Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world Varyk @sh.itjust.works 3mo ago

is there a genre of written work specifically concerned with the conception and procedure of literary works, or is it all random interviews or annotated guides?

i like watching "making-of" or "behind-the-scenes" featurettes and documentaries about the behind the scenes machinations of movie making, but in terms of literature, I'm not sure what to look for if i want to learn about the process Martha wells went through to conceive the murderbot diaries, for example.

i can search for making-of The Matrix and find documentaries, but not making-of project hail Mary and find similar literary results.

is there a section of literature like this?

should i be reading annotated editions?

thanks

16 comments

Literary Criticism or Literary Theory. If it's an older library, Dewey Decimal 809, or the PN section for Library of Congress.
- thanks!
  
  i find lit criticism/theory works often deal with broader, philosophical analysis of a work from the outside, sometimes without any input or direction taken from the author.
  
  I'm looking for a more inside look expanding on what the author creares or practices, like Tolkien liking finnish so much he adapted it into elvish.
  
  A documentary in written form expanding on canon, confirmed details and events regarding the production of a particular work.
  
  or! should i go back into the lit theory and criticism sections of the library and pay closer attention?
  
  Oh, sorry! I did sort of misread your question/post. There's a book by Lawrence Block called "Write for Your Life" which as a lot of accolades. Of course, he is more of a pulp fiction writer not a literary writer. There's also "Hero of a Thousand Faces", a famous collection of writings by Joseph Campbell. I think books like these are closer to what you are looking for but still not a slam dunk.
  
  For Tolkien's work, there is the twelve volume "The Complete History of Middle Earth" which is about as inside baseball as you can get for Tolkien. It's intimidating, though. And has numerous notes and revisions in it, which are a bit overwhelming. "The Making of Middle-Earth" by Snyder is a more approachable read at 368 pages.
  
  So if I finally get it through my thick skull and understand your question, you are looking like a book more like these, but not necessarily for Tolkien?
If you want something more esoteric, there’s metafiction (see William H. Gass’ “Philosophy and the Form of Fiction“ for the originations of the term) and authors like Borges (“Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote”) and Nabokov (Pale Fire)
- Metafiction sounds interesting, thanks
Stephen King has the classic of the work:

https://stephenking.com/works/nonfiction/on-writing-a-memoir-of-the-craft.html
Perhaps a bit esoteric, but when you get translated works, particularly those from earlier eras or from antiquity, with annotations, you get this sort of experience while you’re reading. Good annotations can also include historical references and commentary on the author and authorship of the work.
- Good to know, thanks. Yes, I think I've been unintentionally shying away from many annotated works because all I want are the annotations, although maybe they're exactly what I'm looking for.
Since all your examples are science fiction, you might be interested in science fiction studies—see in particular the list of societies and journals at the end of the article, which you can go to for studies of particular works.
- that's peculiar there's no overarching genre for SF studies that i see, just sf studies.
  
  thanks, at least i can look up a few sf titles to start.
You might find writing guides relevant to your interests. For example, "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card contains some details about how the author came to write Hart's Hope and other novels. "Scene & Structure" by Jack Bickham might also be interesting -- I don't remember discussion of specific books in it, but it might scratch a similar itch for how-it's-made style content.

Some books also contain introductions/forewords/afterwords with details about how the book was written. A bunch of OSC's novels (like some editions of Ender's Game) come to mind specifically -- I read those back when I was curious about maybe trying to become a writer, so that's the most prominent example in my mind, but I'm sure there are others. I've also seen translations of a number of works where the translators include really long introductions explaining some of their choices -- and sometimes criticize earlier translations.
- i have read several writing guides for just that reason after i came across King's On Writing.
  
  good idea, thanks.
Recommending Italo Calvino's Six Memos for the Next Millennium, the lectures he has been preparing shortly before his death.

Not an assembly guide for a work of literature, but it'll help your own process if it's already ongoing and you want to improve.

The lectures also have some comments on what Calvino himself was doing here and there and why.
- cool, thanks, I do like "memoirs of the craft" books also

16 comments