But if you wanted to go on from the end The Hobbit I think the ring would be your inevitable choice as the link. If then you wanted a larger tale, the Ring would at once acquire a capital letter; and the Dark Lord would immediately appear. As he did, unasked, on the hearth at Bag End as soon as I came to that point. So the essential quest started at once. But I met a lot of things on the way that astonished me.
The above statement above is a quote from a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien to W.H. Auden on June 7, 1955. It is part of The Tolkein Estate records (Letter 163) which you can view online at https://www.tolkienestate.com
For some of us nerdier Tolkienites, the letters Tolkien wrote to fans are extremely interesting and often give insight into his mindset at different periods of his writing career. And as aspiring authors, we take solace in knowing the internal struggles legendary authors faced when creating their massive works of art.
Looking back on the creation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Tolkien came to recognize how the things he wrote sometimes astonished him.
I can relate.
I have written on several occasions about how The Crystal Crux Series started as a very short story with few details that went quickly from point A to point B to point C and was done. And now, years later, it became a five-book series which I am really proud to have written. And it didn’t come without a lot of revelation.
Tom Bombadil I knew already; but I had never been to Bree. Strider sitting in the comer at the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he was than had Frodo. The Mines of Moria had been a mere name; and of Lothlorien no word had reached my mortal ears till I came there. Far away I knew there were Horse-lords on the confines of an ancient Kingdom of Men, but Fangorn Forest was an unforeseen adventure. I had never heard of the House of Eorl nor of the Stewards of Gondor. Most disquieting of all, Saruman had never been revealed to me, and I was as mystified as Frodo at Gandalf’s failure to appear on September 22.
I can only imagine how troubled authors of the past would be with AI technology today, especially scholars like Tolkien. Too many people today who lack the skills and dedication to doggedly read, research, write, edit and grow a story from its foundation, want to publish books.
What they really want is to make money without effort. And they want to bypass the beauty of the craft.
There is no revelation in their hearts or minds.
One of the most delightful parts about being an author, about writing a book, is the wonder that comes with opening new doors.
Many of the characters and places that exist now in The Crystal Crux Series were not invented or even thought of when I first started. And now these people and places are as real to me as many memories of my personal life.
I formed them. I made them. I breathed life into them.
People who take shortcuts to writing and use AI programs to develop and write their stories are missing out on the personal satisfaction of knowing a light stirred inside of them and became life.
I had no idea when I first started that Gherardus Fabbro and his brothers would accidentally kill their mother while trying to assassinate their father.
I had no idea that Rugerius Fabbro was involved with his promiscuous cousin, Viridian, who is a survivor of a dragon-cult.
I had no idea that Pero de Alava and Francis Whitehall first met on tourney grounds, where Francis saved Pero’s life.
I had no idea that Anthea Manikos was supposed to wed Rugerius Fabbro, but the arranged marriage took a terrible turn, and Pero discovered her weeping in a chapel.
The Sanctuary Prison.
The Blue Grotto.
Eliade.
None of it.
These places didn’t exist until I found a reason to create them. Or as Francis Whitehall might say, “You can’t find a thing until it is meant to be found.”
That is the beauty of being an artist, an artist of any kind. Write. Draw. Paint. Sculpt. Music.
Not all art is good. Not all art is great.
But creating art is not about the audience.
It’s about you the artist.
It’s about removing a sliver of light from your heart and putting this valuable piece of your soul on display.
Take the Ents, for instance. I did not consciously invent them at all. The chapter called “Treebeard”… was written off more or less as it stands, with an effect on myself (except for labour pains) almost like reading someone else’s work. And I like Ents now because they do not seem to have anything to do with me. I daresay something had been going on in the ‘unconscious’ for some time, and that accounts for my feeling throughout, especially when stuck, that I was not inventing but reporting (imperfectly) and had at times to wait till ‘what really happened’ came through.
I’ve experienced this when writing. Sometimes I finish some part of the story and when I re-read it, I wonder where it came from, where the inspiration for that arrived. And it seems like someone else wrote it.
Sometimes I feel it may sound too good to have been written by me.
But I believe that is the author’s unconscious thoughts bubbling to the surface.
In order to write, to truly write, an author has to disconnect from everything else in life for a while. An author must disconnect from family and friends. No phones or tv. No interruptions.
For me, I sit at my desk with my aquariums around me and listen to instrumental music. It can be ballads, symphonies or rock music. It doesn’t matter. It just has to be an instrumental.
An author leaves this world to go and live in their character’s world. And while the author is there, they do as Tolkien did and walk around the streets of Bree.
You report what you’ve seen and heard. The odors. The feelings you experienced.
You enter the Mines of Moria.
For me, I had walk inside the stone walls of the keep at Capua, both before and after the siege.
I had to enter Eagles Pass with Pero and his escorts.
I had to run from the creatures of the night that were giving chase. I had to feel the chill on my arms
I had to be chained down to a stone chair in the Blue Grotto beside Anthea and suffer the humiliation she experienced at the hands of her captors.
I had to walk through the woods of despair with Francis knowing I left my murdered family behind.
And I had to bear the weight of the rage Pero was carrying when he felt betrayed not only by his powerful overlord, but by God Himself.
Sadly, people taking advantage of other people’s art and using it, manipulating it and molding it for their own personal purposes is not new.
But AI has taken this theft to a new awful level.
I hope future authors resist the urge to cheat, to take shortcuts, to use AI prompts to get themselves unstuck or develop entire stories to meet deadlines.
Oftentimes when an author is stuck, it’s not about forcing the issue and writing just to write something.
Sometimes it’s about waiting for the path to reveal itself.
The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.
– Leo Tolstoy
We live in a world where time is always of the essence, and people convince themselves they are getting behind if they don’t hurry up. They believe they got to hustle. They have to be driven and focused. Impatient. Eager. Headstrong. Greedy. Ambitious. Unyielding.
But they miss the beauty of the journey.
Gherardus sneered. “Time is wasting? How many times have I heard those words? Time is wasting. So be it. Impatient men are monsters. Headstrong fools without mercy, civility and tolerance. Mark my words, son, all the evil done in this world has been done by fools like this one.” – Excerpt from The Crystal Crux Series – Betrayal
Gherardus Fabbro knows all too well of what he speaks because he is an impatient monster at his core. Gherardus is just too old now to be as hectic and headstrong as he once was.
When he was young, his ambitions drove him to do awful things in order to get ahead, to get the throne and to keep it.
A man’s heart deviseth his way; but Yahweh directeth his steps.’
– Proverbs 16:9
In the end, I believe, a patient person will always find the path he or she is supposed to walk, not the one he or she wants to walk. And this journey through life will be beautiful.
And if you are writing a story, the story you are meant to write will be revealed to you if you take the time to explore the world and characters you want to write about.
Writing is not something that should be rushed.
It can only be rushed if you’re willing to take shortcuts, ignore the beauty, and cheat.
Until next time, keep reading and stay inspired.
Allen M Werner is the author of the epic dark fantasy story The Crystal Crux Series.
Author Allen M Werner 
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