Utopian fiction

[Mira]

Really? You're ruthlessly commercial? Uh oh. I'm ruthlessly artistic.

Hmmmmm. Well, you know what that means?

We should write a book together. We've got both side covered. We can alternate chapters. I'll write utopian fiction, and you can unravel it. It will be fun!

[Holly]

Lol. Oh ye of little faith.

I'm thinking about this, and I think the tension comes from the difference between a utopia and our current society.

After four brain-burning days of illustrations (published novels and student work), I can say I am 100% convinced that tension comes from human emotion, never inherently from a situation or an action. The problem with utopian settings that really are utopian is that there is nothing for the reader to worry about. It is conceivable that even in a utopian society, interpersonal conflict would exist (love triangles spring to mind), but it removes the possibility of added tension of life going horribly wrong. The job. The environment. The economy. The pressures of an imperfect society. Readers, above all, must be made to worry for the characters they love. Taking away pressures is a big gamble. You would have to rely very heavily on just interpersonal conflict without the pressure cooker of an imperfect stage. (Been through this with an agent.)

But, hey, as a writing experiment...if you wanna...you wanna.

Great post, Margo.

[Mira]

Holly, I agree. I got a bit defensive there, but after all I asked! That was the whole post of this post, right.

I think Margo's pretty smart. It's interesting to talk to her about writing - I didn't realize she had so much experience.

[Holly]

Holly, I agree. I got a bit defensive there, but after all I asked! That was the whole post of this post, right.

I think Margo's pretty smart. It's interesting to talk to her about writing - I didn't realize she had so much experience.

Sorry, Mira, but I was a drive-by poster. I didn't read the whole conversation. When I skimmed it just now, it looks like you both put a lot of thought into it and both had good points.

[Mira]

Holly - thanks! I like debate. It's fun. It's great to find someone who is willing to sink their teeth into a subject.

[Margo]

I think Margo's pretty smart.

Exxxxxxcellent. My plan is working.

[Mira]

Ah ha! I knew it! World domination. You're plotting to take over the world starting with these forums. I should have seen it Margo, all the signs are there.

[steve]

The new issue of Bookforum has it right.

[J. T. SHEA]

Margotopia= complete freedom, but cliches punishable by DEATH!

[Margo]

Margotopia= complete freedom, but cliches punishable by DEATH!

Oh, no, I'm so the evil overlord type.
cliches=death
bookisms=death
adverbs=death
two adjectives modifying one noun=death
driving under the speed limit in the passing lane=death
parking oversize vehicles in compact spaces=death
failing to laugh at South Park=death
littering=death
greeting anyone with, "Yo, dawg"=death
cheering for the Celtics=death

And those are just the infractions. >:)

[J. T. SHEA]

I'd be dead half-a-dozen times over if I was human. Good thing I'm a cat who laughs at South Park. Meow!

[jfw]

You might want to take a look at "Walden Two" by BF Skinner. I've never read it but it was very popular on college campuses in the 1960s.

[Mira]

Cool - thanks for the suggestion!

[Quill]

Interesting, many of seek a peaceful world and many of us aspire to (the Utopia called) Heaven, but when it comes to reading, the more conflict the better. Chaos and dysfunction (forms of Hell) are required in fiction and eschewed in real life.

[AnimaDictio]

I agree that a boring Utopia would anger or irritate the reader. But you can use that! How about writing a story about people who live in a Utopia that's perfect for them because they're all a bunch of milquetoasts but there is one guy with a different personality, a person with whom the reader can relate, who is just bored to death and is irritated by all niceties and peace. Our protagonist can be the villain who just wants some freaking tension sometimes.

That story idea works because, to a human being, a boring Utopia is not really a Utopia at all. Utopia is supposed to be without evil of any kind. That includes pain or misery. Boredom is evil. It brings misery. I imagine that in the real Heaven there will be work to do, because I feel most fulfilled after I've accomplished something great. Why would that change in the next life? A soul is a soul, right? I believe that the human soul is designed to accomplish (build, create, express) and to love. If Heaven is supposed to be the ultimate fulfillment of the soul, when the caterpillar becomes the butterfly, there should be much work to do. There should be much music and teaching and writing because those are the things my soul cries out for.

There is inherent drama in the desire to create, in the process of accomplishing something. I can imagine writing a drama or a comedy about dueling artists in Utopia. There's also political drama in trying to maintain a Utopia. There can be conflict between differing ideas of Utopia. One guy can say, "we can do this even better," while the others are saying, "No, this is good enough."

Finally, I can imagine much drama in the process of growth. Are you inspired by "Stand and Deliver" or "Dangerous Minds" or "Dead Poets Society"? There can be growth in Utopia, like in those movies.

Imagine that everyone in Utopia is happy but not everyone is equal. Some are richer than others. Some people have very little capacity for enjoyment and experience, while others have great capacity. For example, you will meet a toddler's capacity if you place him on the kitchen floor with pots and a spoon. He will joyfully bang that spoon against those pots. But those pots and spoon would not meet the capacity of a 13-yr old. He will want video games, which are more expensive. Conceivably, the thirteen year old is richer. His video games are worth more than pots and a spoon. But is the 13-yr old happier than the toddler? Not really. Or how about the 21-yr old? He will want a girlfriend. Video games don't quite fulfill his heart in the way a woman does. But a 13-yr old wouldn't know what to do with a woman. Neither would a toddler. They all have different capacities, therefore they are all equally happy with different riches. Now imagine that the 21-yr old wants to teach the 13-yr old about women. He wants the 13-yr old to grow up and increase his capacity for enjoyment. He wants the 13-yr old to know more about the world. Bam! You got some drama right there.