Sunday, April 3, 2011

C is for C.S. Lewis and Cassiopeia

http://www.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/large/0/9780064471190.jpgDear C.S. Lewis,

My mom read chapters of The Chronicles of Narnia to me and my little sister every night before bed when I was growing up. I loved fantasy from the very beginning, and you brought me to this magical world over and over again. By the time I was nine or ten, I was reading them myself—over and over again.

I know that these books influenced me. I know that they still do influence me. As many books as I've read over the years, your Narnia books will always be the ones that built a framework for my abundant love of fantastical tales.

Thank you for that.

Sincerely,
A Fan





Dear Cass,
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I think out of the six sisters that were in my 2009 NaNo Novel, you got the short-end-of-the-name stick. Yes, you all had names from Greek mythology, but you probably had it the roughest as a little girl. Aside from the nasty nickname kids came up with, you also had to learn to spell Cassiopeia. I couldn't even write that out correctly for a while! I kept swapping E for I or mixing up vowels at the end.

I'm giving you a mention here today because you were the sister that I felt I knew the least when I wrote this novel.  (Which was still more than most characters when I start a book--it was crazy how fully-formed all of you guys were when you dropped into my head that October.)  But when I went back after NaNoWriMo to read everything I'd written, I was very surprised to find that there were several little things about you that were consistent throughout the book and that helped make you unique—things that I hadn't even realized I'd written. People might think that I'm crazy for not knowing exactly what I wrote, but perhaps those who have written a novel in a month will understand that sometimes when all of those words are coming out, you really don't remember.

And I have to tell you, it was an awesome experience to see everyone true to character and personality, but it was especially awesome with you, since you were the one I was most worried about.


Thanks for being you (and sorry about the awful childhood nickname),
The Rambling Writer



*Two questions for today:

1. Is there a particular author who has influenced you a great deal?

2. Is there anything you've ever written—no matter how small—that helped build your story/characters, and you didn't realize it was there until you were rereading it?

17 comments:

  1. 1. The author that has influenced me the most in both writing style, and the desire to write is undoubtedly Terry Pratchett.

    2. I once wrote a short-short to fulfill a challenge. I grabbed a character I had used before and stuck him in a scene that was very typical for him. By the end of it he had more depth than I had ever planned. It was a very rewarding experience.

    I found your blog through the A-Z challenge. I'm enjoying it very much so far. I'll be coming back for a while. It is relevant to my interests. ^^

    -Adam Jones
    Meet Adam Jones

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  2. I LOVE C.S. Lewis! I would have to say that Narnia was the series that stirred my love for fantasy as well. I still read them as an adult.

    I'll have to think about your second question and get back to you.

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  3. I also love the Narnia books. I read all of them in just 10 days when I was 16 years old. He was a big influence on me and my love of fantasy.

    Coming from a theatre background, I often have conversations out loud with my characters, and things come out of my mouth I wasn't expecting and I find myself saying 'Oh, I didn't know you were like that!' I love it when characters surprise you.

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  4. A Horse and His Boy was my favourite Narnia book, but the way the series ended and what he did with Susan was quite a shock and a little callous, I thought.

    -Mood

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  5. I have authors who influenced me to read, the usual suspects: Lewis, Tolkien, Pierce, McCaffery, Zimmer Bradley, L'Engle, Eddings...

    And I have the authors who influenced me to WRITE. You, Faith, Rebecca, Jo Graham, Melissa Scott...etc. ;)

    As for characters who surprised me, I created Cole to be a fill-in-the-blank sort of dude, and he's carried my main protagonists through a novel and a half now. It's weird how that happens.

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  6. I didn't get to read the Narnia books until I was an adult, but I've enjoyed them.

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  7. Awww, I love Cass!

    1. I think you know all of my influences. They're mostly in line with yours.

    2. I think we both know a certain "White Knight" whom we discovered was slightly less white upon closer inspection, without us having written anything different on paper about his conduct.

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  8. Most of my previous writing was awful so it's shown me how far I've come, when I make comparisons with current WIPs. I am also a fan girl of C. S. Lewis. His work is timeless. Thx for stopping by my blog and reminding me about LEVERAGE. Idk how I forgot to list that. ( I love hardison & Sophie)

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  9. JKRowling--not because I write like her (IN MY DREAMS) but because she taught me how to FINISH a novel (the secret, my friend, is to know where it's going--at least I have to, or it gets abandoned midway).

    As for the 'holy crap-did I write that?'--good stuff, huh? I totally love that sensation. Doesn't always happen, and it happens most often when I've written fast, probably because it's more like I'm channeling the story than writing it when I go fast (but also because my expectations are always 'I know this is crap')

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  10. I love it when that happens. Kind of freaky, to be honest -- when you almost subconsciously create something. I literally crafted an entire love story in my first book, unintentionally. When someone pointed out that they were devastated that two certain characters didn't end up together, I had to break the news that one of them died. When I went back to reread, I realized this was a literary crime, so the girl got to live and my story got a romance.

    Go figure :)

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  11. Hi, very cool about all of your writing endeavors (read in your profile). I'm a fellow A to Z'er and a fellow writer of YA. I'm happy to follow you.

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  12. I was swept away by the Chronicles of Narnia when I was a kid. They are so awesome.

    I've been influenced by a lot of different authors so I couldn't pick one or even two.

    Greate post.

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  13. I live CS Lewis too! I once started writing a blogpost about characters only to discover that all of mine were going through one of the stages of grief. I had no idea until that moment. Changed my whole perspective.

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  14. Thumbs up for CS Lewis! I read the whole series when I was younger and completely missed the religious/retelling of the bible.
    It wasn't until I read them again now that I'm older that I was able to pick up on it and see what the fuss was about.

    A throwaway comment from a throwaway character led to me designing a whole system of Knights and kings. Now that the system is in place I've got to go through it again and promote or demote characters to the right position.

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  15. Adam-It's great to see what can come out of short scenes or stories when our characters are put in them! And thanks for following. :)

    Rebecca-I haven't read them in a while--I think the last thing I did was listen to some of the Narnia radio theater, which was fun. :D But I'm due for a reread at some point!

    Angeline-That's awesome that you have out loud conversations with your characters. I have the "I didn't know that about you!" moments, but they usually get said in letters I write to my characters. ;)

    mood-The Horse and His Boy is my favorite, too.

    Kate-Aww, thank you! :D And it is weird how that happens. Characters who were only supposed to have a brief role--or no role--are suddenly Super Important.

    Alex-Glad you've enjoyed them, no matter when you read them! ^_^

    Faith-Thanks; I love her too. :D Hehe, yes, I think I know your influences. And ahh, our not-so-White-Knight. *grins*

    NiaRaie-It's always amazing to see how far writing comes along with time and practice! And you're welcome--Leverage is great. :D Thanks for coming by!

    Hart-Knowing the ending always helps! Sometimes I write ahead in my stories, but I usually don't touch the ending--it's my reward for finishing the book. ;) And I totally know what you mean about channeling when going fast.

    Bess-How awesome that you created a love story that way! It's amazing to see what comes out of our heads sometimes, isn't it? I'm glad your girl got to live--I'm totally a sucker for happy endings. :D

    Catherine-Thanks so much! It's nice to meet you. :D

    Rebecca-Thanks you!

    Kimberly-They're quite an adventure. :) Thank you!

    Kari-Ooh, how interesting! The realizations we have about characters can completely alter story/perspective. (Which can be awesome or a LOT of work, depending on what the realization was.)

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  16. Gyran-Sorry, I was typing up my replies when you posted, so I didn't see yours until afterward! That's really interesting about a throwaway comment leading to the design of a whole system. I've had random comments from characters that made a huge impact on other things, too--it's always neat when things like that happen!

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts!