By Amy Baumhoefner
Many girls in America grow up reading L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. Though the series was written almost a hundred years ago, there is something in the little red-headed orphan that many young women seem to connect with. I, however, found a kindred spirit – as Anne Shirley would say – in another of Montgomery’s creations: Emily Starr. While in many ways the two characters are alike, I felt more drawn to Emily. This feeling was inexplicable to me until I reread the series one summer during my undergraduate studies; Emily’s story is about the birth and development of a writer. Anne is also an author but that is just an element that shapes her character, not what shapes her story. Anne’s story could be told without her being a writer; Emily’s could not. At the end of the first of the triology, Emily of New Moon, Emily’s teacher presses her about why she writes; he asks, “If you knew you would be poor as a church mouse all your life – if you knew you’d never have a line published – would you still go on writing – would you?” In reply she says something that I had never verbalized myself; she declares that “I have to write – I can’t help it by times – I’ve just got to.” As a young girl I connected with Emily’s declaration. Emily’s words, most likely the feelings of Montgomery herself, showed me that I was not alone – others also had the compulsion to write, to tell the stories that churn in their minds.
While Montgomery’s Emily gave me permission to accept myself as a writer, it was not until I started reading fantasy that I found the genre in which my imagination flourished. The first fantasy author who I encountered was C. S. Lewis. While many see his Chronicles of Narnia series as too didactic, I perceived his creation as a world where I could repeatedly return to and discover new, increasingly wonderful truths about myself and the world around me. The depth present within the simplicity inspired me to let my own imagination run wild. In addition, Lewis’s philosophy of writing children’s literature struck a chord in me. He argued that a story should be written for children “because a children's story is the best art-form for something you have to say." This idea freed me to write the stories that were inside me, without anxiety over the intended audience. As I became more confident in the writing process, I found myself wanting to say things that resonated with young adults.
The author who I feel has shaped my writing in more recent years is Robin McKinley. I first read her novels when I was a jaded adult with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and over saturated with ‘serious’ literature. The pleasure I found within the pages of her fantasies rekindled the sputtering flame of my literary passion. Unlike when I first read Montgomery and Lewis, I now took the time to examine what it was about McKinley’s novels that captivated me. It was not until I read her Newbery Award acceptance speech that I understood what drew me to her writing. Her stories are about girls who are “shy [and] bumbling. . . . They [are] usually misfits, often orphans, and invariably misunderstood by those around them.” While it is in no way a new idea to have the underdog be the hero or heroine, McKinley states that “everyone, I think, goes through a period when they first get a glimmering of adulthood and independence . . . of secretly believing that one is really a princess, a cradle changeling — something invincibly splendid — that there is something in the genes that will reveal itself in some irrevocable way.” Like McKinley, I write for a young adult audience who many say should not still believe in magic, dragons, and epic battles between good and evil. Similar to Lewis, McKinley sees the unique opportunity provided by children’s and young adult’s fantasy to express that which is beautiful and intangible in the realistic world and within ourselves.
The presence of subtext in fantasy stories is one aspect which draws me to write for young adults in this genre. As is discussed above, this is something which both Lewis and McKinley also perceive. McKinley relates how once, when visiting a school, a young man approached her and asked if she intentionally puts in the themes and symbols that they talk about in class; “The answer is no” McKinley states honestly. While she does not go on to fully the explain this answer, Lewis deals with this issue when he describes his, and I will presume McKinley’s, perspective on this aspect of fantasy. He asserts that “for the moral inherent in [stories] will rise from whatever spiritual roots you have succeeded in striking during the whole course of your life. But if they don't show any moral, don't put one in." Fantasy allows certain themes and morals to be like diamonds in a mine, waiting for diligent readers to discover their magnificence. Yet, as the splendour of the cave is not dependent on the unearthing of the diamonds, so a well-written fantasy story can be appreciated without delving into the moral/theme.
Whatever you do, whether you want to be a writer or not, find writers that you love and take time to appreciate them and share them with everyone you know because they are one of the greatest treasures you will ever discover.
Want to check out the books by the authors I’ve mentioned? Check out their Amazon pages:
The presence of subtext in fantasy stories is one aspect which draws me to write for young adults in this genre. As is discussed above, this is something which both Lewis and McKinley also perceive. McKinley relates how once, when visiting a school, a young man approached her and asked if she intentionally puts in the themes and symbols that they talk about in class; “The answer is no” McKinley states honestly. While she does not go on to fully the explain this answer, Lewis deals with this issue when he describes his, and I will presume McKinley’s, perspective on this aspect of fantasy. He asserts that “for the moral inherent in [stories] will rise from whatever spiritual roots you have succeeded in striking during the whole course of your life. But if they don't show any moral, don't put one in." Fantasy allows certain themes and morals to be like diamonds in a mine, waiting for diligent readers to discover their magnificence. Yet, as the splendour of the cave is not dependent on the unearthing of the diamonds, so a well-written fantasy story can be appreciated without delving into the moral/theme.
Whatever you do, whether you want to be a writer or not, find writers that you love and take time to appreciate them and share them with everyone you know because they are one of the greatest treasures you will ever discover.
Want to check out the books by the authors I’ve mentioned? Check out their Amazon pages:
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