Writing About Writing

Ideas come from ordinary, everyday life. And from imagination. And from feelings. And from memories.

Jerry Spinelli is an author with experience; however, not the kind of experience you may be thinking about. He is a man with life experience. In my Writing 219 class, we are taught to "write what we know", and it seems to me, that he does just that. He doesn't write about murders, or heists, or exotic lives in other countries. He writes about ordinary, everyday life, and makes it interesting. He draws from his life, as a child, growing up, as a parent, and as a grandparent.

The only thing that bothers me about the information on the above website is the fact that he couldn't find his true inspiration until 3 books into his writing career. I guess it scares me to think that maybe he wasn't truely passionate about what he was writing, and was only taking a stab in the dark at something he thought might be good. But it turned out well, and the book was worth soo much. It was a great read, and you could definately tell that he loved life, and children. Why he didn't start there, I guess noone will know. But everyone is allowed a few trial and errors in their lifetime.

There's an interesting part of the text that is very intriguing, and yet, I can't quite figure out what the author is trying to convey by adding it in there. Stargirl and Leo are riding in the backseat of the van to the convention, when suddenly she tells Mr. McShane to stop the van. She gets out and runs in the desert. When she gets back in the van she asks about mockingbirds. She quotes Archie Brubacker, "mockingbirds may do more than imitate other birds. I mean, other living birds. He thinks they may also imitate the sounds of birds that are no longer around. He thinks the sounds of extinct birds are passed down the years from mockingbird to mockingbird."

They talk about Moas and Passenger Pigeons, and it got me to thinking about "what if"? But I also had the urge, as an English major usually does, to connect it to some sort of significance within the book. Stargirl was too unique to compare to a mockingbird, because she was one of a kind, like the moa. So I thought about the school, and students. Maybe they are like the mockingbird, only becoming unique when they find the inspiration. But somehow, that didn't quite fit either, because the mockingbird doesn't change who it is, but simply changes what it does.

This is Leo. Leo never changes his appearance. He is steadfast, yet, as Erin S. puts it, "Leo can't escape it". He is captivated by her actions, her clothes, her though processes, and even her song. He doesn't go as far as imitating her, but I wonder at why they were supposed to meet. To me, it seems like his view on the world changed, simply because of her. His life is richer, and he learned from her, and maybe, if he has children, he will pass down that richness, just like the mocking bird may pass down the voices of the extinct. His example will preserve, if not her legacy, her purpose and drive in life.

"She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew."

An individual, Stargirl can only be described as indescribable. This quote from the book describes her to a tee, and yet, a million words wouldn't be enough to put a label on her. It is undeniable that she had the ability to create change, and make a stir. She created individuality among a school simply by her presence. Every person was affected by her, either physically or emotionally, negatively or positively. She created life, and yet, noone really knew how.

The entire school knew nothing about her when she came, and all they had to go off of was her outside appearance and her eccentric actions. She was unique, and everyone knew it. "She laughed when there was no joke. She danced when there was no music. She had no friends, and yet she was the friendliest kid in school." Noone knew what to think of her. They couldn't even place her into the category of being real.

She was mysterious, yet real, and in that school, noone had seen that before, so noone knew how to deal with it. They all found themselves unable to define what she was, and unable to stop wondering. That idea of trying to pin her to a corkboard and yet having her fly away was the true puzzle. No matter how hard everyone tried, there was no definition for her, and no matter what they directed at her, she always knew how to rise above.

I AM REAL. Even if I have to look in the mirror every day, smile, and tell myself; I know I am real. It's just getting so difficult. For a while, I was an inspiration, but now my world has completely turned its back on me. It went from being completely loved to totally and utterly scorned. Leo and Dori are the only two that even talk to me anymore. Luckily, they don't have to be as affected by it as much as I am. They only have the partial silent treatment. I, on the other hand, don't even get so much as a glance in my direction. I just don't understand what I did wrong. So what if I am an individual? I don't think they understand that I am simply who I am. I can't change for them. And I'm not trying to be a terrible person. I just care about people.

I want the world to be a better place. Like helping that kid out on the other basketball team. I guess I didn't think before I did it, I just did it, but he was hurt, and I couldn't just stand there and watch him suffer in pain, alone. Noone else even made a move to be at his side, not even his own team. It made me want to cry. But I guess all my compassion was wrong? Maybe I really don't understand the way the world works. I guess I thought it was a good thing to care about other people, and not just ourselves.

No! We need to care. What kind of world would we live in otherwise? I don't care what Hillari or the rest of the school does to conspire against me anymore. It can't ruin who I am, or take away the fact that I have the ability to care about other people. I have the ability to change the world one step at a time, and hold my head high knowing I did it being me.

An enchanted place is one in which a person can lose themselves. Their surroundings can engulf them and swallow their innermost thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This is a picture of Stargirl's enchanted place. When they arrived, Leo saw nothing different, nothing special. It was just a random place in the middle of the desert with a large saguaro, a bundle of sticks, gray scrub, tumbleweed, and a few prickly pears. He was skeptical to say the least. But even in the midst of his skeptism, Stargirl knew it was special.

In her own words, she described this special place as a place where we can actually hear what the earth is trying to say to us. It opens our minds to nothingness. As Stargirl puts it, "The earth is speaking to us, but we can't hear because of all the racket our senses are making. Sometimes we need to erase them, erase our sense. Then - maybe - the earth will touch us. The universe will speak. The stars will whisper." As the sunset became more and more brilliant, they sat there in silence. Stargirl was already lost to the cosmos, but Leo couldn't quite lose himself, until he scooped up Cinnamon and held him close to his chest. At that point, he finally became one with nature, not even having the ability to draw a line between him and Cinnamon. He gained a connection in that enchanted place. Even if it was a place that was nothing more than ordinary.

One of the definitions of the word literary is versed in or fond of literature or learning. When applying this idea to reading, one might find reading combined with enjoyment. It is this type of reading that you like to do, not something that you have to do. It goes back to when books were fun, and the endings were always a mystery that you just can’t wait to find out. Little kids love that kind of intrigue and it’s why they get so caught up when they read or are read to. They involve themselves with the story at hand. Literary reading is this exact same thing.

It is immersing yourself within a book and escaping everything else in your world. It’s enjoying what you’re reading, to the point of losing yourself in it. A person can get so caught up with a story that they loose track of time and may read for hours. A good book can engulf its reader, and make the reader forget about their worries, their concerns, and their problems. It can be relief from everything else in the world. On that same note, it can also enrich everyday life and make the reader examine things outside the book with things from inside it. Good writing can help a person learn from that situation described, and it can give them guidelines that they might apply to real life.

It may also give them a new way to look at the world or appreciate it in a new light. It can change a person’s attitude about something or deeply education them about something else. It can be a solution to a problem, or can raise an awareness of a problem that needs a solution. By getting the reader involved, it can push them to get involved in so much more that life has to offer. But there’s more to writing than simply the plot.

Literary Reading can also give the reader an appreciation of its actual words. Each piece of writing is unique, and words have the power to inspire. They give the reader the ability to explore new combinations of lyric, and enrich vocabulary. They also can give clues, hints, symbolism, and imagery that enrich a person’s enjoyment of the story. They use words to describe a character and give it its personality, or enhance the details of the setting. They can use words to draw the reader in, and use wording tricks to develop the creativity of a piece of writing. It’s not only enjoying your book, but finding things in the text that makes the reader appreciate it more, and makes the reader want to keep reading. It’s this ability that authors have to spin a world that sucks you in and captures your interest with their words.

Writing is supposed to captivate readers and make them enjoy what they are doing and it makes reading, for some, a pastime that is irreplaceable. It gives them worlds to escape to when they can’t deal with their own, and gives them lives to dream about. But most of all, it’s an enriching experience that can give the reader enjoyment that has no comparison.