Silvercatcher

March 13

Posted by Madeline on Mar 13 2010

Listening to: Blind Pilot

Reading: The Code of the Warrior by Shannon E. French

In the past few weeks, I’ve been incredibly excited. Why? A new book idea. And I love those. It’s interesting how they come about- a brief sentence in one book, or an interesting moment in government class- and suddenly there it is. I mean, right now it’s little more than a niggling thought, but each week makes it a little fatter and firmer.

But then the tension comes between old characters and the new for thought room. It’s interesting how a character like Sava, who is still relatively new [I think he first appeared almost exactly a year ago], is now suddenly the old and familiar as new voices seek to be heard. That blows my mind every time I think about it. Does it continue this way? Sometimes I consider the fact that I’m nearing the completion of my second series before I even enter college and get daunted by the prospect of my future. Do I always have this constant cycle of characters? [I hope so.] Or do I lose my knack for finding them? [Terrifying.]

To avoid that thought [unnecessary as it really is, I think], I like to think about what new ideas and themes I bring to my writing. Today, I thought consciously about political socialization for the first time, even though my last few coming of age books have had fairly significant political passages. Now it seems completely obvious that I should consider such an idea more thoroughly, and I already know how it is incorporated into my next book idea. Every time I come across a new theory or idea, I get so excited to incorporate it- so what else am I missing? And I think that’s why I keep writing- because characters come from the circumstances these new ideas present. So, I think I’m good for a while.

Yes, a thought.

“We tried to become a great kingdom- and we lost sight of our old maxims and perhaps our faith in the process. Now Time has come right back around to show us that we’re not meant to be like Rolevan or Elenot, but rather one island kingdom among many infamous for warring. Instead of trying to change ourselves, we should ask ourselves whether we’re men born and raised only to kill, or if somehow we can find a meaning in what we have been given.”