 A way with worlds: 45 - Aslan Meets His Match: Theme versus Setting
by Steven Savage of Seventh Sanctum
Page 2 of 2 Also, the overarching story
may not be so obvious, while being very ingrained into the core
tales. In the cases of complex and heartfelt stories where the
storyline is based on the major foundations of the world,
attempting to work around that major theme/world basis is going
to require care and extensive understanding. The original author
may be able to do it.
I'd doubt another author
could unless they were talented.
Why is this important?
Beyond the fact that I'm rather annoyed?
Simple. It's important to
know, when writing, just what level of theme you're working on -
and if writing fanfic, what level of theme the author was working
on. You may find there are some stories you can't write in your
world, or some stories you can't write in an author's world.
Now it's a challenge to push
boundaries, but sometimes you may break things. There are times
to work within a continuity and times not to - or time to create
an alternate universe or something similar.
It's important to know these
things when writing - to respect your creation or that of
another, to avoid banging your head against a wall, and to
understand the challenges you face.
And my personal feelings on
this Narnia mess?
Leave it alone. Christian
literature sells well enough anyway, and I'll pit C. S. Lewis
against any other author today. He did his work, he deserves the
respect, and it's going to be too much pressure and to difficult
for good writers to try and work around his themes.
A
Way with Worlds is hosted at:
The
complete works are archived at the Way With
Worlds archive.
A German translation is in the works at Christian
Spliess's Page
Copyright© 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Steven Savage, sffworld.com. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author.
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