20 August 2009

Mini-Blog: Embracing the Unforgettable

As summer shows come to an end, I've started thinking about what keeps me coming back for more, and what keeps me thinking about characters long after the shows have gone on hiatus or ended. But, most importantly, I'm wondering what allows me to let them go.

Or, in book terms (since this is a writing-related blog), what is it about Cathy and Heathcliff or Atticus Finch that makes them so memorable, but doesn't have me clamoring for TO KILL ANOTHER MOCKINGBIRD or RETURN TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS?

...Wait, you mean someone actually had the nerve to write a sequel to Brontë's masterpiece? *vom*

Ahem.

What I'm talking about is a truly incomparable literary moment, a figure we can't shake no matter how hard we try, but for whom we are never left wanting. Those are the types of characters, and stories, I aspire to create — their authors the ones I aspire to emulate.

Now if only I could find that magical formula...

2 comments:

Amy Allgeyer Cook said...

LMAO!! To Kill ANOTHER Mockingbird. Too funny.

E. Van Lowe said...

Our literature is created form our personal experience. We cannot get away from it without being dishonest. I know. I've tried. Create the literature that thrives within you. Are Bronte's words any more important than Harper Lee's? To readers, perhaps. But they were both writing their truths. And that's what makes both their works enduring. Be truthful and honest, and if you hit greatness, good for you.