"Art is to console those who are broken by life." - Vincent van Gogh

Awe, or wonder, is an essential aspect of a healthy human life. Characterized by a feeling of surprise and admiration, wonder is caused by something inspiring, beautiful, unexpected, or inexplicable. Without a sense of wonder, along with experiencing the feeling itself, we can start to emotionally and mentally decay. Often, we would look to nature to inspire wonder. But with over 50% of the world's population living in cities, where natural beauty is getting harder and harder to find, where can we find sources of wonder? In the first installment of the Wonder and the Writer's Craft essay series, I propose art as a source of wonder and 'a support system for life' (to butcher a quote from Stephen King). However, as an author, my interest lies in the written word, rather than in the visual and performing arts, as interesting and awe-inspiring as those are. The craft of writing, especially in writing science fiction and fantasy, gives us a unique venue for experiencing wonder, so important to our human wellbeing.

Art is the main venue for wonder in today's world. Of course, you have visual art and music, accessible through the internet, thanks respectively to online art museums or streaming services like Spotify. Performing arts like theatre are more difficult to access, but this essay isn't about the elitism associated with theatre, especially of the musical sort. Writing , is more accessible than theatre, but potentially less accessible than visual art, considering literature is often hidden behind a paywall. Still, libraries are common, both analog and digital. Also consider: the national reading level in the USA is between a 7th and 8th grade level, according to the Literacy Project. This makes reading a less accessible medium, so, with such a medium, why is the writer's craft so important and essential to sparking wonder?

To answer this, we first need to remind ourselves of the reasons we learn to read in the first place. Reading is one of the first skills we learn in kindergarten. Any teacher will emphasize the role of reading in comprehension, exercising your brain muscles, developing imagination skills, and overall becoming an educated individual. But before we can read something, someone has to write it. Writing, when done well, is accessible to many, with the goal of being accessible to all (though I struggle with balancing that goal and including complex elements of craft, such as theme or advanced writing techniques). We don't all need to be eloquent writers, but we do need to be developed readers, if we want to experience wonder through reading.

The focus of this essay, though, is not on the writer's craft as a whole, but rather, as it specifically relates to science fiction and fantasy (SFF). SFF provides an escape from our world into a world more fantastical and exciting. The SFF genre is uniquely suited to inspire wonder in ways other genres are not necessarily equipped to do the same. Look at the immersive worldbuilding of Marissa Meyer, the stellar magic systems of Brandon Sanderson, and the endearing characters of TJ Klune.

Furthermore, SFF stretches your soul, as I like to think of it. To stretch one's soul is to grow in a way that forces us to expand our mindset or emotional range. When we read SFF, we are able to engage with big ideas in a more productive way. This is partly due to the fact that they are ensconced in metaphor and allegory, which make the big ideas easier to digest.

In short, reading is a gateway to awe-inspiring worlds. the writer's craft creates the gateway by means of wonderful worldbuilding, majestic magic systems, and compelling characters, even though it can be a struggle to balance accessibility with complex craft features such as theme. SFF is uniquely matched to the challenge of invoking wonder, thanks to the required aforementioned elements. Through reading SFF, we are invited to experience wonder in a world where sources of wonder are few and far between.