Understanding Tolkien: Conclusion

I hesitate to use the words 'Understanding Tolkien' and 'Conclusion' together in the same sentence, but the purpose of this short series wasn't to make any of us masters in Tolkien studies. Rather, my intention was to give a taste of how he communicated on important subjects using his skills as a writer. Hopefully this encourages you to study Tolkien in greater depth, with an eye to the richness that lays behind the printed words on the page.

At the end of the day,  there are two vital lessons to learn from Tolkien as a writer. We must interact with the world around us, and we must read.While interacting with the world is a post for another time, here are some of the best books I've read on Tolkien which I think would benefit every writer whether they write fiction, fantasy, history, or essays.


By Tom Shippey
J.R.R Tolkien : Author of the Century,  and The Road to Middle Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology
Tom Shippey was one of Tolkien's successors at Leeds University, and at one point taught from the syllabus that Tolkien had constructed. What makes Shippey such an engaging read is his vast understanding of Tolkien's academic background as well as his wealth of historical knowledge. It is my humble opinion that no library is complete without a copy of these books, and any writer who has not read them is sadly missing out. Author of the Century  focuses  on Tolkien's impact in relation to the times in which he lived, and how it interacted with his professional studies, while The Road to Middle Earth is a closer look at how philology shaped Tolkien's world and how language inspired many of his best creations.
Shippey is one of the most knowledgeable writers I have read, for he possesses not only a deep understanding of philology and history, but also literary criticism both historic and modern  coupled with a keen mastery of the writer's craft. I am currently reading through several more of his works at the moment and enjoying every one of them.

The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft
Peter Kreeft is one of those author who I will read no matter his subject, anything he writes is worth the time it takes to read, and this one is no exception. Kreeft is perhaps the one author on this list who's knowledge surpasses Shippey's, and even then only in Christianity and Catholicism, though one might say he remains near-peer in every other area. Kreeft is an exceedingly knowledgeable and readable (why can't those two traits coincide more often) author with a deep and vast mind. I highly recommend that you look more into his writings.

J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
The definitive biography on Professor Tolkien, this short work is valuable because it focuses as much on Tolkien's mental life as it does on his physical one.Tolkien's early life contained much of the
"action", but it was the second half of his life that saw the many threads of his earlier years woven together.
 
The Battle for Middle-earth; Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings by Fleming Rutledge
The thing  that I really enjoy about this book is the way it examines LOTR chronologically, exploring themes as they develop with the plot. Rutledge begins with the first chapter and works his way through the story, examining how Tolkien builds his message. I believe this is an important read, along with Philosophy of Tolkien, because as Christian authors, we need to understand what we are saying and communicating in what we write.


 The Master of Middle Earth; The fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien by Paul Kocher
I almost didn't include this book, I've only read it once, and never owned it. However, Kocher's chapter on Aragorn fundamentally changed how I looked at LOTR and how I look at heroes. I've seen this one at a few libraries, and it is well worth your time. I didn't write an article on Aragorn for this series but he remains in my mind one of the most important characters in the story for understanding Tolkien's thoughts on leadership and service. The contrasts between Denethor and Theoden, Aragorn and Boromir, Aragorn and Eomer, Gandalf and Sauroman may be something I explore in the future.

I hope this series has given a few of you a slightly better picture of Tolkien's background, and how it allowed him to become such a great writer. I was asked recently why I chose Tolkien to focus on, there are so many other great authors. I believe Tolkien understood history the way few others did, I believe he understood the modern condition better than many of his peers, and I believe that his Christianity allowed him to understand and balance both of those in a way that his peers could not. He studied and lived deeply and richly and that is what contributed to his excellence as a writer. If we too wish to be excellent writers, we must do the same.

Writing with Deep Practice.

One of the most important books I’ve read is “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle, which looks at how people develop talent. The primary thing they discuss is the concept of Deep Practice. Deep Practice intentional, focused performance of a targeted skill, where mistakes are identified and corrected soon after they are made in order to develop new mental processes which avoid those mistakes in the future.

The questioned I’ve pondered for a while is how to do this with writing. Writing doesn’t have the instantly identifiable ‘mistakes’ that are easy to see in fields like music or gymnastics. Additionally, it is commonly agreed that mental and emotional “distance” are vital to good editing, which seems to go against the principle of identifying mistakes soon after they are made. To make things even more difficult, when working on a novel, it can be months or years before a first draft is completed. Only then can we look back effectively on things like character development, plot, or general tightness of narrative. Unfortunately, when our inner editor finds some horrifically handled plot device and confronts our inner writer wanting to know what it was thinking, the answer is usually along the lines of ‘I dunno what I was thinking, I wrote that a year ago. I’m sure I won’t make that mistake again” but there is no conscious correcting of the mental processes that led to making the mistake.

Enter short stories. A short story can reasonably be planned, written, and edited inside of two months, allowing the editing process to confront mistakes and weaknesses in the story soon after we write them. This allows our inner editor to correct our inner writer’s tendencies while the processes we used in composing are still present in our minds.

Beyond simple writing mistakes, one of the most difficult skills for many writers is finishing. Novels can often drag out because any deadline is months away. It is easy to reason “If I miss a day here or a day there, I’m sure I can make it up”. But if you set out a schedule for a short story with deadlines only a few weeks or even days apart, there is less wiggle room and you will develop the habit of writing every day. It will get easier and your writing will get better.

Short stories have a third benefit; they show your progress as a writer. You may not want anyone to see your first couple of efforts, and that’s fine. But don’t throw it away, keep it and look back at it every once in a while, it will encourage and surprise you to see how far you’ve come. Some of your better ones you can post to your blog or share elsewhere online. Putting your writing out there is an important part of starting to build a readership, an important step as a young writer. Finally, when you get those stories that shine and gleam with your hard work, self-publish them. Kindle’s Direct Publishing program is tailor made for short stories. Having published works, beyond being motivating in itself, gives you legitimacy and will continue to build your readership for when you finish that novel you’re working so hard on.   

So give it a try, you might be surprised by some of the ideas that come to you as you write! If you haven't read it yet, check out "The Talent Code", it is a fascinating read and well worth your time.