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Our Last Motivational Post for SoWD 2013!
Sep. 18th, 2013 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dawn_felagund"Fantasy remains a human right ..."
-J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories"
The 2013 Season of Writing Dangerously is a mere five days from ending. Some of us have cause to celebrate already; others of us (myself included!) aren't there yet and aren't sure if we will be. But I hope the last three months--whether you met your precise goal or not--resulted in something to be proud of, whether a story finished or a new friendship forged or something else entirely. I am personally of the opinion that any art made or any kindness shown in a world often sorely lacking in both is something special and to be proud of.
I am rereading Tolkien's letters for a research project I am working on. As I read the earliest letters, I am often struck by how similar to many of us he sounds. He worried that he wouldn't be taken seriously. He worried that his work wasn't good enough for an audience beyond those biased toward favoring him. He seized onto words of kindness offered by friends and publishers as motivation to keep writing during a time when his personal life left almost no room for creativity and it was much easier to quit than go on.
Like many of us, he also doubted at times if he would finish. He wondered where he was going with the massive and seemingly directionless story that would become The Lord of the Rings. And he worried that he didn't really have anything worth saying.
Sound familiar?
Tolkien's assertion that fantasy, of all things, is a human right may seem a little overblown in an era that had known tremendous sacrifice during two World Wars and witnessed one of the worst genocides in modern history. But that's part of the point. The essay from which this well-known quote comes, "On Fairy-Stories," argues in part for the power of and right to escapism through fantasy: When the world is dark, make your own light. Over the last three months, I have seen fans of Tolkien's fantasy world reach out to encourage friends and strangers alike. I have seen stories and art come into being that might not have been otherwise (and which will, in turn, bring enjoyment others). What a bright light Tolkien carried forth when he followed through on his right to fantasy! How grateful I am that he felt as strongly as he did that he had something worth saying.
I hope, in the next five days, that all of you will likewise believe you have something worth saying and find a way (whether with words or art) to say it, and keep carrying that light forth into the world.
SoWD participants should feel free to use the comments on this post as they please. I know some of you have reasons to celebrate! Please do! But if you need encouragement or need some last-minute help, don't be shy. Best of luck to all on the last leg of this journey!
-J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories"
The 2013 Season of Writing Dangerously is a mere five days from ending. Some of us have cause to celebrate already; others of us (myself included!) aren't there yet and aren't sure if we will be. But I hope the last three months--whether you met your precise goal or not--resulted in something to be proud of, whether a story finished or a new friendship forged or something else entirely. I am personally of the opinion that any art made or any kindness shown in a world often sorely lacking in both is something special and to be proud of.
I am rereading Tolkien's letters for a research project I am working on. As I read the earliest letters, I am often struck by how similar to many of us he sounds. He worried that he wouldn't be taken seriously. He worried that his work wasn't good enough for an audience beyond those biased toward favoring him. He seized onto words of kindness offered by friends and publishers as motivation to keep writing during a time when his personal life left almost no room for creativity and it was much easier to quit than go on.
Like many of us, he also doubted at times if he would finish. He wondered where he was going with the massive and seemingly directionless story that would become The Lord of the Rings. And he worried that he didn't really have anything worth saying.
Sound familiar?
Tolkien's assertion that fantasy, of all things, is a human right may seem a little overblown in an era that had known tremendous sacrifice during two World Wars and witnessed one of the worst genocides in modern history. But that's part of the point. The essay from which this well-known quote comes, "On Fairy-Stories," argues in part for the power of and right to escapism through fantasy: When the world is dark, make your own light. Over the last three months, I have seen fans of Tolkien's fantasy world reach out to encourage friends and strangers alike. I have seen stories and art come into being that might not have been otherwise (and which will, in turn, bring enjoyment others). What a bright light Tolkien carried forth when he followed through on his right to fantasy! How grateful I am that he felt as strongly as he did that he had something worth saying.
I hope, in the next five days, that all of you will likewise believe you have something worth saying and find a way (whether with words or art) to say it, and keep carrying that light forth into the world.
SoWD participants should feel free to use the comments on this post as they please. I know some of you have reasons to celebrate! Please do! But if you need encouragement or need some last-minute help, don't be shy. Best of luck to all on the last leg of this journey!
