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babybro
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Post How to write like J.R. Tolkien?
on: April 12, 2008 04:25
I've looked all over the web in an attempt to find tutorials to help try to write like jr tolkien, but no luck unfornately. The way that he describes the smallest detail without making it boring is astonding, and he has the best handle of old english I have ever read.

So when I say how to write like J.R> Tolkien, the first thing I am refering to his the old english. Is there any tutorials to help write in old english.

Secondly, how much detail is good enough before it becomes too boring. I have a horrible problem of putting too much detail into a scene. The reason for his is because I'm trying to create the best way possible to form a picture in someone's head. However, I have been told there is too much detail in the scene and gets boring.

JR tolkien provided awesome detail and to me, was never boring. What was his secret?
Electra_Calen
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Post RE: How to write like J.R. Tolkien?
on: April 15, 2008 08:51
Two words tension & structure. JRR was wondrous at both. The truth is, writing the way Tolkien did is actually unfavorable because his structure sees so off-balance. Much of his writing, the LOTR in particular is told so linearly that you have hundreds and hundreds of pages where you have no idea what is happening to other main and important characters. Generally (i.e.) writing 101 this would be considered bad. However it often works to Tolkien's advantage because the tension and suspense factor is amped up. Aside for that it's content. Tolkien created a facsinating world so his descriptions are not boring because you the reader wants to know more. It is much different from describing something in great detail that is common in our world. The descriptions of Rivendell, the Shire, Lorien, etc are not boring because you've never been there until he takes you there. And finally, all the creative writing classes in the world won't help if the writer can't tell a good story, and JRR can tell a darn good story. Also keep in mind that ME was his life's work. He knew this world inside & out and it took him years of revision, rethinking, etc to get it all the way he wanted. Time, effort and love of your "world" are the final ingredients.
As far as "how to write Old English" I'm not complete sure what you mean. The language or the structure of the wording? If you want to learn the language there are many sites, dictionaries and resources online to help. I suggest starting with Beowulf reading from a good translation & also reading it in the native language. Then have a look at the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Very interesting. However in the end I don't think a background in the language will be a means to the end as far as storytelling in Modern English. (Just my opinion of course)
I hope some of this helps or even makes sense...I tend to ramble sometimes.
babybro
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Post RE: How to write like J.R. Tolkien?
on: April 20, 2008 02:33
Sorry for the delay and thank you for your advice. What I was referring to was the way of his dialogue with individuals. Here is a few example taken from FotR

"It will have to be paid for.' they said, it isn't natural, and trouble will come of it."

Of course, in modern english, they would say.

"It isn't natural, and more likely would bring trouble."

2. "And as Mr. Baggins was generous with his money, Most people were willing to forgive him his good oddities and great forture."

In modern english.

"Most people were willing to look past his odd items and great forture."

Big difference in writing style I believe. So exactly how do you write in old english? Where are these websites you mention, as I have never heard of them. I haven't heard of any dictionaries either.
eyowen_the_queen
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Post RE: How to write like J.R. Tolkien?
on: September 14, 2008 03:48
I don't know of any sites of that sort, but my advice is, 1) read more works like that. I sugest the Scarlet Pimpernel, anything Tolkien, Beowulf and any translation of George Macdonald.
Secondly, practice. Look at how you can make something expanded, like you were writing for a professor or someone like that. Use 'better words', like instead of saying, "Don't trip over that bannana peel" you could use, "Lookout! There is an offencive object in your path that could cause you to stumble". Cheezy example, but you get the point.
My teacher has us make a banned word list, a commonly used word that has at least five other not-as-commonly-used words you could use in it's place. It's a very simple method that challenges you to think outside the box. Sorry if I rambled, let me know if I can be of any help to you!
Frodo~the~Second
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Post RE: How to write like J.R. Tolkien?
on: July 09, 2011 06:31
Read his works, immitate his works, but be careful not to copy him. Your style is your style with some influence. Am I right?

~Frodo (the Second)
coral
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Post Re: How to write like J.R. Tolkien?
on: March 21, 2012 08:34
I think Tolkien uses the word 'queer' very often... Use the words he used many times, like some old english words...
Estel Telcontar
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on: December 20, 2015 09:04
You better find your own style, unless you write Tolkien fanfic.
Gandolorin
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on: December 21, 2015 02:34
Even if you write fanfic, it will be your own style.

But what is meant by "write like J.R.R. Tolkien"?
Like The Hobbit? The Lord of The Rings? The Silmarillion? Farmer Giles of Ham? Smith of Wootton Major? The poems? The lectures?

There are two reasons I believe no one now can realistically hope to "write like J.R.R. Tolkien," assuming here that The Lord of The Rings is the style aimed for:

JRRT's background material on Middle-earth at the time of the writing. I seriously doubt that any author before or since had such a mass of then unpublished writing in the background to draw on and, more importantly, allude to. The events of the Third Age from 3001 (Bilbo's "eleventeenth" birthday) to 3021 (Bilbo, Frodo and the Three Keepers of the Great Elven Rings depart from Middle-earth) are only a small, if detailed, time-window in the history of Middle-earth, and JRRT manages to convey to some the immensity of the millennia stretching into the past. We're talking about 6500 years just for the Second and Third Ages, or more than 1500 years more than separate us from the first Egyptian dynasties.

JRRT's professional background is something no one can achieve anymore, since the course of studies he took as a student, and taught for decades, has disappeared, at least at the sub - masters or doctorate level. Add to that the fact that even contemporaries of JRRT's did not study all that he studied, nor did they arrive at some of the same conclusions when they studied the same material. He was idiosyncratic in some of his views, though practically always for deeply thought-through reasons. And last, he used his professional background in writing his books, "practiced what he preached" so to speak, which was again very rare for academics.
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