A FAMILY AFFAIR....
Everyone has one. Some of them are tiny...some are huge. Some are interconnected and stretched beyond recognition. Some are big and messy...others are perfected and just so. No matter where we are now, or who we are...we all started with a family.
Every book has a family (or better yet- the lack of one).
How boring would Little Women be without our group of sisters (would also change the title)- but a family environment helps build the tensions and differences between Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.
Pip- poor orphaned boy- is sent to Mrs Joe, his cruel sister. Would his life have been different if he had a happy home life, loving parents and a caring and gentle older sister?
Imagine Lizzy Bennet without her gaggle of sisters? We needed to see her amongst Jane, the declared beauty of the family....as well as dull Mary and the foolish Kitty and Lydia. Her parents of course are needed. We needed Mrs Bennet's 'woe is us' and concerns over her unwed daughters and their standing in the community - and Mr Bennet's snide remarks.
Yes they could have been delivered by others, not necessarily family members, close friends for instance....but doesn't it hurt that much more coming from one that supposedly loves you?
Growing up I loved reading stories such as Swiss Family Robinson (family of boys), Anne of Green Gables (orphan), What Katy Did series (motherless but with 2 brothers and 3 sisters) and the Nancy Drew series (motherless hence her early independence).
As the eldest of four children perhaps I felt more at home with books with a large group of children...or else dreamt I was an only child.
Families change. We grow closer together, we grow apart. There are fights and makeups, secrets and revelations. And lets face it, no one knows us better than those that have grown up with us.
They know exactly which button to push...what nerve to pinch.
Yes there are stories to be told in families, and a lot of writers do. Very dimly veiled characters that are definitely brothers / mothers / wives / fathers/ daughters.
However I think every story has family in it.
Of some description. And these days of blended families there are more stresses and worries, as well as more love.
I remember having a Storytime session about families, and the craft at the end was to draw yourself and your family. A lot of pictures were of Mum and Dad, Myself and perhaps a brother or sister or two. Some had half brothers and half sisters. One little girl asked for three pages...one for each part of her family (very complicated).
Harry Potter is an orphan (a big part of the story is his parent's death)...but even he has family. Yes they are Muggles who neglect him and make him live in the closet under the stairs, but he has family. Later on of course Hermione and Ron (and Ron's extensive family) become his family.
Either we love them or hate them...ignore them or phone them every other day...family helps to create the characters we are writing about. Lack of family also helps to build characters....shows what they miss, what they crave, what they can do without.
And some of us, of course, have furry family members.
These too help build up a character.
Vicki
How boring would Little Women be without our group of sisters (would also change the title)- but a family environment helps build the tensions and differences between Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.
Pip- poor orphaned boy- is sent to Mrs Joe, his cruel sister. Would his life have been different if he had a happy home life, loving parents and a caring and gentle older sister?
Yes they could have been delivered by others, not necessarily family members, close friends for instance....but doesn't it hurt that much more coming from one that supposedly loves you?
Growing up I loved reading stories such as Swiss Family Robinson (family of boys), Anne of Green Gables (orphan), What Katy Did series (motherless but with 2 brothers and 3 sisters) and the Nancy Drew series (motherless hence her early independence).
As the eldest of four children perhaps I felt more at home with books with a large group of children...or else dreamt I was an only child.
They know exactly which button to push...what nerve to pinch.
Yes there are stories to be told in families, and a lot of writers do. Very dimly veiled characters that are definitely brothers / mothers / wives / fathers/ daughters.
However I think every story has family in it.
I remember having a Storytime session about families, and the craft at the end was to draw yourself and your family. A lot of pictures were of Mum and Dad, Myself and perhaps a brother or sister or two. Some had half brothers and half sisters. One little girl asked for three pages...one for each part of her family (very complicated).
Harry Potter is an orphan (a big part of the story is his parent's death)...but even he has family. Yes they are Muggles who neglect him and make him live in the closet under the stairs, but he has family. Later on of course Hermione and Ron (and Ron's extensive family) become his family.
Either we love them or hate them...ignore them or phone them every other day...family helps to create the characters we are writing about. Lack of family also helps to build characters....shows what they miss, what they crave, what they can do without.
And some of us, of course, have furry family members.
These too help build up a character.
Vicki
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