OUR PERCEPTION IS AS UNIQUE AS OUR FINGER PRINT
When my husband, Jim and I were in France a little while back we had this argument about what colour a five pound note was. He thought it was blue, I thought it was green. We didn’t have one with us, nor did we have internet access at that time. So Jim phoned three people and asked them what colour a five pound note was. Two of them said blue and one said green. Then I phoned three people. One said blue and two said green. We were level!
That was when we realised our question didn’t have a factual answer but was just a matter of personal PERCEPTION! Our individual PERCEPTION of the world is as unique as our finger print. And that’s what makes it so valuable, especially when we are reading or writing.
When I go into schools for ‘Author Talks’ I often tell a story about a guinea pig. A girl called Emmy finds the guinea pig in her back garden and manages to capture it. Emmy lives in a very quiet country lane and the nearest neighbours are a few hundred metres away. Emmy doesn’t really know the neighbouring family much, but she knows there’s a girl called Sarah who lives there and wonders if the guinea pig might be hers. Emmy phones up and gives a description of the guinea pig. Sarah is confused because it’s true that she has lost her guinea pig, Spike, her most treasured possession, but the description from Emmy doesn’t match Spike at all. When the two girls meet up and look at the guinea pig together, Sarah is even more confused. Why did Emmy say Spike was quite little and with short light brown fur when Sarah can clearly see how big he is and how long and dark his fur is?
Children have offered me many wonderfully imaginative reasons as to why Emmy gave a wrong description, but nearly all their explanations assume it was a deliberately false description, whereas actually it turned out that the two girls simply saw the guinea pig in different ways because Emmy was the owner of a pet rabbit, and Sarah’s only other pet was a hamster. Think about it…
When we authors create characters it can be disappointing if the front cover image is far removed from our own PERCEPTIONS of our characters. And it feels all wrong since the characters are the products of OUR imaginations, after all. But here’s one front cover of mine that I love. The designer did this drawing as a rough, just to give the idea. I took one look at it and saw the Billie from my mind come to life in a few strokes on a page. So the illustrator kept it like that and didn’t add to it at all. Isn’t it lovely! If you read the book, you’ll see what I mean!
Love that guinea pig story. I think everyone who meets my dog, Lillie, would agree on one thing – she’s a complete fruit loop!
Hehe. That made me laugh!
Billie looks like a great character. I like her name too. I think finding the right name is important too.
Great post! But what colour is a five pound note? I don’t have one in front of me!
I think the England Five Pound Note is green. The Scottish ones are Blue, i don’t know why.
I liked the pet story.
Ahh brilliant post! I liked the guinea pig story.
*checks an English £5 note* Some bits of the design are green. Others are blue or turquoise. Overall it’s somewhere inbetween the two colours. (The back is more blue, the front is more green.)
They’re getting so rare that no wonder people can’t remember…
Hi Ann,
Welcome to GirlsHeartBooks. I love the guinea pig story. I’m with Jim on the £5 note.
Off now to see if I can find one ; )
Juliex
This is a very very interesting blog post. What you said about perception has got me thinking…
Oh and by the way..
I think a £5 note is green.
Thank you for your comments everyone! There’s a bit of disagreement about the colour of the fiver – I rest my case!
HI Ann! A belated welcome to Girls Heart Books to one of my favourite authors. My computer has been in being repaired so I’ve not been able to post anything for ages but I love what you’ve written here. A very perceptive post (sorry, couldn’t resist!). I agree the cover for Billie is fab – the book is too, Iola (10) loved it when she read it recently. Looking forward to reading more of your posts. Linda xx
I’ve only just read this Linda. Thank you so much for your lovely welcome! Ann x
Gr8 post!! lol!!! Loved the story – my cats can only b described as 1 thing – crazzzzzzzzy!!!
Ella
xxx
PS i must sayi think fivers are green!!!