This story was inspired by the old Bohemian folk tale "How a Soldier Punished the Devils".
Synopsis: An old soldier dreams of being told to leave the army. Wandering through a wood, he gives away his last three coins, one to each of three beggars. The third beggar offers him three wishes in return. The soldier wishes that the supply of brandy in his bottle would never grow less, and then that he could smoke and yet never have to refill his pipe. His third wish is that anything he commands ‘into my knapsack’ would appear there. The beggar says gravely, so be it, “but you have forgotten about heaven; some day you may be sorry for it.” He encounters a local prince whose palace is haunted by devils who kill any who stay there. The soldier agrees to confront the devils. When each of three devils arrives, he commands it ‘into my knapsack’ and captures all three. He has a blacksmith strike off their horns in punishment and sends them back to hell on the promise they never return. The soldier is rewarded with a fine house, where he lives out his years. Nearing death, the soldier requests to be buried with his knapsack; this is done when he dies. Upon reaching the other world, he approaches the gate of heaven but Saint Peter says, “You do not belong here. You were once allowed to choose what you wished and you never thought of heaven.” The soldier turns to go to hell, but the devils slam the door on him too, saying, “Don’t let him in. He’s the one who broke off our horns.” Wondering what he should do, he goes back to the gate of heaven and when Saint Peter opens the door, the soldier calls out “into my knapsack!” and that’s where Saint Peter finds himself. The soldier slips into heaven, closes the gate, and then sets Saint Peter free. When Saint Peter complains, he is answered, “Never mind; just be careful not to find yourself in the knapsack again!”
Having a story ‘idea’ is not enough for me: it provides context and raw material, but it gives me no direction. I think this is where inspiration comes in: it provides motivation, direction, and meaning. However, I certainly do have to start writing from just an idea because it is the idle hours of mulling over the roadblocks and frustrations that eventually give my mind motive for uncovering a kernel of inspiration.
Perhaps my problem is feeling the need to write in too much explicit grounding for that inspiration and meaning, the result being more 'telling' and less 'showing'. I thought that the capacity of humans to communicate with language meant that people would actually talk with each other, i.e., that they would *converse*. But it might be that characters in literature are not supposed to converse (ok, maybe they can talk *at* each other from emotion, but certainly not converse with intelligence); they are only supposed to *do*. I suppose this really is the nature of 'story'.
So, the lesson that I might never internalize is that readers want action, not contemplation. This might be a show-stopper for me.
Interesting. I had trouble concentrating on your entry, which was quite surprising to me. But your comments here may explain it, when combined with my increasing desire for action in the stories I read. I was forced to read The Vicar of Wakefield in school, and all I remember about it was that nothing happened in the first two thirds of the book. I think I am more attracted to scifi because of the way the action starts right away. I also think stories in general have progressed toward more action in the last 50 years.
You are right, of course. My parenthetical remark above was ill-considered. If I can improve my 'show-not-tell' problem, then the content of conversations will take care of itself. (It is also an obvious conceit for me to presume that the conversations related in my stories actually depict 'intelligence'.)
Still, I think the result of any progress in this regard will mean more 'doing' and less 'discussing', even if ‘talking’ is still involved.
Thanks for your perspective - it definitely helps.
6 comments:
Author’s Note:
This story was inspired by the old Bohemian folk tale "How a Soldier Punished the Devils".
Synopsis:
An old soldier dreams of being told to leave the army. Wandering through a wood, he gives away his last three coins, one to each of three beggars. The third beggar offers him three wishes in return. The soldier wishes that the supply of brandy in his bottle would never grow less, and then that he could smoke and yet never have to refill his pipe. His third wish is that anything he commands ‘into my knapsack’ would appear there. The beggar says gravely, so be it, “but you have forgotten about heaven; some day you may be sorry for it.” He encounters a local prince whose palace is haunted by devils who kill any who stay there. The soldier agrees to confront the devils. When each of three devils arrives, he commands it ‘into my knapsack’ and captures all three. He has a blacksmith strike off their horns in punishment and sends them back to hell on the promise they never return. The soldier is rewarded with a fine house, where he lives out his years. Nearing death, the soldier requests to be buried with his knapsack; this is done when he dies. Upon reaching the other world, he approaches the gate of heaven but Saint Peter says, “You do not belong here. You were once allowed to choose what you wished and you never thought of heaven.” The soldier turns to go to hell, but the devils slam the door on him too, saying, “Don’t let him in. He’s the one who broke off our horns.” Wondering what he should do, he goes back to the gate of heaven and when Saint Peter opens the door, the soldier calls out “into my knapsack!” and that’s where Saint Peter finds himself. The soldier slips into heaven, closes the gate, and then sets Saint Peter free. When Saint Peter complains, he is answered, “Never mind; just be careful not to find yourself in the knapsack again!”
Having a story ‘idea’ is not enough for me: it provides context and raw material, but it gives me no direction. I think this is where inspiration comes in: it provides motivation, direction, and meaning. However, I certainly do have to start writing from just an idea because it is the idle hours of mulling over the roadblocks and frustrations that eventually give my mind motive for uncovering a kernel of inspiration.
Perhaps my problem is feeling the need to write in too much explicit grounding for that inspiration and meaning, the result being more 'telling' and less 'showing'. I thought that the capacity of humans to communicate with language meant that people would actually talk with each other, i.e., that they would *converse*. But it might be that characters in literature are not supposed to converse (ok, maybe they can talk *at* each other from emotion, but certainly not converse with intelligence); they are only supposed to *do*. I suppose this really is the nature of 'story'.
So, the lesson that I might never internalize is that readers want action, not contemplation. This might be a show-stopper for me.
Interesting. I had trouble concentrating on your entry, which was quite surprising to me. But your comments here may explain it, when combined with my increasing desire for action in the stories I read. I was forced to read The Vicar of Wakefield in school, and all I remember about it was that nothing happened in the first two thirds of the book. I think I am more attracted to scifi because of the way the action starts right away. I also think stories in general have progressed toward more action in the last 50 years.
You are right, of course. My parenthetical remark above was ill-considered. If I can improve my 'show-not-tell' problem, then the content of conversations will take care of itself. (It is also an obvious conceit for me to presume that the conversations related in my stories actually depict 'intelligence'.)
Still, I think the result of any progress in this regard will mean more 'doing' and less 'discussing', even if ‘talking’ is still involved.
Thanks for your perspective - it definitely helps.
Oh, and by the way, this post was submitted for The Friday Challenge named "Folk Tales of the Final Frontier":
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