I've been asked to write a 500-word essay about something -- a film, a book, a play, a person -- that inspired me when I was younger, and I'm struggling with the assignment. Not because I can't think of anything. Quite the opposite. I keep remembering awesome, awesome things that I loved as a child, and I want to share so many of them... how do I cram it all into 500 measly words?!?!?
(Don't worry, beloved editor, I won't be sending you a tome. I promise to rein it in and be good and keep to our agreed word count!)
But there's so many wonderful books and stories that I loved when I was little, and in the darkest hours of night, I've been waking up with technicolor memories flashing through my brain. Littlest Hobo! Dune! The Dukes of Hazzard! ElfQuest! Isn't it weird, what inspires us? Isn't it wonderful when you find other people who were similarly inspired? I mentioned to a friend of mine that I read ElfQuest as a kid, and she literally leapt up and said, "Me too!!!!"
Zap! A connection, cast years ago, unknown to both of us. No wonder we get along so well... it's kinda cool.
Writing this blog post has given me some ideas, and helped me hone my topic down to one book; thanks for listening to me ramble. I'm off to go write my assignment and turn it in, but while I'm gone, please share: what books, television shows or films inspired you?
1 opinions, tales & recollections:
Harold and the Purple Crayon; To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street (and just about every other Dr. Seuss book he penned); Eloise; my grandmother's travel steamer (not literary/creative but oh so amazingly influential); Kiss Me, Kate; The Orange Spot. I will stop here but could go on (and on, and on, and on...)
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