- All of Jane Austen's novels. They're smart and witty, they have memorable (and swoon-worthy) characters, and they're still popular 200 years after they were first published. Who wouldn't want to be the author of these amazing books?
- The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling. Oh how I wish I'd invented her fantabulous world of wizards, wands, Hogwarts, and messenger owls! (I wouldn't mind all that money either.)
- Then there are the books I wish I were artistic and clever enough to execute, like Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine Trilogy (gotta love his artwork!) and Caroline Preston's The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, a book told entirely in collage. How I'd love to be able to create something half as wonderful as these books.
- I also wish I'd written The Riddle-Master of Hed trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. The writing in these novels is so amazing I find myself lingering over the lyrical prose and rereading certain poetical phrases and passages aloud. Oh, to be able to write like that!
So, what books do you wish you had written?
Often I read a book that is so beautiful or original I wish I had written it, but it also makes me realize that I could never do that. So although I do enjoy reading such beautiful books, it sometimes makes me a little bit sad as well, since it makes me see my own limitations.
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
I completely understand; I sometimes feel that exact same way.
DeleteI second your list! I wish I had written some of those, too. I confess I always wished I could write an epic fantasy novel like The Sword of Shannara, or historical fiction like "Sing Down the Moon." There are many clever picture books I wish I had written, too, like "The Day the Crayons Quit." And lately I wish I wrote poetry like Billy Collins or Edna St. Vincent Millay or Langston Hughes or Sara Teasdale. Guess I will just have to enjoy the fact that I can read!
ReplyDeleteI'm so not a poet...but wouldn't it be nice to be able to construct a poem like Millay or Hughes? Too be that good with words and imagery...sigh.
DeleteI'd love to have JK's imagination and to have written Harry Potter. And ditto her money!
ReplyDeleteYou know I find it hard to answer what I would like to have written though as I'm so much a reader and not a writer. My mind just doesn't go in that direction at all.
That's probably a happier place to be. I always wanted to be a writer, so I'm always wishing (usually wistfully) that I could write something as good as what I'm reading.
DeleteWell then you should just go for it! You know that saying 'never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about'. :)
ReplyDeleteI should post that saying on my mirror. :) Love your positivity. Thanks!
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