Series in Paint and Print

During my ongoing survey of art, I have sometimes come across artists who paint the same scene again and again, in varying light, seasons and viewing angles. It struck me that writers often do the same thing, either in the writing of series stories with a familiar cast of characters and setting, or in the writing of different stories that explore a favorite theme or topic again and again, or perhaps just by reusing patterns and stylistic techniques across their various books.

Painting by George Ames Aldrich

I suspect that both artists and writers do this for similar reasons. First being that they might well be a love of the subject, the scene, the locale, the world, the stylistic motif and/or the cast of characters. It may also be a comfortable way of exploring and developing a technique, isolating it from the subject by using it on a familiar subject again and again. Plus, I also suspect that both viewers and readers (and publishers) find these differences in the details of something familiar both interesting and comfortable as well. Plus, there may be commercial reasons for doing so as well, some genres almost demand that writers write very similar books.

Bridge of Flowers by George Ames  Aldrich

In painting, Monet's Rouen Cathedral series of at least a dozen paintings is one of the most famous series of paintings. In it Monet explores how light changes our perceptions. However I've chosen George Ames Aldrich's series of paintings of the bridge at Quimper (or Quimperie) to illustrate this little essay because while the general shape of the scene is maintained, he changes many of the little details - things like how he paints the houses across the river and how wide the steps alongside the river are. The distant landscape beyond the bridge also changes in each painting to suit the scene. Writers do similar things, taking the shape of a familiar story pattern, setting, and characters, and then slightly alter the plot, use new dialog, new characters and perhaps expand the world to make the new story different enough while keeping its familiar feeling. 

The Bridge at Quimper by George Ames Aldrich

The  example in writing that inspired me to write this little essay is P. G. Wodehouse's Blandings Castle books. They feature the same setting and many of the same characters, or perhaps more accurately, many same and many similar characters, with similar story lines, like forbidden love, lack of money, and guests as imposters both benign and comically sinister. And then there is his unique writing style common to every story. What makes them interesting is how the plot, though familiar-ish, differs in the details as well as on a line by line, sentence level. And how, though the happy outcome is known to the reader from the pattern, it is finally arrived at.

Bridge at Quimperie by George Ames Aldrich

There are many other examples of authors returning again to familiar characters and familiar plots. I've mentioned the Stephanie Plum series as one where the author uses a formula to write the story - the premise, the title character that never gets better at her job, her helper, her love triangle, and her Grannie... all make their expected appearances. Perhaps less formulistic, but still familiar are the Louise Penny books that my wife looks forward to each fall. Indeed, mysteries almost always have their own familiar patterns, it is a feature of the genre. This true of many famous fantasies as well. And, then there are all those author-published romance, thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy series books on Amazon.

George Ames Aldrich (couldn't find its title)

In writing, as well as painting, there are more subtle ways of exploring different themes or subjects than just copying the same scene or using the same plot formula. One can use a familiar technique or style to present a different looking work of art or an entirely different story, that may still speak to a common theme. Different motifs and plot lines can be employed to address a favorite theme from different angles. And on a larger scale, it may be style and voice that provides the familiar elements across the artist's work, i.e. all Monet's work can be seen as a long series of impressionist paintings, just as stylistic elements tie all of Stephen King's books together.

The Flower Bridge, Quimperie by George Ames Aldrich

One such stylistic choice of mine, a common motif that I think may provide a familiar element in differing stories, is that since Beneath the Lanterns, I have written my first person narrator as a "Watson." That is to say, the narrator is merely the story's driving force character's sidekick, someone who sets out an account of what the mover & shaker of the story accomplishes. There is no particularity artistic reason for me to do this, it is simply that I am not a mover & shaker sort of person, so that by giving that role to a character in whose thought process is simply easier; I don't have to invent and describe the process in any detail. Instead, I can have them just explain their their motivations - or not - without describing all the messy mental work of arriving at them. I think that this point of view defines how the story reads, and thus, is an important element of my author "voice." Indeed, even Captain Litang in The Bright Black Sea starts out that way, and somewhat reluctantly evolves to be the decision maker a captain needs to be. And even then, in The Lost Star's Sea, he still often takes a back seat to companions who are more familiar with the world than he. 

Venetian Bridge by George Ames Aldrich

Of course, there can be much deeper themes and patterns within stories that an author might return to again and again that a casual reader may not discern. In this case the patterns might well be nestled deeper within the stories than the dissimilarities of the stories would suggest. Comfortable familiarity is often far from the aim of many writers. And well, this is what I suspect master of fine arts programs set out to teach. 

Still, while I am not a master of the fine arts, I think that I can say that most viewers and reader like a mix of the familiar with the unfamiliar. They will quickly get bored with the same old, same old, but they are also often reluctant to try something completely new as well. In art, viewers may not want to see the same subject painted over and over again in the same way, but as I have suggested they may well be a fan of an artist because of their familiar style regardless of the subject. And the same can be said of writers. Often it is the favorite elements of a writer's style that will keep readers coming back for different stories.

Untitled by George Ames Aldrich

So, in the end, there limits to both originality and repetition. Artists of all kinds and mediums, be it paint, words, music, etc. must, if they want commercial success, find and work within those lines of audience acceptance, as vague as they are - even as they often strive to push them out just a little more.