. From what I’ve read, his main goal was to try to recreate ancient English mythology, much of which was lost due to the Norman conquest. And of course, the number one thing to do in creating a mythology is… to tell a good story. A story that a bunch of kids sitting around a campfire could read (or hear), enjoy and remember.
Also, something else I meant to say previously, regarding the whole “why did the author choose to make the door red?” issue: I have, once in a while, written things where there are little details that have some hidden meaning, should anyone care to follow it up. For example, I once wrote an unreliable narrator story in which, anytime the narrator mentions the color yellow, it’s a subtle “tell” that he’s lying. My intention was that it would be a sort of hidden touch that wouldn’t be obvious on first reading and would only be noticed by someone who was looking for such things.
You might well ask, what would be the point of doing such a thing, if hardly any readers will notice it? Good question. Maybe there’s an argument that using such tricks creates a subliminal effect. But, truth be told, I just did it as a way of amusing myself–it was more like a game I played to see how craftily I could do it.
That said, the vast majority of the time in my writing, the answer to “why is it this color?” or “why is it called that?” is simply because that’s how it is in my mind, and there’s no deeper reason.
As for SK’s worldview… one shudders to think! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw this post this morning and thought about it on and off through the day. I pretty much agree with Berthold–it’s sort of like story structure in that any overall meaning shows up after the story is written. Different readers may see different meanings, not necessarily what the author intended. Generally, I think it’s a mistake to build a meaning into a story; it’s bound to distort it, like the thriller you mentioned. I wonder if most writers would rather have teachers and professors boring their students with their works, or regular readers enjoying them as stories they want to keep reading.
LikeLiked by 3 people
While I would be tickled to have one of my stories discussed in an English class, it’s the last thing I’d ever want to happen. 😉 Why did the author misspell Irreparable in this story? BECAUSE!!!
Anyway, I was just thinking of your comment and my novel that will be hopefully coming out soon. Years ago, I took the first two chapters of The Dime to a writer’s conference. I was in a group of 12 writers who shared their stories and then got feedback from the group. Somebody told me that the story was about a “found family.” Which is weird because, at the time, I wasn’t sure what, if anything, more I was going to write on that story and there certainly was no found family yet. But … that comment became, in some respects, the foundation for what I ended up doing with it as it went from short story to novella to novel.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s the way it should be, Mark. You didn’t sit down thinking “Now I’m going to write a novel about a found family,” but that reader saw that when they read those chapters. We create stories and in the process draw unconsciously on our experiences and ideas.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have nothing profound or original to say about the human condition, so you won’t find anything like that in my stories. In both my paintings and writing, what I try to do is transport the viewer or reader a step or two outside of their everyday life. Ideally, I’d like my readers to feel that they’ve actually been someplace else, with good friends, when they close my book. I suppose you could say that’s the point of my stories. I’m sure Berthold could compile some of my ideals from my stories, as I try to make my worlds better places than our everyday one — from my perspective, anyway.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Transporting the reader … this is as good a description as any of what fiction should to.
LikeLiked by 2 people