The focus of my current English course, British Literature II, is the concept of “Truth”, and how various English writers and poets framed that through history. Romance-era poets were seemingly obsessed with the concept, seeing Truth as something that required a human mind, and specifically imagination, to be able to piece together from what was available.
Of course, most Romance-era writers were independently wealthy and were writing more as a hobby and as an investigation than out of any sense of appealing to the masses. If others found their work worthy was something of an unintended side-effect, it would seem.
That stated, it has made me think a little about Truth, and what it means to me and my writing. I’m not particularly concerned with “deep meaning” with my writing, since I’m aiming for light, fun, adventure-style books. I don’t want or need to win any Giller prizes for my science fiction, I just want to tell neat stories that make people smile and maybe forget about all the crappy stuff that’s going on in the world for a while.
But I still try to weave a bit of optimism in my works. There is still violence, and sexism, and fear, and lots of other negative aspects to my worlds, but I can do a lot to frame the negatives as less ambiguous, and to show that there is a lot of potential for good in the world. Quiet moments of peace, tenderness, love… all the things that make life worth living.
Plus laser swords and exploding starships, because, d’uh. What’s the point of writing science fiction if you can’t work in laser swords and awesome starship battles? Might as well write fantasy!
Anyway, this is one of the reasons I love studying English. It’s neat to think about, even if I think the considerations are a bit ivory-tower for my tastes.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!