Hello all,
Lots has been going on recently, we haven’t had a pause to breathe, but that’s how we like it. Seven Dark Stars is coming along very well, and there’s an opportunity for you to obtain copies before the big release in November – and at a discounted rate. Check out our Facebook page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/darkprophetspress and while you’re there, why not give us a cheeky “like”?
Anyway, publishing aside, let’s talk about actual writing itself: the art of telling a story, of impressing feeling, of taking someone else on a journey even though they don’t have to take a step from the couch. In the time before film, this art was entirely unique. Now, many people find films easier (and hence a decline in book sales and royalties). Films take less time to get through. They visualise all the elements of the story for you. And (most films) have an auditory element which is a distinct advantage; sound is a far more direct way of influencing the emotions than writing, although good writing can work with sound in a similar way that music does. You find if you read a well written novel out loud, it has a spellbinding effect. Most people would only ever read out loud to children and yet would purchase an audiobook without batting an eye (several of us grew up on Stephen Fry’s version of Harry Potter). Have you noticed when most children are read stories they are utterly transported?
Anyway, back to the issue: reading is less popular. Why does anyone still bother reading great long poems and epic novels when they can get the same from a film?
We think we have the answer.
A great lecturer I once knew said that long prose differs from other forms of writing like screen-writing, plays, short stories and poetry in a key way, and that is that in none of these other instances do you inhabit a world for so long. In a way, a narrative video game is a far closer model to a novel than a film, as a video game involves an extended period exploring and participating in the world which has been designed for you. However, individual play experiences differ just as individual novel reading experiences differ. A film is more direct and immediate, but it still does not give you the extended escapism, the depth of immersion in the alternative reality, that a long prose book would do.
The other thing, is that writing has capabilities no other art form has. Music touches the heart directly and can instantly resurrect forgotten emotions, memories, nostalgia; other art forms have this capability, but music does it in such a primary way its hard to argue its not supreme in this field. Fine visual art is inspiring and often captures a moment – the end of a journey or maybe the beginning. Visual art often fills with awe. There are exceptions to every rule, but the way we think about fine art is as a shot of whiskey, full of flavour and power. Each time you go back to it, you discover new undertones and subtleties previously missed, but you are always tasting a specific whiskey from a specific point in time.
But writing does something else. First, like music, it has a journey, even if the journey is circular. Second, although writing can be full of details and concrete story elements, it is essentially abstract. This abstraction allows it to generate what we call a ‘mirror effect’ by comparing images with other images – i.e. I can compare a bright flame to a glowing pillar. This is possible in the fine arts, and often artists do deliberately place objects, symbols, and layers into their work to suggest extra meaning, but only in writing is the synthesis complete, because in your mind you can hold several contradictory ideas in place at once. Words are the tool of thought and so writing, in its ‘abstraction’, is working with a direct channel into the imaginative realm, especially of dream, nightmare, and spiritual revelation. It is precisely because of the fact writing has no concrete form that is heard or seen or touched that it is so powerful.
We are not prescribing any of this as an absolute truth, in fact, we’re eager to hear your thoughts or counter-points to our suggestions. Please, feel free to comment below or message us on our Facebook group. Stay tuned for more updates on further releases, and perhaps even an open door to submissions… But hush, we have said too much!
Have a great weekend all,
The Dark Prophets
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