I stand in constant amazement of the creativity of little minds.
As I finished each chapter of my novel, I read it to my children. I could tell which characters captured their imagination, as they started to show up in the on-going narrative play in our household. My kids thought nothing of sending my characters off on wild, universe-conquering adventures that were completely unrelated to my story. I found my characters rubbing shoulders with Anakin Skywalker and Puffles (Club Penguin), having improbable death-defying escapes from equally outrageous villains.
(Imagine this guy in hot pink)
I realized that my story and characters had entered the cauldron of raw material that my children used for their creative play. And I couldn’t have been more pleased. Almost as happy as I was when Worm Burner (son #2) asked exactly how an anti-matter drive engine worked (because that detail was left out of my story).
Children draw upon the riches they find in their lives and have a literally unbound creativity. The books, the media, the websites and music in their lives are woven together, creating the whole cloth from which they build their understanding of the world.
Keeping an eye on what goes into the cauldron is an awesome responsibility. Being able to contribute to it is a privilege.
Ok, back to the writing now!