Integrity

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Abstract

makes for story integrity.</p><p id="5a03">Of course, Integrity as a fictional element can also include the integrity of the author as well: how honest are they? Is the book written because it urgently needed to be written (and subsequently read), or is it just another potboiler, slapped together for a quick (or not so quick) buck?</p><p id="ea4e">John Gardner once said that a good novel gives you the feeling that you’re onto something, and this thirst for truth drives you forward in the narrative as much as the plot itself. To me, such a novel cannot be written by a false author, the writer’s integrity must shine through the narrative.</p><p id="b649">Tolkien’s <i>Lord of the Rings</i> shines with integrity, as does Mervyn Peake’s <i>Gormenghast Trilogy</i>. Any of Nadeem Aslam’s novels likewise — they are all whole and they all needed to be written, not for reward or recompense but because the stories had to be told and had to be read.</p><p id="df01">That is Integrity at work.</p><p id="8809">© Wolfstuff</p><div id="1e66" class="link-block"> <a href="http:

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//wolfstuff.com"> <div> <div> <h2>Wolfstuff</h2> <div><h3>So, who am I? Really really. I could tell you that I was born in northern Sweden during a snow storm, and subsequently…</h3></div> <div><p>wolfstuff.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*gtfh_PQT1XeZjXMb)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="1e92" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/elements-of-fiction-82c23d4b847a"> <div> <div> <h2>Elements of Fiction</h2> <div><h3>Table of Contents</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*l4SyLpw4iOlp85BIHxRSNw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

An Element of Fiction

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Apparently, not many writers have pondered Integrity as a fictional element. I have though, and these are my thoughts.

Integrity is the wholeness of the story. No incongruous bits sticking out. No gratuitous sex or violence (that does not belong or truly develop character or forward the plot). No gaps or holes. It makes the story whole. It makes the story honest.

If form, as Brooks and Warren point out, is “the total principle of organization and affects every aspect of composition,” then integrity is the result.

Or as Saint Augustine (of all unlikely people) once pointed out, “A note out of tune does not belong.” You cannot put it more sweetly.

John Gardner put it this way, “Use no story gear that does not turn something.” Again, that makes for story integrity.

Of course, Integrity as a fictional element can also include the integrity of the author as well: how honest are they? Is the book written because it urgently needed to be written (and subsequently read), or is it just another potboiler, slapped together for a quick (or not so quick) buck?

John Gardner once said that a good novel gives you the feeling that you’re onto something, and this thirst for truth drives you forward in the narrative as much as the plot itself. To me, such a novel cannot be written by a false author, the writer’s integrity must shine through the narrative.

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings shines with integrity, as does Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast Trilogy. Any of Nadeem Aslam’s novels likewise — they are all whole and they all needed to be written, not for reward or recompense but because the stories had to be told and had to be read.

That is Integrity at work.