inspiration.

I just finished Mockingjay a couple of nights ago, even though rightfully I should have been doing homework instead of plowing my way through one of the most impressive series I've ever read.  I could fill this post with spoilers, but I'm not going to; I'd rather have people actually go read the trilogy.  I've actually been pushing it in the general direction of a lot of people.  Most of these people - to their own loss - have been ignoring me.

The writing style really struck me as I read the trilogy.  At first, I didn't like it.  It was first person.  It wasn't first person present, though, so I didn't hate it.  I got over my frustration with that pretty quickly, though.  I began to notice the setting and the characters.  The descriptions weren't too much, though.  They were enough.  Enough to spark my imagination.  Collins said "electric fence" and from there I created the interior of the coal-mining town that was District 12.  She described the clothes that Katniss was wearing, but only when it was important and related to Cinna.  It wasn't over-detailed, like some aspiring authors do, and it's wasn't brand specific (it couldn't be, of course).  Nobody could feel out-of-the-loop about her descriptions.  I think that's really important.

Her plot was mind blowing.  I keep saying "it's just a distopia book" and it is... but at the same time, it isn't.  I really want to go back and re-evaluate 'Tweens now.  I want to look at my characters and make sure they're flawed.  I want to describe more.  I want to pinpoint specific references to popular culture and eliminate them.

I want to make my stories very real.  Fantasy enough that the reader can step out of them, but real enough so they cannot forget.

Something that really stirs people....

I still want to be a writer. I don't think that urge will ever cease.

I know that I will never write an arousing novel, the type of work that makes people squirm with excitement, the type of thing that will glue people to the pages. These day, that is more of a challenge than ever. J.K. Rowling did it. Stephanie Meyers did it. I don't believe I have that sort of sway. I don't have an original story.

Isaac said something interesting Tuesday night that I've been thinking about. I have read a lot of vampire stuff lately, well, not so much lately, but the last novels I have read have all been vampire novels. There are so many different takes on vampires. Laurell K. Hamilton made vampires into succubi, etc. Terry Pratchett tries to make them sophisticated in his own charming way. Simmons makes them murderers. But what Isaac said lies closest to Anne Rice and, naturally, the founder of vampricism, Bram Stoker. Vampires are mysterious. They are rapists, in a way, but not for the sake of raping, but a need to grow and survive. They love, like humans do, but they cannot express it beyond obsession due to the carnal nature that has bred within them. We cannot understand their motives and thoughts because we live our lives based on emotion, but they are beyond emotion - they are fueled by passion and and obsession.

Just something I can think about I guess.

I'll never be able to write a successful story without a plotline.