Wednesday, January 25, 2017

A Cute Bit of Writing // And Let's Talk about Stories

My siblings and I bought our dad a set of Frances Hodgson Burnett books for Christmas.  He is now reading them aloud to the family. 
 
You know what I never knew though?  A Little Princess as we know it is not the original published work.  In fact, it was much shorter when Frances Hodgson Burnett first published it.  There's an explanation in the beginning of my dad's book which tells all about it, and I found it very sweet the way the author chose to write this explanation. 
 
Which is why I'm here, actually.  Because I wanted to share it with all of you. 
 


The Whole of the Story

I do not know whether many people realize how much more than is ever written there really is in a story--how many parts of it are never told--how much more really happened than there is in the book one holds in one's hand and pores over.  Stories are something like letters.  When a letter is written, how often one remembers things omitted and says, "Ah, why did I not tell them that?"  In writing a book one relates all that one remembers at the time, and if one told all that really happened perhaps the book would never end.  Between the lines of every story there is another story, and that is one that is never heard and can only be guessed at by the people who are good at guessing.  The person who writes the story many never know all of it, but sometimes he does and wishes he had the chance to begin again.

     When I wrote the story of "Sara Crewe" I guessed that a great deal more had happened at Miss Minchin's than I had had time to find out just then.  I knew, of course, that there must have been chapters full of things going on all the time; and when I began to make a play of the book and called it "A Little Princess," I discovered three acts full of things.  What interested me most was that I found that there had been girls at the school whose names I had not even known before.  There was a little girl whose name was Lottie, who was an amusing little person; there was a hungry scullery-maid who was Sara's adoring friend; Ermengarde was much more entertaining than she had seemed at first; things happened in the garret which had never been hinted at in the book; and a certain gentleman whose name was Melchisedec was an intimate friend of Sara's who should never have been left out of the story if he had only walked into it in time.  He and Becky and Lottie lived at Miss Minchin's, and I cannot understand why they did not mention themselves to me at first.  They were as real as Sara, and it was careless of them not to come out of the story shadowland and say, "Here I am--tell about me."  But they did not--which was their fault and not mine.  People who live in the story one is writing ought to come forward at the beginning and tap the writing person on the shoulder and say, "Hallo, what about me?"  If they don't, no one can be blamed but themselves and their slouching, idle ways.

     After the play of "A Little Princess" was produced in New York, and so many children went to see it and liked Becky and Lottie and Melchisedec, my publishers asked me if I could not write Sara's story over again and put into it all the things and people who had been left out before, and so I have done it; and when I began I found there were actually pages and pages of things which had happened that had never been put even into the play, so in this new "Little Princess" I have put all I have been able to discover.

 

~Frances Hodgson Burnett~

 
 
Isn't that so cute, though?  I love the way she talks about her characters as if they were real people with minds of their own.  And how she practically scolds them for their "slouching, idle ways" in not making their appearance into the story much sooner.  *chuckle*
 
Also the point she makes about stories being like letters, with so many things omitted in the telling.  This really struck a chord with me.  I've never written a complete story myself, but from the pitiful attempts I've made over the years, I've long since discovered that it is very hard to express all that one would wish to express.   And I think it must be very true that there is much more to a story than what actually makes it onto the page. 
 
 
Tell me, have you ever written a story?  If so, have you ever had characters who surprised you by popping into your story unexpectedly?  And when you were finished writing, did you feel like your story was complete, or did you feel like there was still more to be told? 
 
Let's talk about it!
 

16 comments:

  1. I loved reading this, Miss March!! I have never read A Little Princess, but I would like to! I have seen the movie and I really like it! I agree, I think it is so cute how " she talks about her characters as if they were real people with minds of their own." <3

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    1. Yay. I'm so glad you enjoyed this! :) Which movie of A Little Princess have you seen? The one we own was made in 1986, but I know there's at least one newer version out there, too.

      Thank you so much for your comment! :)

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  2. Oh, what a cute story! I agree, I love how she talks about her characters. As a writer, I have extremely rare bouts of inspiration that are full of beginnings and ideas, but I never have the mental power to finish them. :( It makes me so sad just to think of how lily-livered I am when it comes to writing stories, especially since I want to SO much. Apparently I'm just lazy. The closest I have gotten to an actual story is one I haven't written on in months. It's about an indentured servant girl in the 18th century who runs away.

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    1. Oh! You sound just like me. I know, I know. There's something in me that wants to write stories SO bad, but I can never seem to make myself DO it. Lazy? Haha. That's me to a T. ;P

      Oh, but your story sounds intriguing. I like stories about runaways! You should definitely write more of it. :) (I know, that's more easily said than done, right? Well, I figured I may as well encourage someone else to keep writing, as I don't seem to have much success in encouraging myself. Heehee. ;))

      Thank you for your comment, Abby. It brought a smile to my face. :)

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  3. Aww, I love that! I didn't know that! And that is a good point. There's so much to a story; how can one tell it all? :)
    Love this!

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  4. Aww, this was so cute! I loved it. :D And that is such a creative way of writing... I wish I was so original, that I could think of writing things up, and have the ability to write them up in such a unique style. *sigh* I can only take my hat off to such authors who have the genuis for that.

    ~Miss Meg

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    1. I know right? So much creativity. It's enough to make one jealous. Heehee. ;P

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  5. I never knew this! So cool. Thanks for sharing!

    As a writer, yes, I have been surprised by characters in things I'm writing. Recently, a character grabbed an object on his way out of his house, and I was like, "What? You don't need that! Put it back." And he was like, "I need it. Let's go." And so I let him keep it, and then, what do you know? He DID need it!

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    1. Oh, Hamlette! That is just too cute. "...and then, what do you know? He DID need it!" Hahaha. I was literally squealing with delight over this. I just love the way you wrote it. :D

      Thank you for such a fun comment!! :D

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    2. Hee. You're welcome! I've learned to trust my characters in first drafts, as the surprises they toss at me are usually my subconscious' way of adding good things I haven't consciously thought of. In the same story I mentioned above (it's "Cloaked," the western Little Red Riding Hood that I just finished the first draft for), I thought I knew exactly how the grandmother was going to behave, and then when she stepped into the scene for the first time, she had an entirely different vibe, changed the emotional direction of the whole story, and gave me a depth of story arc I hadn't expected for her.

      As for your actual question about characters surprising me by popping up, that happens a lot too. I've had a minro character who were supposed to be in one scene just take over a whole story and end up being so wonderful, I wrote two more stories about him. I've had characters insist to me that they need to be in a story when I don't see any place for them, and then it turns out they're Pivotal People and I didn't know it at the time. (Totally just happened a couple weeks ago for a different WIP.) I've had characters refuse to accept any name I want to hang on them and reveal to me their true name halfway through a novel. I've had characters pop up in my head fully-formed with a story attached, and others just wander around asking me what they should do next. Some characters are super helpful, and others refuse to do anything without a fuss. It's highly entertaining, dealing with these imaginary people!

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    3. Wow. It just amazes me how characters can do that. Hurray for our subconscious, right? ;) I didn't know you were writing a Little Red Riding Hood story. How cool! And what a riot that the grandmother came in and took things into her own hands. Haha. Love that! :D

      You know what? You ought to write a story sometime about your dealings with all your fictional characters. That would be hilarious!! "Some characters are super helpful, and others refuse to do anything without a fuss." Haha. Yeah. I think that would be a really fun read! ;) I just really enjoy talking about characters, I guess. :)

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    4. ::coughs::

      Actually, DKoren and I have written an entire string of stories about what it's like to deal with fictional characters with minds of their own. It's hidden on our Combat! fansite, Fruit Salad, but I will give you a direct link so that you don't have to hunt for it. I'm not sure how well the stories work for people who don't know the show's characters, but we toss in so much zany stuff and random OCs that it probably makes about as much sense to non-C!-fans as anyone else who isn't us...

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    5. Haha. Sounds fun! Thanks for the link. I'll have to check it out. :)

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  6. Oh, this is adorable! I love "A Little Princess". :) And hee, the way the author "scolded" her characters reminded me of you with your characters. ;)

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    1. Haha. Really? Well, I guess it's what a lot of characters need, a bit of a scolding now and then. Heehee. ;)

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