Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Eternal Sunshine of the Imaginative Mind

Wait, that's not the title of that movie...oh well. I like my title better. :P Today, we're continuing Sparkfest (which can be found at Christine's blog). As I mentioned before, my obssession with books began at a very young age. I was reading well above my grade level, so I encountered most books before my friends, a fact which was completely illustrated by my play.

I read a lot of adventure stories as a kid. My dad was in the military, so we moved around a lot and got to see lots of new places. I guess I always identified more with the adventurer types for that reason, even though I was incredibly shy and not particularly brave. My parents could always tell what I'd been reading by how I played.

The year that Island of the Blue Dolphins became my favorite, my brothers and I spent a lot of time climbing trees and hoarding the rocks from the little rock garden under our backyard hose (I didn't know what abalone looked like, but I thought the rocks were pretty close, and that was all we could eat when playing Island of the Blue Dolphins).

The year I read Treasure Island, we drew our own maps and hid "treasures" in the giant dirt pile in our backyard. I even insisted that we include a treasure hunt in the activities for my birthday party that year (much to the delight of all my friends).

As I got a little older, I started reading Harry Potter and Tamora Pierce's Tortall books. I still loved adventure, but fantasy was taking over my imagination. I started telling my brothers that I could do magic (which they believed in their little brother naivete), and spent a lot of time having conversations with myself in an English accent. Don't judge me. ;)

The moral of this story? Imagination is a very powerful thing, and the books we read as children have a huge impact on the kinds of stories we imagine. Most of the stories I write include a considerable amount of both magic and adventure, both of which I absorbed like a sponge in my formative years. Don't be afraid to play, even as an adult. Just look at it this way: you're building a life skill. :)

Happy writing!

J

8 comments:

  1. Hello there, I came by to say hello from the campaigners.

    Little brothers rock! You can tell them anything :)

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  2. I agree! I didn't read a lot of fantasy as a child, and although I enjoy it now--I'm not able to insert myself into the world as easily as I can with dystopian or science fiction (which I read a lot when younger).

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  3. Great post! Fellow Campaigner stopping by to say hi!

    Also, I love your profile. :)

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  4. @Sarah: Little brothers are good for lots of things, namely dressing up like dolls and blaming whenever anything gets broken. :P

    @Heidi: It's funny how that happens, isn't it? :)

    @Golden Eagle: Why, thank you! :D

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  5. I love to play! And I will enjoy getting to know you here, my fellow Campaigner ^_^

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  6. Everything sounds so much cooler in an English accent, for sure.
    I look forward to campaigning together!

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  7. My english accent usually shows up when I'm cleaning. All of the sudden some nanny from london starts scolding me in my head for being such a piglet. It often ends up out loud. I'm so happy to find someone else who has this neurosis.

    Tamora Pierce is incredible. Alanna's series was my very very favorite.

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Now that you took the time to read my message, let's see what you have to say! Unless it's mean...then you can just keep it to yourself. :)