I just finished Mockingjay a couple of nights ago, even though rightfully I should have been doing homework instead of plowing my way through one of the most impressive series I’ve ever read. I could fill this post with spoilers, but I’m not going to; I’d rather have people actually go read the trilogy. I’ve actually been pushing it in the general direction of a lot of people. Most of these people – to their own loss – have been ignoring me.
The writing style really struck me as I read the trilogy. At first, I didn’t like it. It was first person. It wasn’t first person present, though, so I didn’t hate it. I got over my frustration with that pretty quickly, though. I began to notice the setting and the characters. The descriptions weren’t too much, though. They were enough. Enough to spark my imagination. Collins said “electric fence” and from there I created the interior of the coal-mining town that was District 12. She described the clothes that Katniss was wearing, but only when it was important and related to Cinna. It wasn’t over-detailed, like some aspiring authors do, and it’s wasn’t brand specific (it couldn’t be, of course). Nobody could feel out-of-the-loop about her descriptions. I think that’s really important.
Her plot was mind blowing. I keep saying “it’s just a distopia book” and it is… but at the same time, it isn’t. I really want to go back and re-evaluate ‘Tweens now. I want to look at my characters and make sure they’re flawed. I want to describe more. I want to pinpoint specific references to popular culture and eliminate them.
I want to make my stories very real. Fantasy enough that the reader can step out of them, but real enough so they cannot forget.
Feathers & Fangs 