David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants—The Appeal to “Intellect” in Fiction
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- Category: David Farland Newsletter
- Published on Tuesday, 20 December 2011 03:35
- Written by David Farland
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Dear Folks: I’ve been working hard on several projects recently, and apologize for the lack of daily kicks. As I focus on finishing the last Runelords novel, you can expect them to be a little slow for a bit. I hope to get back into this more in January. Keep writing!
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David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants—The Appeal to "Intellect" in Fiction
In talking recently about writing genre fiction, I spoke about the chemical reactions that occur in the brain as we read. There is a large contingent who feels that fiction that targets emotion is somehow inferior to fiction that appeals to our intellect.
In a sense, they’re very wrong. In another sense, they’re exactly right. Let me explain.
Stories about ideas have can indeed change the world. If you look at books like Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, or Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (which was rejected by an astonishing 121 publishers before it was printed and became a bestseller) you’ll find that the plots are pretty thin. In fact, I can’t recall feeling much of anything as I read the books. But the ideas explored within the page were fascinating. I love books that explore ideas.
Why? Because books that appeal to the intellect allow us to think about our lives and make dramatic changes. It seems, then to me, that any story that I write as an author should appeal to the intellect, right?
I’m not so sure. Those trashy romances that women read, don’t they also change lives? Right now you may be scoffing. But years ago I wrote a Star Wars novel called The Courtship of Princess Leia. It was a romance/adventure. A young woman came to me shortly afterward and asked if I could sign a copy to a young man that she knew. She explained that she liked him, and she hoped that this would be a good way to let him know. I signed the book, and a few months later, got an invitation to their wedding. This happened two more times over the course of the next few months. A few years later, I was looking up "favorite quotes" as I was researching the great quotes of literary writers. Guess what came up? One of the quotes I found was from Han Solo, from my book, as he talked about the nature of love. So even though this novel wasn’t meant to discuss anything profound, even though it was primarily an appeal to emotion for Star Wars fans, it altered lives.
I’ve seen this happen again and again. The first story I ever published was called "Charlie in the Wind." It went out to a small college literary publication, the kind that printed maybe 400 copies. Nearly all of those copies, I figured, would be bought by proud parents who would want to show people their son’s or daughter’s first published poem. So I figured that what, maybe 30 people might ever actually read my story? The story deals with emotional emasculation in small boys. It doesn’t talk about it overtly. Instead, it was only an appeal to emotion, the kind of thing that might make someone stop and think.
Several years later, I was invited to dinner at a friend’s house. His wife told me how she had read that story and it had made her cry. "In fact," she said, "I was an English major at the time, but I immediately went to the college councilor’s office and changed to psychology. I decided that I wanted to do something about the problem." She went on to get her degree, and then began working as a counselor for troubled teens, taking them on treks into the mountains and desert in an effort to help them get free of drugs and turn their lives around. In fact, she eventually bought out her partners and started several companies that did this. That was 25 years ago. By now, her companies have helped alter the lives of thousands of troubled teens, perhaps tens of thousands.
And it all started with one little short story, one that did not contain an intellectual appeal, one that I thought that no one would really read.
As people, we’re all just like stones dropped into the water. We all have an effect on society, on those around us. As authors that effect becomes amplified.
So a story with a powerful emotional appeal can change lives subtly, but one with an intellectual appeal can do so overtly. Does that mean that intellectual fiction is more vaunted, somehow better?
Not necessarily.
Creating an "aha" moment in fiction is sort of cheap. Every mystery author begins a book knowing whodunit. But the author withholds that information, and the important clues, from the reader, doling out vital data very slowly.
Remember the hunting dogs? As they search for the scent of a rabbit, the brain releases dopamine as a reward. It’s the same pleasing drug that we get as we read a mystery novel. As we search for clues, our brain provides dopamine to maintain interest. That release of dopamine is the reward for all stories that appeal to the intellect.
When the dog catches the rabbit, the serotonin gushes through the bloodstream, a reward for having caught its prey. A similar thing happens when we finally "catch" our imaginary killer. The brain secretes large amounts of serotonin as a reward. Thus, we feel "good."
In other words, the "cerebral" rewards that we receive in fiction come from similar chemical processes that occur when we read fiction meant primarily to stimulate only the emotions. That feeling of elation that comes when a great story falls together, that sense of revelation that arises as an entire novel is thrown into complex relief when a bit of information is revealed--it’s all simple chemical rewards.
So "intellectual" stories and ones that simply arouse emotions do roughly the same thing. The only real difference is this: a story that has no intellectual component doesn’t overtly offer the reader any long-term reward.
Once the emotional thrill wears off, the reader’s view of the universe isn’t enlarged, his thoughts any deeper.
Yet we crave intellectually stimulating literature regardless. In fact, recent studies show that men tend to suffer depression from low dopamine levels much more than women. I have wondered if this is why men around the world seem to search out "wisdom literature" so frequently.
A story that offers a genuine insight into life really does have a long-term reward built into it. It is more likely to change a person’s life for the better, or to change the world.
Unfortunately, not all intellectual fiction really provides valuable insights. If an author only gives a reader useless information
—say the final clue in a whodunit—then the story doesn’t really offer any long-lasting reward, does it? It might make the reader feel smarter, give a momentary sense of elation, but it doesn’t really make the reader more capable of handling life.
So in some ways, intellectual fiction can be
—and often is—without merit.
At other times, the intellectual merits of a story are spurious. Pseudo-wisdom is frequently doled out by vapid authors. Opinion is touted as truth. An eloquent author who pens a novel on, say, the cause of the recent recession is taking on a huge challenge. If he gets the answer wrong, is the novel really providing valuable insights? Is it really going to change the world in a positive way? Probably not.
A few hundred years ago, the Black Plague spread throughout Europe. At about the same time, witch hunts were organized in an effort to root out the cause, and tens of thousands of people were executed. Did the storytellers of the time, who imagined that witches were spreading the plague, really have a positive effect on the world?
Probably not. A lot of literature meant to appeal to the intellect
—say by revealing the cause of the recent financial crisis—can similarly lead to ill-advised actions. Such literature is the equivalent of a modern-day witch hunt.
Yet literature that genuinely seeks to answer the "big questions" in life can be of tremendous value
—if the author is wise enough to actually find the right answers to those questions.
Recent studies indicate that powerful emotions act as a catalyst for learning. In fact, studies show that we only learn when we have powerful emotions present. That’s why teachers require students to take tests. It creates fear. It plays upon our need to compete and excel. It gives the student an emotional incentive to actually learn.
Literature that educates as it entertains can be more valuable to the reader, but only if the information is both vital to the reader and if the information provided is true. The insights don’t need to necessarily be profound
—only relevant to the reader and true.
So as a storyteller, it’s important to garner genuine insight into the questions of life and then transmit it through your stories.
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I just got in my hardcover copies of NIGHTINGALE. The book looks great, in large part due to the excellent interior design work done by Stephen James Price This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The graphics he provided fit beautifully with the text design and layout. If any of you are looking for a book designer, get in touch with him!
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For those interested in buying NIGHTINGALE in any format, go to
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David Farland will be teaching a special writing workshop on Writing for Young Adults. The emphasis will be writing for Middle Grade to upper Young Adult Audiences. Dave has written his own YA and MG novels, including a number of tie ins with Star Wars and the Mummy. He’s also trained a number of New York Times bestselling YA authors, including Brandon Mull (MG), Brandon Sanderson (MG), James Dashner (YA) and Stephenie Meyer (YA), along with dozens of others who have gone on to publish. The workshop will be held in early March in Saint George, Utah (just in time for spring weather). The workshop runs for one week. For more information, go to
www.davidfarland.com/workshops
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Catch the podcasts of our most recent author interviews at
http://nightingalenovel.com/contest.html
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Could you use a thousand bucks? Enter David's short story contest at
http://nightingalenovel.com/contest.html
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See Tomorrow's Kick on The First Rule In Writing for Kids
