Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park were the first books I loved that not only had a female author, but a female protagonist. Junie B. didn't have magic powers, wasn't orphaned, and went to regular 8-3 school. In short, she was a lot like me. Plus, she was hilarious.
Junie B. Jones taught me that my life could be funny and fascinating and captivating too, even without magic wands or monsters. She taught me that I was strong enough to create a story (and a series of them!) using only the tools I had within my grasp. It was the first time I liked to "write what I knew".
She also taught me that my point of view mattered. She was the one who taught me that if I saw the world a little differently, I wasn't weird, I was creative. Being unique was a good thing, no matter what my peers said. Finally, I was confident enough not to react to every situation the way everyone else did. I could have my own opinion and my own way to problem solve, and it was perfectly alright.
So, in a way, Junie B. not only became an inspiration for my writing, but for me as a person.
Wow, this series is getting deep.....
While we're on a roll, let's not stop there. The next book that inspired me to be a writer was one I read, ensue dramatic music, in school.
From the moment I entered high school, I was in the advanced English program. I tested immediately out of all grammar classes and was thrown into class with the sophomores. I only went on from there, taking Advanced English 10, Advanced English 11, and then the final class, AP English 12.
Within those classes, I found some books I was surprised I loved: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. However, above and beyond them all, my favorite find was The Stranger by Albert Camus.
Camus was my first introduction into true literary fiction. To this day, if you were to ask me, The Stranger would land in my top 3 favorite books of all time. And Camus would be up there with JK in my favorite author category.
Here's why it inspired me so:
First, this was the book that I truly realized the perfect beginning and ending mattered more than perhaps anything else in between. We've talked about how hard it is to begin a story on this blog before. We've talked about the need for perfect beginnings. Ends are just as, if not more, important than that.
But I never truly understood that until I read The Stranger.
The first two sentences of this novel read as follows:
"Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure."
It's a simple beginning, but one that holds infinite amount of information. In one moment we're aware of just who the protagonist is. We understand what he thinks and feels. The characterization is breathtaking. We also know the setting of the first scene (a funeral). But perhaps the most important piece of information from the beginning is the reader's understanding that the protagonist is going to give what information he likes in the way he sees fit. He's unreliable for a complete, unbiased picture.
The end, I can't possibly do justice with a single quote. You must read it.
Seriously.
Read it.
Find it now.
I'll wait.
Go to the library if you must.
Okay. Back?
The end of The Stranger is so amazingly fitting for the protagonist that it takes my breath away. It was the first time in my life that I read a story and didn't long for less or more. As a reader, I was fulfilled. The catharsis was PERFECT. As a writer, I was inspired to do that much justice to the books I wrote.
Second, The Stranger by Camus was very much in line with what Junie B. and Barbara Park had taught me earlier in life. In The Stranger, the reader literally follows the protagonist around his daily routine for much of the first half of the book before the murder. Like Junie B., I learned that the mundane events of life could be captivating to an audience when written correctly.
But most importantly, these books taught me I could steal.
Yes, steal.
As in theft.
You've heard that all good writers steal, right? It's common knowledge and a famous quote. But I didn't know it until reading The Stranger. Perhaps it was the combination of mundane events with truly superb writing, but The Stranger taught me that I needn't come up with every snippet of dialogue or every metaphor, simile, and descriptive passage on a whim. I could steal the words of my family and friends, or the beautiful things I heard others talking about in coffee shops. My everyday life was lifted and used in my writing.
I started surrounding myself only with those people I truly connected with. My time went into friends who were funny, poignant, or had interesting POV's on the world.
Suddenly, my everyday life wasn't just lived to get me through - you know, eating, reading, sleeping, repeat - but as a true writer. Everything I did could be applied to my writing. Every conversation I had was free game. Every event I went to or new experience I acquired was cataloged for future use. It was after reading The Stranger that I definitively remember deciding my whole life was to be used for writing. Not just scribbling down stories but the true writing process. Every molecule and atom within me was charged.
It was that moment I became and could seriously claim myself a writer.
It wasn't by chance or grace. It was a decision.
And I've never looked back.
Photo credits both come from Amazon.com today. You can buy these books there, too.
Junie B. Jones: http://www.amazon.com/Junie-First-Grader-Last-Jones/dp/0375815163/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423587946&sr=8-1&keywords=junie+b+jones+first+grader
The Stranger: http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Albert-Camus/dp/0679720200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423588541&sr=8-1&keywords=the+stranger+albert+camus
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