It’s funny because despite being an English major, I spent more time watching movies than reading. A part of it was the lack of a proper ADHD diagnosis but I’m also not particular to the traditional English canon. Burnt out from speed reading a bunch of books I didn’t care for, I didn’t have time to read much outside of my classwork.
Now, I’m medicated and unemployed. Right now, time is something I have so I spent a lot of it trying to play catch up with the backlog I have accumulated for a long time. One year and 16 books later, I feel like I have a better grasp of the medium. I can’t say that I am much better at reading (which I do consider a skill) but I know enough to know that it has become my favorite narrative medium to create with.
As an artist, writing provides the most egalitarian tools for narrative creation, construction, and manifestation, especially for an individual creator.
It might not be as immediately appealing when compared to other forms of storytelling. Television, movies, and video games are also powerful mediums and I am not discrediting their artistic value. They can engage the senses, especially sight and sound (even touch if you consider the textual quality of sound provided by high-end sound systems).
Yet, there is a reason they call these works “productions.” They require companies and studios to manifest. They require a cast and crew: directors, editors, prop artists, set designers, cinematographers, audio specialists, and all the other hardworking roles that I can’t even comprehend or have time to list. Equipment, cameras, and lights alone cost small fortunes. Special effects require expensive sets and equally expensive computers to simulate and render entire fantasy worlds.
This is not even to mention the social barrier of entry. Despite home video and prosumer markets allowing amateur filmmakers, it is still an expensive hobby. If you want to go mainstream, your only real option is to play a ruthless game whose main agenda is capital. There is a lot of time, money, physical labor, and resources that require even the most grounded of films. For example: ever consider how expensive it is to rent out a diner for a simple scene?
With writing, however, all you need are words and something to write on. There are options for doing this comfortably (I choose to use a tablet for drafts and a desktop for editing). Yet, it is still possible for anyone to write that draft with pen and paper. Twenty dollars can get you a nice journal and several pens. I have personally written several stories in this way and while it has fallen out of favor in my routine and practices, I still found it an enjoyable way to create.
I have tried my hand at creating other types of art including video. I have tried collaborative projects. There are merits to these types of works for sure. Having the creative input of others is always welcome. Having the skill set of those outside your own can also be a wonderous thing. This process of collective contribution can create resonant works, there is no denying this.
Yet, it can also result in a mess. Too many voices can drown out a vision into an incohesive or generic result. Especially for those on an independent or even amateur level, a lack of resources might require more time and energy from the artists. Single developer video games tell stories of how many sleepless nights it took to make their games. Bigger budgets might speed up the process, allowing for higher quality and quicker development. Even then, big triple AAA developers have been reported to abuse their workers into overwork (see Project CD RED). While the success stories are out there, there is also an equal number of reported disasters.
There are benefits to these higher levels of production. With video and audio, creators can engage the audience with their immediate senses, making the process of sending narrative information more efficient. Traditional books, however, require a reader to essentially decode the meanings of the written words and interpret them as best they can. By contrast, this is far less efficient for an audience compared to simply seeing, hearing, or sometimes even performing the actions.
Perhaps, this is the sacrifice that written stories make, one that is the opposite of more production-heavy mediums. While films require so many resources to present the story seamlessly to a viewer, writers require far less in their creation. In exchange, they ask their audience to take an active role in the creation. The reader’s minds become simulation machines, using the words of the author as instruction for each frame of these psychic films.
That said, it isn’t like books themselves aren’t a form of production. Especially in the commercial space, they require editors, readers, cover artists, publicists, etc. These professional writers also have to cater to the whims of commercials in order to have a successful career. The digital age has also made books and written works more ambitious in their production. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves is a primary example in the published world of an experience beyond simple text. Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive Series also has a huge team of beta readers and artists that contribute to his work. Andrew Hussie’s Homestuck is a modern masterpiece of a multimedia project, its medium being the internet itself allowing for text, music, images, video, and even games. I can only imagine that this level of literary ambition will continue as time goes on.
I realize that I just played my own devil’s advocate. Yet, as someone who is still at the start of their writing journey, who also has ambitions in this multimedia possibility in literature, I feel the draw of traditional writing now more than ever. It is the most egalitarian of narrative creation. I don’t have to worry about all the little parts of these other mediums and rely (and hope) on the talents of others. At the moment, I can simply write. I will probably need the help of these talented others in the future. If my dreams for my stories come true, I will need to find editors, artists, musicians, beta readers, and many others that I simply cannot fathom at the moment.
But right now, I am simply enjoying typing away at my keyboard. I am enjoying the process of getting lost in imagination and willing my characters, stories, and worlds onto a page. I am free to create with little to stop me.
Danger Wonka 