Are you writing the story? Or writing what has already been written?
This phenomenon of the author acting as a witness or discoverer of an unfolding truth is a central pillar of J.R.R. Tolkien’s philosophy of creation. He often spoke of his work not as "invention" in the modern sense, but as a labor of recording a history that already existed in a higher plane of reality.
Sub-creation and the Secondary World
The primary term Tolkien coined for this process is Sub-creation. He articulated this most famously in his essay On Fairy-Stories. He believed that because humanity is created in the image of a Creator, we have a derivative right to create. We do not create "ex nihilo" (out of nothing), but rather we rearrange the "Primary Reality" of God's creation to build a Secondary World.
When a sub-creator is successful, the work attains the "inner consistency of reality." At this point, the world becomes so structurally sound that the author no longer dictates the terms; they must follow the internal logic of the world itself.
The Author as "Recorder"
Tolkien frequently used the term "Reportage" or described his work as "History" to explain the feeling of discovery. He did not feel he was making things up; he felt he was "waiting to see what happened next."
Regarding the specific sensation of discovery, Tolkien used several evocative descriptions:
- The Unfolding Vista: He often said he felt like a traveler or a historian "looking at a distant landscape" that became clearer as he approached.
- The Sensation of Memory: He once wrote that he felt he was "not inventing but describing, and I have sometimes had the strange sense that I was recording what was already 'there', somewhere."
- Philological Discovery: For Tolkien, the "seeds" of the story were often names or words. He would "discover" a name—like Eärendel—and then feel compelled to find out what that person's story actually was.
Related Concepts in Literature and Philosophy
- Emanationism: A philosophical concept where the story flows out from a central source or "seed" (in Tolkien's case, the languages), and the author simply follows the stream.
- The Muse / Divine Enthusiasm: In the Classical sense, this is furor poeticus—the idea that the poet is "possessed" by a spirit or a truth greater than themselves.
- Archetypal Discovery: Jungian psychology suggests that writers tap into the Collective Unconscious, "discovering" universal symbols and narratives that already exist in the human psyche.
Tolkien’s experience with Strider at the Prancing Pony is the most famous example of this. He originally thought the figure in the corner was a "wild hobbit" named Trotter who wore wooden shoes. It was only through the process of writing that he "discovered" the figure was actually Aragorn, the heir of Isildur. He was as surprised by the revelation as Frodo was.