Cassandra Clare is Judith Rumelt's pen name, who is most known for her bestselling series The Mortal Instruments. I first read her book, The City of Bones after reading what was then one of the most famous novels in America, Twilight. My sister bought the book after buying Breaking Dawn, when the book was just new. The plot was all weird for me back then, and I was lost most of the time at the start of the book, but then I persisted and by the middle of the book, I fell in love with it. The witty jokes and great quotes of Clary and Jace and all their friends were really fun to read. The stories, the backstories, the intertwined relationships, the almost lifelike characters, the fantasy world; all of them were crafted perfectly, at least in my own perspective. And by the time of the fourth book, we bought the first book of its prequel series, The Infernal Devices. I really can't put in words how I love this series, all its books. It was perfect, my imagination here was going nuts; it's like I lived with them. I cried at the end of the last book, Clockwork Princess. I just, can't tell you how much it moved my heart.
So much for that. My real purpose here is to draw the power of writing and use it to converse with the books' author, Cassie Clare. *muttering incomprehensible words*
"CASSIE!" I shout out the words, summoning the author of the wickedly charming series, The Mortal Instruments.
"Oh my gosh, where am I? Who are you—" and then I filled Cassandra with all the knowledge she needed, through the power of words. This is power!
"Okay. I'm here now. What would you ask?" she inquired.
"Um, okay. I wanted first to tell you how much I loved your books, especially The Infernal Devices series, but I seem to forgot that I already told you that in our telepathic communication earlier, so I shall now ask you questions. This will seem a lot like a talk show, not that it matters anyway—okay, where do you get ideas in writing?"
"I think Steven King always says 'Wal-Mart.' Harlan Ellison says 'Poughkeepsie.' Lawrence Watt-Evans has a good essay about this. So does Tim Wynne-Jones. And Justine Larbalestier has great advice as well.
"As you can see,
this question is the one every writer hates and everyone always asks. The fact
is, ideas come from all around you, from everything you experience every day.
You see a light on in an abandoned building and you think “I wonder who’s in
there and what they’re doing?" The answer to that is an idea for a story.
Whether it’s a good story or not is up to you."
I smiled because, I already know this for a fact, but I've never acknowledged it 'til now. I move to the next question.
"Where do you start a book? With plot, characters, or dialogue?"
"I tend to start with characters, but everyone does it differently. There is no magic formula for the right order
to write things in."
"And another, I can't figure out how to plot!"
"PLOT is CHARACTER revealed by ACTION. No, I didn’t make that
up; that’s Aristotle. Basically, plot isn’t something that exists outside the
rest of your story – the characters, the action, the setting. Make up awesome
characters. Put them in interesting situations. Force them to make important
and revelatory choices that change them. Make sure that at the beginning of
your story your characters want something. Decide whether or not they get it.
Those are the elements of your story. The most important thing to remember is
that your first reader, and audience, is yourself. Make sure you’re telling a
story you yourself are dying to read.
"If you are really stuck with plotting — if you keep starting
books only to lose track of where they’re going; if you can’t get past the
first chapter, etc. — I would suggest outlining. That means sitting down and
writing out a very detailed summary of everything that happens in your book
beforeyou start writing it. Yes, some people can just wing it. But if it looks
like you’re not one of them, the fact is that most writers outline."
I was filled with all the knowledge I want to know at just a simple question and answer. Wow, no wonder she was very successful.
"Thank you very much, Cassie! I am very much itching to get to writing right now, but before that, I would like to thank you again very, very, very much for William, Tessa, and Jem. They broke my heart, but it gave me such a genuine feeling I rarely feel. And to think they were book characters! Man, I was in tears! Did you cry too while writing their story?"
"My, my, you're welcome. I'm sorry I did that, and it's such a good feeling when someone acknowledges my stories and cries with my characters. They made me cry, too, so much. Very much. It's sad but really fulfilling to finish their story. It was a very fun experience"
"Oh wait, I almost forgot. I have another question."
"Okay, what is it?"
"Do you believe there exists an inequity between gifted or talented people and normal people?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't believe there are gifted or just normal people. Everyone is special, and hard work, focus, and patience is always the key to everything. The 'gifted' people tend to be just people focusing intensely."
"Thank you, thank you Cassie. I can't thank you enough. I'm very thankful for The Mortal Instruments universe, and I just want to say that I love to write someday works just like yours."
"You're welcome, you're welcome," she chuckled. "Good luck on your writing, and remember, don't wish to write like me; be better than me! Thank you for this conversation!"
"Thank you for your time. It was really great. Bye!" She smiled me a goodbye and I return back to the real world.
Well, that was such a great time. Back to homework, chap!
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