Month: March 2019

Who are You?

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Who are you? I always hear this in the caterpillar’s voice from Alice in Wonderland. “WHO are YOU?” I love unique stories and unique authors. I love reading about people that are different than me but I think we are losing some of the uniqueness of the author’s voice. Put Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, and J.D. Salinger side by side and I can pick out which is which. They had distinctive voices. Heck, even put Tolkien and C.S. Lewis side by side and I can pick out which one is which but I think so much of the craft of being an author is being lost.

The uniqueness of an author’s voice is a beautiful thing. It can’t necessarily be captured in words but I do know that it is beautiful.

In the movie “Music and Lyrics” there is a rather negative line written towards a character that says, “she was a great mimic”. This can be both a positive and a negative. If all you can do is mimic others, you lack your own creativity, but if you can’t mimic others, you lack understanding of how others write. Both can limit you. I tend to be good at mimicry. I already know I will never be someone to sit down and write a novel. I have too much going on in the world around me to create a brand new one, but I do love to think about what I could add to a story.

I did a book club on “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson last year. My final meeting included having the teens write their own epilogue to the book. Just for fun, I’ll let you all see what I wrote in a later post this coming week.

But authors are losing themselves. You have authors that take over a series and just continue on someone else’s work. Where are the new distinctive voices? Where are the ones that I can’t wait to read because I know they will draw me in. Rarely do I find I book that I just can’t put down anymore.

Many author biographies I read talk about how much the author loved to write just for themselves. It wasn’t necessarily about creating something for other people, it was about writing something they could enjoy. They loved the process. They loved coming up with something new.

So I challenge you to go out and create something new! Do it for yourself! You don’t have to publish anything. You don’t have to do it for anyone else. Part of the joys of writing is for your own enjoyment. Go create. Make art or a story. Make a pie or a painting. Go create. Add beauty to the world. Share the beauty with your friends. You don’t have to have everyone love you. Stop writing for the world. Go write for you. To quote The Greatest Showman

Keep Sparkling

B

The loss of Professionalism in Literature

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“Write what you know. So they say. All I know is I don’t know what to write, or the right way to write it. This is big! Lady, don’t screw it up. This is not some little vaudeville I’m reviewing!”

This is what goes through my head every time I sit down to write. Every time! These lyrics from Newsies race through my head as I desperately try to figure out how to say things in a way that will make people care. Which words should I use? Have I revised enough times? Can I make something better? This is revision six? Do I need a revision seven? Which leads me to my thoughts for today.

With so much available to self-publish a book and the idea that “anyone can do anything” we are losing some of the value of literature. I can’t tell you what makes one book “literature” and another not but I can tell you that there is a quality of writing there. There is an intentionality of word choice.

So many of the Teen books I read nowadays have lost some of the professional touch to them. They sound colloquial not only in their speech but in their text. You can have a character who is colloquial and still sound polished. Look at Dickens! His books are filled with lower-class characters who speak in their own dialects and yet his descriptors are what make it professional. Yet so much of what I find today “dumbs down” the word usage and language in order to be more approachable for Teens. Why are we lowering our standards instead of teaching our Teens and Students to reach to a higher level?

One of my high school teachers continually told us to “raise the bar”. Meaning if we’ve reached a level that we understand or we know what we’re doing, raise the bar again so we can keep aiming higher. He taught Science. It probably won’t come as a surprise to know that Science is not my strong suit, but I excelled in his class. He taught me how to keep pushing to be better and never be satisfied with being “good enough”. But this is what we have done with many books that are being published.

There was a Teen book that came out in the last few years. It got a lot of hype. It was a great story. I loved the character development and the story arc. But I didn’t love the writing. EVERYONE talked about how important and great this book was. But I think that quality should trump content every time. If it’s not a well-written book, I don’t want to hand it to a patron coming into my library.

This isn’t to say that more people shouldn’t write books. Or even to say that people shouldn’t self-publish books. This is to say that we should learn our craft! There is a reason that we go to college and study. There is a reason there are entire Bachelor’s degrees dedicated to Writing or Literature. Take the time to learn your craft. You wouldn’t assume to be a teacher if you’ve never had any training. You wouldn’t walk into court and call yourself a lawyer if you’ve not passed the Bar exam. Don’t just assume you can be an author without first taking some time to learn your craft.  To quote one of my favorite Professors from college “Get more knowledge, at college”.

Keep Sparkling,

B

Jo and Laurie- How it Should have Ended

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As promised. Here is a bit of what my idea of the “correct” ending of Little Women should have been.

We enter the scene after Jo has returned from New York City, Beth has passed away.

Beth was gone. That was fact. No matter how much wishing I did she was gone. No more would her kind and quiet words guide me. She had always been my shining light. I didn’t realize just how much I needed her until she was gone.

My new project would be in her honor. The beauty of our lives together as women. That was all Beth ever wanted. All of us here together. That probably included Laurie in her mind. I know she always loved the idea of having a brother. I’m not sure she would ever say it but I think she was a little afraid of being left behind. A little afraid that we would all forget about her. This would be her moment. My memorial to her. So no one could ever forget my Beth.

Sorting through her things in the attic did little to ease my pain but it gave me somewhere to start. The Pickwick Papers, her trunk of things. All of it made me sad, and yet it was cathartic.

I wished Bhaer had met her. He would have loved how sweet Beth was. Thinking of him only put a prick in my heart. I fancied myself in love with him for a short time but I’d come to realize that wasn’t what it really was. I appreciated his passion. I appreciated that he challenged me. I liked his companionship, but that’s all it was. Companionship. Watching Meg with John Brooke had showed me that. They weren’t just companions. They were something more. Their souls touched. They connected in a way beyond anything I could ever have with the Professor.

I heard a squeak of floorboards behind me.

“I’m not ready to come down yet Marmee. I need some time to think of Beth before I can talk about it,” I quietly said.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not Marmee.”

Turning around I saw the one person who could make it better. The one person whom my heart was longing to see. I didn’t realize how much I needed him. How incomplete I felt. But there he was. My Laurie. My dear Teddy. Gathering my skirts I quickly stood and flung myself into his arms as he took the three steps to meet me.

“It’s alright now Jo. I’m here. I’m here,” he said into my hair. He stroked my hair and held me for what felt like forever. Resting in the warmth, comfort, and love of his embrace I didn’t want to ever leave this moment. If I could just stay here then everything would be right. All would be well.

But I soon realized that I was lacking a great deal of propriety, even more than usual. I began to back up.

“Forgive me Teddy. You’ve just arrived and I’ve behaved like a fool already. Throwing myself at you and falling into your arms. I’m sure you’ve gotten much too old for my theatrical behavior.”

“Never Jo,” he replied with a slight smile on his lips. “I shall never forgive you for throwing yourself into my arms.”

“Oh Teddy stop teasing! You know what I mean!” I replied, adamant that he understand me.

“You’ve never been too theatrical for me. Just passionate. And who would deny you that?” he asked plainly. There was something different about him now. He stood straighter. More self-assured. No longer the cocky boy I knew, but a confident man. I realized he was no longer “my Teddy” but someone altogether new. I knew him, and yet I didn’t.

“I’m sure you have many other women to throw themselves into your arms. Why would you need me to do it also?” I teased as I walked a few more paces away from him.

He remained quiet. He hadn’t moved from his spot just inside the doorway. What was it about those eyes? I had seen this look once before, when he proposed. I had been such a silly fool. Well, we both had. He for proposing and me for refusing in such a way. We wouldn’t have ever worked. We were much too young but now…. Well that was something I wouldn’t even entertain. He had been to Europe. He was a man. My silly mind was running away with me.

“So tell me everything Teddy! Forgive me- Laurie. I’m sure you are much too grown-up to be called Teddy now,” I rushed to say. Backing up a few steps to take the seat at my desk I decided to stop talking. Why was I rambling? This was Teddy. He wasn’t someone to be nervous around and yet I was sure I had never sounded so foolish before.

“Well Grandfather and I have spoken. He has decided to let me come home to work. He thinks I have greatly improved myself. I’ll admit I was living quite… wild. Almost like a villain out of one of our theatricals we used to put on,” he chuckled. “But Amy,” he paused. “She set me straight when I saw her. She reminded me of who I could be. Since then I have mended my ways, straightened out. Become a man so to say, ” he laughed as he said it. His face turned serious as he took a few steps nearer me. “When I got your letter. Jo. I had to come. I couldn’t wait another second. I brought Amy with me. She’s downstairs. I knew you would want me to get her and bring her home too. But Jo. Honest. I only did it so I could see you. To know that you are still in one piece. That you are still, whole.”

He said it so simply and yet I felt my heart warm and thrill. He wanted to check on me? He wanted to make sure I was okay.

“Well of course Laurie! Didn’t we always say you were like our brother? What more could we need now to make our family whole than to have my sister and our brother here?” My mind was racing. What was I saying. My brother? If I had taken a second to admit it I would tell him that he was so much more than that now. That he was my best friend. My confidant. The one that made my world feel like it was upright. He made me feel like I could do anything.

My thoughts were interrupted as he said, “Your brother Jo? Is that still what I am?”

“Well what else would you be?” I laughingly said.

“That’s my question Jo. What else could we be? I think you know I’ve become a man. I’m not a boy any longer. That boy who proposed to you so very long ago didn’t know what he was doing. I was fanciful and full of folly. But now. Oh Jo. Say the word and I would do anything I can to endeavor to deserve you! I know you deserve so much more than I could offer but please Jo, let me try. I’ve changed. I know you’ll see it! You are a glorious mystery and puzzle I want to spend the rest of my life learning how to solve and how to support.”

His words fell off as he looked at me. I blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Who was this person. He was right of course. But if I admitted that, it would change everything. What if I wrecked it? What if it fell apart? Was it worth the risk? I had already lived my life without him for so long. Maybe I could not only live it but love my life with him? I was reminded of a conversation I had with Professor Bhaer and some of the scholars while in New York City.

“While I was in New York a group of us had a conversation,” I began as Laurie looked at me, puzzled. “One man mentioned a Proverb about how ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.’ He said he felt it was this way when he was pursuing his wife. That her heart was the matter God had concealed and it made him feel like a king to know he had won it. He said that her heart was worth more than any knowledge he could gain by philosophizing the day away. Would you say that’s how you feel about me?”

He opened his mouth to answer but I held up my hand. “No rash words Laurie. Really? Is this how you feel about me?” He paused for a moment.

“My beautiful, wonderful Jo. You are the most glorious creature I could ever hope to hold in my arms. The most wonderful woman I could ever hope to know. Could you really ever doubt it? Grandfather has given me time off to write music. Can’t you see our lives? The author and the composer? Living our lives to bring beauty to the world. You are beauty itself and yet you seek to let the world have more of you!” he said, sounding pleased. “Please Jo. Be my wife. Let me spend my whole life, how did you put it? Searching out a way to win your heart, in order to feel like a king.”

My soul felt like it had began to soar. “Oh Laurie. My heart has been yours for a long time. I didn’t realize it. I didn’t want to realize it. But when you walked in the door I knew. You have seen me at my worst and my best, and yet you still want me. You don’t have to seek out my heart. It’s already yours.”

And with that he took me in his arms and kissed me. A sweet, slow kiss. One that connected our souls. One that held promise. The promise to love me. The promise to hold me. And that was enough. I might never be a famous author and he may never publish any music, but we would be together. And that would be enough.

These characters are based on the book “Little Women” by Lousia May Alcott. They are not my own creation and I do not take credit for their creation. This is simply my idea of how the story should have gone.

When the Author Gets it Wrong

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I tend to be a “the author knows best” person. This is the world they created. They know best! I’m also a piano teacher and I stress to my students that whatever style the composer wrote the song in, we play it that way first! I am so on board with the artist being the one to determine the style and the ending! But…. sometimes they don’t know what they are doing!

Sometimes the author is just so wrong I can’t even handle it! Sometimes it seems like they’ve forgotten who their characters are!

I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “If you have such a problem with it B, then become an author. Write your own ending.” And trust me, there are times I do! I’ve never put it out there for anyone else but sometimes my mind just needs the closure of the, in my humble opinion, “right” ending.

There aren’t many times I feel deeply about this but there is one in particular case that I still feel is all wrong. I’m sorry Lousia May Alcott, but Jo should have ended up with Laurie in “Little Women”.

For those of you who don’t know the story- go read it. Right now. Do nothing for the next three days and then come back and finish this blog. I give you permission. Go.

And, welcome back. I’m assuming you all did what I told you to right? 😉 Otherwise I’ll warn you SPOILERS AHEAD!

Anyways, My Jo and My Laurie.

In Little Women we see a house of women who have fun and are lively and they all grow up to get great endings. Or so we would think. Alcott is no Austen. Austen promised that, after a little trouble, all her characters would have happy endings and marriages. Alcott did not feel the same way. You can read interviews where Alcott did not want Jo to even end up in a relationship at all. Alcott only did it because the pressure from her fans was so heavy ( yay for the power of the people!). And yet, I feel like Alcott’s ending was unsatisfactory.

Jo and her neighbor Laurie are best friends. He adores Jo. He wants nothing more than to create music and see Jo be happy. Jo wants to write and she doesn’t think Laurie and her would do well together because they would fight. Well I’m sorry to be reality here Jo, but couples fight. They aren’t always happy and if you have no disagreements, I almost question if you are even in a real relationship. Laurie wants to see her write. Wants her to write out of joy, not out of necessity of money. Jo shifts the kind of writing she does purely to make money, with Laurie she wouldn’t have to.

Jo’s adventure in New York City where she meets Professor Bhaer is almost perfect. He challenges her to be a better writer. He takes on the role of mentor. But the romance makes no sense. The age gap is wide and the intellectual gap is there also. Bhaer feels more like a father than a husband. No Louisa May Alcott! Just no!

But Laurie, insert dreamy sigh. Laurie is wonderful. And yet, Alcott undersells him too. Laurie so desperately wants to be part of Jo’s family that he marries Jo’s younger sister. The age gap between the two isn’t so extreme but it still doesn’t make sense. Jo’s sister’s chastisement of Laurie when they are abroad makes Laurie rethink things. He becomes more serious. He wants to be a better man. But there is no build up of romance between the two.

Jo initially rejected Laurie’s proposal. I understand. They were both very young.

But I can’t help feeling that if Laurie had come back after Jo’s sister Beth died, when they had both grown up a bit, they could have been very happy together. His first proposal was that of a boy. If he had proposed again, it would have been as a man.

These are my thoughts. My very strong thoughts. But they are just mine. Perhaps there is a story that you feel is written with a “wrong” ending.

There is a whole world of people who believe that the author has gotten it wrong and they’ve done something about it! And this beautiful thing is called- fanfiction. Now mind you, fanfiction is not always of the highest quality. Fanficition is not always clean reading. But fanfiction is a beautiful way to find the ending you long to see. So if you want a different ending, go and find it! Go and write it! Use that creative thing that sits on your shoulders called your head. And inside that head is your brain! That beautiful creative thing that longs to create. We were all designed to create something! Go create! Write your own endings! Write your own stories! I set you free my sparkling darlings!

Keep Sparkling

-B

P.S. Be watching for a special extra post this week in which I give you a bit of what it would have looked like if I had written part of “Little Women”. Just a little fanfiction from me!

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Issue

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When I first heard this term I immediately thought

I was slightly wrong.

For those of you who, like I was two weeks ago, are unaware of this term, Nathan Rabin says “a Manic Pixie Dream Girl exists to help the protagonist achieve happiness without ever seeking any independent goals herself”.

I recently read a review for a book coming out this March called “The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project” by Lenore Appelhans. I thought the idea intriguing but I honestly didn’t know what a “Manic Pixie Dream Boy” was. Upon my research I discovered the theory of the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”. Her sole purpose is to support and to help the man on his journey. She has no function in life except to serve him and show him how to lighten-up.

The main examples that I found used over and over again were “Elizabethtown” and “Roman Holiday”. In Elizabethtown, the main character is depressed and has just come off a huge loss at work. He has failed. This crazy girl whizzes into his life, takes him on a grand adventure, and gives him a reason to live again. That sounds awesome right!

Who wouldn’t want a friend to come swirling into their lives making everything better? What kid didn’t want Mary Poppins to come and add some magic to their world. In Elizabethtown we never find out why she is helping him. There is no story of her own.

I understand the importance of not under-developing characters but I also think that there is something we need to acknowledge in these characters. As much as this may sound sexist, that is the female character’s purpose in the particular story. Their purpose is to bolster the main character because….. THEY’RE NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER.

When you have a story told through the eyes of one specific person, whatever is seen will have the slant of that person. You can’t tell the back story of every single character in a movie. You can’t even tell the entire backstory of every character in a tv series.

Think back through your life. How many of the “characters” in your life did you view, at one time or another, as solely there to bolster you? You didn’t think about what they did outside of their time with you, you just knew they helped you when they were there. Think about how you viewed your parents while you were living at home. How many of us were surprised the first time we saw our teachers outside of school and realized that they didn’t live at school?

I understand how this trope can be damaging or difficult but let’s be honest, in all of our minds we are the main character of our own story. We decide how the story moves forward and we decide who gets to be in it. It’s no different in books. Let’s just admit that sometimes we’re all a little selfish and sometimes we don’t think about others. Sometimes we’re takers and not givers. And maybe sometimes we get to be the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (or boy) for someone else. Let’s appreciate this trope because it can mimic real life.

Keep Sparkling,

B

The Hidden Secret of Libraries

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There is a massively undervalued and hidden secret of the Library.

This secret makes everything happen.

From programming, to ordering new books, to processing. None of this could happen without this best kept secret.

That secret…. is the Librarian.

I know. That was kind of obvious. But really. Patrons don’t realize the amazing resource they have when they come into the library.

Most people who come into employment at the library do not have a degree in library science but they are expected to have that and more! We’re expected to be a walking card catalog, a customer service representative, an event planner, and an artist. It’s a lot, but it’s amazing.

I absolutely love my job. I love that I get to interact with the public. I love that I get to talk about the library and help people realize how vibrant and important the library is. I get to help fight the decline of literacy! I love what I do and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

That being said, a lot of people in the current society of America do not fully value the library. In fact, there was a post written about how libraries were no longer needed due to Amazon bookstores. People were so enraged by this that the company was forced to take the article down!

The library is the forgotten part of the community. But where would we be without it? We know it’s there and we know it has value but we don’t take advantage of everything that goes on there.

When children are young, they spend their mornings at Storytime and in book clubs but eventually they seem to drift away. They stop coming in for books and they stop valuing the amazing resources available to them.

Did you know that most libraries have W2 forms available? Did you know that most libraries have resources about the GED? Did you know that most libraries get new books in every month? Did you know that most libraries are becoming more like community centers? Places for people to meet and be together? It’s a beautiful thing.

The library is important. The library has value. Do not forget this. Do not let yourself fall into the realm of people who stop frequenting the library. And to every librarian out there who also has to be a customer service rep, an artist, an event planner, and a walking card catalog- thank you. You are an important part of your community. You matter. Thank you for all that you do.