Simplicity vs. sophistication in mystical fiction, part 2

Is the goal to impress readers or inspire them?

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Part 1 of this post, after looking at the question of what “attunement to modern times” means for mystical realism in fiction, discussed the important of touching the heart where inspiring readers is concerned. Here in part 2 we look at complexity as an obstacle to that inspiration and then consider what such simplicity might look like in practice.

Bambo, Naomi, and Cicero enjoying the Palace of Knossos, Crete, April 2023.

(A note about the photo here. Part 1 spoke about childlike simplicity, and I must admit to a lifelong love of cute stuffed animals, especially as I don’t have good pet karma. The bunny in the middle, Naomi, has been my travel companion since the mid-1990s and has been to every continent except Antarctica. Cicero, the stuffed chickadee, belongs to my son and—this is his character—loves studying ancient languages like Latin and Greece, hence his full name, Cicero Aristotle Augustine. They accompanied us to Greece and Egypt in 2023 and we took opportunities to photograph them at various sites. While we were doing this at the Palace of Knossos on Crete, an Italian couple nearby exclaimed, “Oh, you have one too?” They proceeded to reveal Bambo, the panda, whom they’d acquired at the San Diego Zoo for the same purpose. We all thought it was sweet to capture a moment of making new friends.)

Complexity as an obstacle to inspiration

When seeking to write spiritually inspiring stories, as discussed in Part 1, simplicity is the doorway to touching and inspiring the hearts of readers.

Of course, if your goal as writer (or musician or artist) is not to inspire people but to impress literary critics, then you should weave as much complexity as you can into your stories and give critics and readers alike an intellectual challenge of trying to figure out what it all means.¹