Finding a Voice

Every time I read a book, I hope that some of the author's techniques will rub off on me. Judy Blume has a very particular tone, she has the ability to capture the voice of a young kid. Ever since I read my first Judy Blume book, my character's voices sound similar to her's.

Sometimes, the book has no affect on how I write my next piece. The words just flow in and out, and though its disappointing, I just have to remember that there are millions of other books for me to learn from.

This week, I am reading what has to my new favorite book next to The History of Love which I just finished. And I am happily learning new things from this one. The Wild Things by David Eggers is my idea of a perfect book. The picture book by Maurice Sendak has always been one of my favorites. From naming all of the Wild Things my own personal names, and maybe even developing my love for warm soup from it, it's an amazing book that I will always love.

And then the movie... That made me go crazy with tears. I've never cried at movies before. This one caught me a bit off guard. And ever since I've seen it, I cry at almost every one.

The whole idea of turning a 10 page picture book into a 300 page novel never occurred to me before for an idea for a book. I also never realized that though I do know that I want to write a book, I don't know what kind. And I always imagined my book to be a random idea I developed in a dream. Or something I thought of day dreaming one day. But the whole concept of taking a well loved picture book and turning it into something even greater was always a blur for me. And now, from reading this book, I have developed that idea.

I also think a lot about voices. I'm wondering if Dave Eggers has a good voice for Max. And the Wild Things. And Claire and Gary. And maybe since now my voice is similar to Judy Blume, in a way, I should be picking a picture book alike to that voice. But what will my voice be in 10 years? Will it be Judy Blume? A. A. Milne? Or Audrey Bachman?

Will I develop a voice of my own? For someone else to learn from?

Maybe that's the real dream I wish to pursue. To be someone's mentor. For them to look up to me, learn from me, from a passion that we both love.

Writing.

But I guess what will never make sense to me is that I will always know part of what I want, but I'll never know what will complete my dream. And though you could say that since I'm writing it, it does make sense to me, it really doesn't and it might never will. I know what my dreams are. That's for sure. But the reality of my dreams I don't know. But I am always learning, and what I can say for sure is that one of my best sources of learning, are books.