I was always annoyed when my parents said something to me about the way I should do things. "Always make your bed in the morning" was one of them, or the shock they displayed when I could do something. And as I've gotten older, I've started to find that these things may be true -- now.
When I was thirteen, making my bed every day did very little for me. I didn't feel better having my bed made. I was trying to survive. Now, when I have time to think about it, I am a little bit thinking it might be a good thing to have my bed made every day. It will convince me to not get in it and go to sleep.
Something my parents were always amazed by was my ability to listen to too different things at once while doing something else. I used to listen to Harry Potter on my cassette player, a Britney Spears CD on the walkman, and play pac man on the computer. It was easy, effortless. I was always confused when they couldn't do such a thing.
Nowadays, I can only just manage to walk and listen to something. I wonder if its about the complexity of thought I need to go through, or if its just that as I've gotten older, it has become harder for me to stay open to the universe.
What does this have to do with writing? Well, its about writing in states you have already been in. I'm always amazed at authors who chose narrators so much younger then them. Diane Duane does Dairine, who is... well between nine and eleven, (though possibly thirteen? Its hard to tell in the books when the timeline doesn't stay the same) so very well.
I just want to remember these differences. When adults said things to me, as if it was wrote fact, which were actually more about experiences they were having at the time, I thought I was weird for not agreeing. Now, I'm not so sure. Perhaps I just wasn't at the right stage.
But its important to me to remember, so that I can a. write young characters better and b. just remember that there are different ways to see the world even if its just one person.
Hey Rosey, this is Terri! I found your blog because my Google Image result for "cat" shows you first.
ReplyDeleteTrue story.
I wish I had something profound to say, but deep thought is like the villain in my heroic journey. So, I'll just say this: relying on your memory of your childhood is pointless because your memory rewrites itself. You're constantly forgetting the things you didn't know, thought you knew, et c.. Perhaps your memory is telling you you did those things without effort, but really your mind focused on the only activity that required your attention while everything else drifted into the background. Perhaps you only -told- yourself as a child that you were doing everything simultaneously. Perhaps you were rapidly switching focus between all three activities. You as a child wouldn't notice that. You as an adult would.
Writing accurate children is extremely difficult and I don't know how other authors go about their research, but I think the best way to tap into that mindset is to be around children that you in no way are responsible for.