“And
all the time he taps he is asking himself, Is there anyone out there
listening? Can they hear me? Do
they understand?” Mollie Hunter
In
her essay, “Talent Is Not Enough”, Mollie Hunter says that a writer is like a
person locked in a cell for life, who learns things they desperately want to
convey and develops a code to tap out the messages on the wall of the cell.
She
points out that “the range of a child’s
emotion has the same extent as that of an adult, and all the child lacks, by
comparison, is the vocabulary to match his range.” Often in children’s books I’ve found
that there is superficiality. Instead of dealing with deep emotion with
respect, it is stereotyped. That same lack of connection can occur in all other
genres and audiences as well.
The
books that resonate are the ones that take both pain and joy and treat them
honestly. Why are true emotions so often avoided? Is it because, as writers, we
ourselves have not learned to come to grips with the emotions that result? Or
it’s too difficult to cross the chasm of vocabulary to make the connections in
clear simple language?
That
same concern can work in reverse, when trying to establish a symbol or theme in
our world building. How do we find the one word, or phrase that will capture
the essence of the theme or emotion or question? How then do we bring this same clarity and simplicity to
fiction without the story itself becoming simplistic? We need to find the right
words in all genres.
Action
Steps:
1. Download a copy of a visual image of a
stained glass window and use it as a personal map over the next several weeks,
or year. Fill in an interest choice for each space and then prepare to read/write
journals, vignettes, or poems for at least a week in each category you have
chosen.
Some examples: music, memories, special
moments, secrets, smells, photographs, hiding places, family, friends, movies,
house, room, back yard, and your favorite sport.
2. For this week choose one key category for
yourself.
3. Then take one of the emotions you
connected with and apply a similar code to your hero or heroine.
Share:
What could you choose from your list for your protagonist’s personal map that
no one else knows about?
Read deep, marcy
Absolutely love this, Marcy! Write honestly and from the heart is perhaps one of the hardest things to do, and to do it with such grace and tenderness...
ReplyDeleteSo very true! Thanks for your encouragement, Tisha. :)
ReplyDelete