The Saga, Part II

So, we’re talking sagas again. The long story of heroic achievement. What if Luke Skywalker found some droids, learned to use the force, and then beat Darth Vader with his light saber?  Short, sweet, to the point, and good beats evil, end of story. Why does that story fall flat with us?

I think it’s the struggle. Conflict is one thing, but a long term struggle is another. Most sagas depict a war between good and evil, right and wrong, love and love lost, etc . . . What makes a saga resonate is the series of battles, one after another. Just when we think the hero will triumph, something else stands in his way. In fact, it seems the entire world is standing in his way.

Think about someone you know who has faced a difficulty and then gone on to inspire you. If you told me about that person’s journey, I might be interested and tell you it’s a good story. But if I knew that person well, watched him grow up, knew how his personality traits affect his reactions to various situations, it would be a different story. The tragedies and triumphs become much more graphic and magnified for me, knowing what this man is like and how these events would have affected him emotionally, socially, professionally, as well as physically.

I think that’s the benefit of the saga. It takes you deeper. Sometimes way deeper. My dad used to love reading James Michener. I remember one particular book called The Source (and I’m speaking from second-hand knowledge only here, I haven't read it). My dad told me the book went all the way back to the beginning of the people of Israel, and traced them through hundreds of generations to the modern day. Now, that might be an extreme case of “backstory,” but then again, everyone I’ve spoken to who read the book has loved it.

As a writer, the challenge is to write a story with enough detail to make it rich, but not so much the story gets dragged into the depths of dull. 

Do you prefer the deep, richly detailed tale, or a "Just the facts, ma'am" approach? Why? What's your favorite example?