I seem to be focussing lots on the values of children’s media recently. Why? Well, for one thing, it deserves to be seen as important, but a much more personally groundbreaking reason, as well.
I think that writing for children might be the thing I’ll devote my life to!
I’ve always wanted to tell stories, and for a while I only wrote children’s stuff. Granted, I was a child then myself, but once I told others about my vast, epic (mary-sue driven) stories, they immediately told me I ought to be writing novels. Before then, I had been writing picture books and had tried writing short chapter-book series.
My young-writer brain decided that novels meant writing for adults and subsequently was a much more important and challenging task. Since then, I have thankfully discovered that writing is equally as important and difficult regardless of whether your target audience is children or adults.
Incidentally, I just recently went to a panel about Children’s media which mentioned how target audiences are merely a matter of marketing, and that good art can be enjoyed by anyone. I can only hope to make good art!
One way I hope to pursue that goal is by attending Columbia College Chicago in the fall, as a Fiction Writing Major. I just went to Orientation last week, and got to meet all the other Freshmen Fiction Writing Majors, who spoke of what they want to focus on with their writing: Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, etc…
Upon being asked what I wanted to focus my writing on, I froze. I have some fantasy stories I want to write, but also some horror stories, and of course some science-fiction, and the list goes on!
I know I need to write them, otherwise they’ll eat away at me for not letting them escape. Unfortunately, I never gave any thought to what they all counted as, or what I write; I just write the stories I write!
I know, though, that I definitely like writing “darker” things. I also know that I adore darkness in Children’s Media! I am simply enthralled with anything that can blend darkness into art for kids without being jarring! So that’s got me to thinking: since I’m so passionate about both “dark” children’s media and the “dark” stories I intend to tell, I think this could be the perfect niche for me!
Of course limiting one’s self can often be unproductive, and I still have lots to figure out as a writer (that’s why I’m going to school for it). Still, In the past, I’ve felt comfortable writing for children. Whereas when I’ve tried to write specifically for adults something seems to be missing. I figure that’s a pretty good clue that I should focus on the thing I’m drawn to as apposed to what’s supposedly a more worthwhile effort.
I should probably address the fact that the first proper thing I wrote was for kids: ‘Sophie Browne Isn’t Dead’. Originally I planned that as a bit of an experiment to see whether I could do it or not. I had just failed again (due to a multitude of reasons) at writing a huge epic adult novel, since it had that missing piece. I decided instead of rushing into another potentially doomed adult novel, to focus on what I thought of as much smaller. For what it’s worth, I regret that outlook of something shorter being a smaller commitment. Regardless, it actually worked (sort of) and I felt so much more fulfilled after writing that than I had after felt after completing any other writing projects. It has its flaws and thankfully I can see them, but it was my first experiment! Hopefully my next experiment will work better!
There is also such a wide range of possibilities even within the classification of Children’s Books; I’ve seen every main genre represented under the umbrella of children’s books. Hence, I will hopefully still have the freedom to tell the stories I want, regardless of what they’d be classified as!
Anyways, I’m just thinking things out as blogging, as I’m tending to do, as of recently!
I just love children’s books SO much!
I’m not ready to part with this entry yet, so I shall list some beautiful inspiring Children’s Media that are informing this possible decision of mine. I would keep it to books, but I’m inspired so much story-telling-wise by some non-book things, that I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention them. Here they are:
The Dancing Skeleton- My mum would always read this to me as a child. She’d do voices and show the pictures and make sure to come to my middle school’s halloween party to read it to all the other kids. I adore the story-telling. It’s an old Irish folk-tale about a dead man who no one liked who rises from the dead simply to keep his widow from re-marrying. It’s told so vivaciously with well-chosen words and glorious water-color illustrations! The last lines of the book always make me shiver with delight! This is my second favorite book of all time!
The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe- My mum read this one to me, also. I remember being tucked away in my safe, warm bed, yet imagining the frozen tundra of Narnia (where it was always winter but never Christmas) and feeling shivers, since I felt so enraptured in the story! When I was ten or so, I actually wrote a fanfic about my real friends and some fictional friends finding a portal to Narnia. It was horrendously mary-sueish but that’s alright! It’s odd because when I got older I decided to read some of C.S. Lewis’s stories for adults and they just didn’t suit me. Perhaps it was because I was still attending an awful Catholic school at that point, so having heavy-handed Christian themes just reminded me of school, hence something I wanted nothing of. Please Note: I don’t have anything against Catholic schools, aside from the specific one I attended.
Chronicles of Prydain (Specifically The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron)- I’ll admit, I saw the Disney version of ‘The Black Cauldron’ before I read the books, so I’m certain the movie’s imagery informed my imagination. I actually really like the movie, but I swear (and I’ll sound like such a hipster/elitist/purist) the books are so much better! I’ll say this; I’ve only read the first two, since those were the only ones available to me, but now I bought the entire series! I have a books-to-read pile stacked to the moon, but I will surely read those last few books of the series, someday! I also remember identifying lots with Elonwy. In the movie she’s alright, but in the books it explains her backstory (and why she’s a princess) and shows how adventurous she is, especially compared to the others. As a girl with mostly guy friends, I just adored that she could hold her own against them and manage to be more of a “strong independent woman” than many modern female characters, despite the books being written in 1964. I worry that I might be thinking of this with nostalgia goggles, but that’s another reason to read the entire series!
The Poppy Series- Nature is dark, and these books are wonderful for acknowledging that. In general, it’s a series of events of animals hoping to defend themselves and protect their loved ones from antagonistic predators. To be honest, I don’t remember much more than that, aside from Poppy being really strong and likable and Ereth being ridiculously funny to me. I remember really liking the writing style, and being really surprised when I came across the “Suggested Reading Age” for the book, since it was for children younger than I, yet I found it just as compelling as things meant for my age-bracket.
And Tango Makes Three- This is an anomaly compared to the other things I’m listing, especially since it’s practically brand new to me, but it’s worth mentioning. It is worth mentioning, because it’s simply about a penguin couple consisting of two males raising a baby penguin. That’s it. It’s not a particularly gripping story, though it’s certainly cute! But it has caused a ridiculous amount of controversy simply because it has two dads raising a child. It’s crazy that parents and other people seem to think that because a book involves a gay couple, it can’t be for kids. They think it must be banned and figure being queer isn’t something children ought to know about until they’re ready… that’s my dad’s reasoning, anyway. But it’s honestly the most harmless thing I’ve ever read. My point is, if I wrote something involving queer characters, there will likely be people saying that it shouldn’t be for children solely due to that harmless little detail. People can be very silly sometimes…
Coraline- I love Coraline! In fact, I’m re-reading it again! I know I just mentioned the multitude of books I haven’t yet read, that I ought to read first, but Coraline is good enough to sneak to the top of my reading pile again. It has such a great creepy atmosphere to it, and I just love that! I’ll admit, I only got into it, at first, because I knew Henry Selick was going to direct a movie of it, and so I decided to read it beforehand. I was not wrong in that, since I was able to imagine how I thought characters and places would look, before the movie could tell me how they looked. I really like how it seems so strangely plausible. I know I’ve thought about a utopian world wherein everyone I know has only their good qualities; I love how the book uses that (probably common) thought, and turns it into a facade for something horrendous! The scene in the book where Coraline makes a makeshift set of parents to cuddle up to when her parents disappeared made me cry, and it’s just such a great book to get emotionally invested in. This was also the first book I started really attempting to analyze. I just love how you can dig so deeply with this book, analyzing things and coming up with theories, yet despite all your pondering, you still feel like you’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
The Nightmare Before Christmas- This is my favorite movie ever, and I could never come up a good enough way to explain how much this movie inspires me, what it means to me, or how beautiful I find it! I watched it literally everyday when I was four years old, since I had never seen a movie that I felt that involved with before! As I write, I’m sipping tea from a Sally mug. I honestly cry sometimes just thinking about how much I adore it. I’ve loved this movie, pretty much all my life, and if I ever want a smidgeon of comfort I watch it and feel like a child again! Everything has it’s problems, but to me, that movie is positively flawless!
Mina and the Count- Watch it! It’s a cartoon, and there were only 6 episodes, and it was made by Rob Renzetti, and I love it. I came across it as a teenager, but it would’ve been the exact thing my little-kid-self would’ve latched onto. It’s so heart-warming and adorable. I’ve seen de-motivational posters on DeviantART, speaking about how it’s like if Twilight were good. It’s not that simple, but I definitely get it. A vampire decides to put aside his violent ways in order to be with and protect someone he loves. And the girl he’s friends with wants nothing more than to spend time with him. They have the most adorable friendship and the stories are always endearing! The end is a downer, because it was a cliff-hanger expected to be continued, it seems, but the cartoon was never continued. But it has fan-art that continues the story! In fact, I’ve drawn some, but that’s beside the point… It is a fabulous show!
Frankenweenie- When I saw this, I was in a theater surrounded with little kids… bawling like a baby. It may sound strange, but I’ve never been more emotional with any other movie. You can feel the love that the characters have for each other regardless of their differing species or mortal status. I love puppies, Tim Burton, sadness, stop-motion animation, frankenstein, etc… so this was a grand convergence of things I hoped for in a movie, and it did not disappoint one bit!
Tale of Despereaux- I have talked lots about this one. But I’ll simply say this: Tale of Despereaux does for me as a book what The Nightmare Before Christmas does for me as a movie!
Hunchback of Notre Dame (The Disney Movie)- I’ve decided this is my favorite Disney Movie. I always liked it as a young kid, but I think I was seven when I actually began grasping what all was going on. Before then, I saw the characters as rather commonplace Disney characters: sweet protagonist, gorgeous love-interest, charming friend, evil villain and some comic relief. But then I was sick and gone from school for a week. I decided, “Hey, I haven’t watched this movie recently…” and the opening happened with Frollo chasing Quasimodo’s mom. Little by little, I felt Frollo become more and more despicable in my eyes. I saw Quasimodo become more heroic and Esmeralda become kinder and more virtuous. I remember the next week in school, running in the snow at recess away from an invisible Frollo and praying to be as good a person as Esmeralda during prayer-time. I then re-watched it again, paying more thorough attention, when I was about twelve. I freaked out, because I began understanding the more adult themes. I remember reflecting on comparing someone to Frollo after I actually understood what the lyrics to ‘Hellfire’ meant, and feeling awful because that person was horrid, but gosh not that horrid! As I’m getting older, I’m noticing the beauty of animation more, as well as the beauty of music, and goodness, this movie has both! I’ve noticed the music resembling some of my favorite broadway musicals, and I feel somewhat conditioned by my love for Hunchback of Notre Dame to love the live-action musicals that I do!
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark- To be honest, I sort of have a love-hate relationship with these books. As a child I was terrified of the pictures, as an adult I’m still frightened by them, but that’s what makes them so good! I confess, I never really checked them out or “read” them for the stories. All I wanted were the pictures! The fact that a person can conjure such things with a simple bit of ink and paper is absolutely incredible! That, of course, makes me simply livid that they’re replacing those illustrations with tamer things in newer editions. In a strange way, they are a grand slice of my childhood; I remember Darius and I running through the library (like well-behaved children) popping out from behind bookshelves holding out whichever page we thought was the most terrifying. Mine was, and probably forever shall be ‘The Haunted House’. I used to be to the point where if I saw that picture, I could insure I’d have nightmares. Another memory I have with them was my Grandma reading the story of the girl in the graveyard who dies of a heart attack when she feels a ghost tugging at her skirt, only for the reader to find out later that she merely got it caught on a tree (or something)! My grandma and I were both surprised by that twist! I adore them, and love that they’re aimed at kids, but be warned- they are definite nightmare fuel!
I know I’m forgetting a lot for my list, but I can always edit in more, so there!
Anyways, I adore children’s media, and if I ever wrote anything a tenth as good as what I just listed, I’d feel far more than proud!
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