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| J.R.R. Tolkien |
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| C.S. Lewis |
In The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin makes the case that by associating with other creative people a person can positively influence their own ability to create. In the chapter “The Art Habit,” Rubin describes how being around someone else who is a creative, no matter what their field, can provide perspective to one’s own work. Forming friendships and community with other creative people provides the benefits of commentary from different voices, the opportunity to collaborate, and others who can review and give suggestions towards an artist’s creative work. Rubin further notes that others provide the benefit of diversity of thought, while also providing the comfort and reassurance of a group that is “like-minded” regarding the value of the act of creating.
One historical example of a productive relationship between two great creatives is the famous friendship between authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Tolkien is best known for his books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a fantasy book series that still has massive influence over contemporary fantasy storytelling. Very similarly, Lewis is best known for his own massively famous fantasy novel series, The Chronicles of Narnia.
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| The Lord of the Rings |
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| The Chronicles of Narnia |
The pair first met in 1926 at Oxford University while both were faculty members in the English department. The eventual friendship which resulted would continue in various forms for more than 30 years, until Lewis’s death in 1963. Both men would become members of a creative writing group of academics at Oxford called The Inklings, where the two would share their works for discussion and criticism. While the pair of authors are noted as not always sharing the same preferences regarding storytelling, Lewis was instrumental in helping Tolkien with The Lord of the Rings. The pair would discuss the books as Tolkien wrote them, with Lewis offering commentary to help Tolkien focus his ideas.
The pair did not adopt a similar work pattern while Lewis wrote his own famous fantasy series. However, Tolkien provided Lewis support when rediscovering his Christian faith, a philosophy that would exercise influence over his fiction work and non-fiction theological writings, like The Abolition of Man.
Sources:
https://www.clarendonhousebooks.com/single-post/the-friendship-of-tolkien-and-lewis
https://www.crossway.org/articles/the-birth-of-narnia-and-why-tolkien-hated-it/
Images:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LOTR_on_Prime/comments/102fge8/happy_131st_birthday_to_jrr_tolkien_photo/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/C-S-Lewis
https://childrensbooks.fandom.com/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1186866245/lord-of-the-rings-trilogy-paperback
Hi Danny!
ReplyDeleteRick Rubin makes a very compelling statement about associating with other creative people, and the relationship between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien is a great example of that. A true collaboration is when people are able to offer different perspectives, bounce ideas off of each other, and share creative processes. I am reading “The Creative Spark” by Agustin Fuentes, and he argues that collaboration plays a huge part in human creativity and their creative processes by allowing us to solve problems together and advance as a society. I found it so fascinating that Tolkien was able to help Lewis while rediscovering his Christian faith, which had some influence over his writings. Their friendship really proves that who you are is the people you surround yourself with.