I remember having a conversation with my dad a
few months back. We had just finished watching Insurgent, and we were
talking all about it as we walked to the car. He asked me for
clarification on plot events, I was explaining all I could remember, and
eventually I expressed my
frustration with the modern young adult genre in general. When my dad
asked why, I told him something along the lines of, “I don’t get why
everything that’s popular now has to be in a world where
everything is horrible and the entire fate of humanity rests on the
shoulders of one teenager, usually a girl. I don’t know why everything
has to be so dramatic and serious.” When he started to tell me that it
was logical for that to be
popular, because it
followed the good vs. evil archetype, I said, “No, I mean, why does it
have to be about someone so amazing and famous? Why can’t it just be
about a regular person and their life? Because, y'know, everyone has
their own story, and their own struggles, and their
own experiences, and their own life. Ordinary people are
underappreciated. We’re all just trying to figure it out in our own way,
and I just - I wanna write a book about an average person, because
average people are amazing.”
My dad said he thought it sounded boring, but I stand by what I said. Sure, I love reading about grand adventures in fantastical settings, with dragons and quests, but I find them very difficult to write. It’s so much easier to pour my soul into a character that’s just like me - very ordinary when you first meet them and get to know them. I want to celebrate the people who aren’t particularly rich, famous, or exciting. Most of us are just ordinary people, who will probably never be known worldwide, but who mean the world to their friends and family. Those who mess up, who have flaws, who struggle not with their destiny, but with getting to work on time. Those who fight to make ends meet, to maintain dusty friendships, to figure out who they are. I want to sing about the warriors whose battles are small, but many, and mostly unnoticed. I want to write a book about an average person, because average people are amazing.
My dad said he thought it sounded boring, but I stand by what I said. Sure, I love reading about grand adventures in fantastical settings, with dragons and quests, but I find them very difficult to write. It’s so much easier to pour my soul into a character that’s just like me - very ordinary when you first meet them and get to know them. I want to celebrate the people who aren’t particularly rich, famous, or exciting. Most of us are just ordinary people, who will probably never be known worldwide, but who mean the world to their friends and family. Those who mess up, who have flaws, who struggle not with their destiny, but with getting to work on time. Those who fight to make ends meet, to maintain dusty friendships, to figure out who they are. I want to sing about the warriors whose battles are small, but many, and mostly unnoticed. I want to write a book about an average person, because average people are amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment