Greetings,
There are some people who, even though you or I may not know them or if they are public figures who choose to be not so public, make us glad that they are, at the very least, still out there in the world with us. Sadly, we lost one of those people, and it was Harper Lee.
If you don't know who that is, and I'm sad for you if you don't, Harper Lee was the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, arguably one of the greatest books ever written. She just passed away at the age of 89, a mere seven months after her second book, Go Set a Watchman, was released. That one, the world had waited on for over fifty years. Yes, someone considered one of the best writers of our time only released two books in her long life. I haven't had a chance to read that second one, and I've heard that it was actually a first draft of Mockingbird, to which Harper made drastic changes, obviously. I don't know, but even if it was, it's probably better written than anything on the shelves these days. Still, if To Kill a Mockingbird had remained the only book that Harper Lee released or wrote, it would not have mattered. That one book was enough, because it mattered.
Now when I say it mattered, I mean that it did so in the most important way. She wrote a book that pretty much changed the world, and it certainly changes most of the people who read it. If not everyone who reads it. Interestingly enough, I don't think she set out to do that. I think she had something to say and set out to write a book that was good. However, like anyone who creates a masterpiece, she did not plan to create one. And yet, she did.
You see, a masterpiece is not something for which one can plan. It's something that happens because the person who is behind anything that exceptional somehow manages to do everything just right. Everything falls into place and some people are blessed enough to be the vessels for what is the result. Harper Lee was one of those people. She had a story to tell, and she demanded greatness of herself, which led us to this wonderful book. Considering how she seemed to shy away from as much "celebrity" as she could throughout most of her life, I imagine that she never could have predicted what an impact her writing would have on the world. Maybe that's why so many of us see her as brilliant. It's because she wasn't trying to be. She just was.
If there's one thing I really notice about Mockingbird when I read it, it is that I can so clearly see the care that Harper took as she was writing this story. She worked hard to make it the best that it could be, for herself and for anyone else who was going to read it. She perfectly took us to another world, let us see through the eyes of another person. As I said before, she wanted it to matter. So, as a writer myself, I try to make what I do matter, and Harper Lee is a shining example of that. She should be that example for all writers.
Look, I'm not saying that every book has to be To Kill a Mockingbird or any other legendary novel. In fact, some writing is meant to be fun and light, and they serve a purpose by letting our minds relax. We need those books in the world. But that is, again, their purpose, and those authors are aware of it. Speaking for myself as a reader as well, I can always tell when an author cares, and I can certainly tell when they don't. It does not take much to understand and feel what drives certain people to write certain books. Anyone can sense when someone is doing it for fame or money or to jump on a popular bandwagon, and whilst those people might have managed to achieve those things, think about what they haven't achieved. Things like respect. I know that in the past decade or so, many of us have joked and laughed about how many poorly written books have become popular and made boat loads of cash, and if that's what those authors were after, good for them, I guess. But if I was making money from a book that was terribly written and pointless and gave little to anyone who read it, I would not be happy. Because to a true artist, fame and money might be good things to attain, but without being respected as a writer, without being that artist, it's all worthless. In fact, when I finish laughing at all those aforementioned jokes, I actually feel kind of sad. I feel sad for the state we seem to be in when it come to the written word and art in general.
I have walked through many bookstores and libraries in recent years, and I do so with one question: "What is the point?" This is only my opinion, of course, but I just feel like there are so many people who want to be writers for the wrong reasons, and they build a body of work that is unbelievably futile. None of us should have to wonder what a writer has to say if we've read their book, and sadly, I've read quite a few books where I'm left empty, because, though they've put words on paper, the author has said nothing. As someone who loves words and stories and who loves to create them, I can't think of anything more devastating, in that context, than for people to read what I've written and feel nothing. I honestly want all writers to be passionate. I know some are, and I am grateful for them, but many are not. I want everyone who dares to call themselves a writer to not only want to put words on paper and collect a check, but I want them to have a desire to create entire worlds, to make a difference in the lives of their readers, even if it's a small difference. I want them to want to make their readers feel something, whether it's joy or pain or anything in between. Let it be something. We need to make them feel alive. That's what we're supposed to do. That is our contribution to the world. And it is exactly what Harper Lee did.
So, as we say goodbye to this amazing artist, I hope that all of us, especially the writers, choose to carry on a legacy that people like her began. A legacy of creating things that will reach people, that will change them for the better and that will last forever.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
