Every person in the world has an inspirational figure that they look up to. It could be a parent, a best friend, or even a famous person they haven't met. It's not surprising that inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes, but it's interesting to see who motivates people to form better versions of themselves. For a writer like myself, I find inspiration from the author who revolutionized the book writing industry forever.
A few decades ago, the small town of Tulsa, Oklahoma discovered new talent in the form of a remarkable young woman named Susan Eloise Hinton. Not long before that, she was another mindful high schooler doing the best with what she had. The world had yet to realize that the power of creating an entirely new book genre was at her fingertips. Like many young minds, she spent her days observing and learning about the world around her while probably staring out at a sunset or two. Eventually, a life-changing idea inspired this real-life heroine to start writing her own story. Although this was far from anything that had ever been read or written before.
Being a young woman gave the sharp girl a unique advantage. Hinton's youthful point of view helped her to do what had never been done. Her characters with unheard of names captured the true concepts of struggling youth with honest depth and humor. She pushed the envelope farther than anyone could have anticipated by writing real matter that would later be deemed as 'controversial'. It was a single step for her as a debuting author, but it was a gigantic leap for young adults everywhere.
There's an old saying that writers write what they know, and Hinton happened to know a lot about topics that were considered unladylike at the time. It was that branched out mindset of and towards her story that turned Susan Eloise Hinton into the revolutionary S. E. Hinton that readers know and love today. S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders had the heart and pain that teenagers felt but rarely expressed because of the repression that their adult figures inflicted. This early young adult novel shed sunlight onto a world that always existed but was never fully acknowledged.
S. E. Hinton dared to write about masculine subjects that most female writers would not have dreamed of writing. No fear lived in that great author's midst, and her driven initiative continues to inspire me every day. The long-lasting impression of her work established the young adult genre as a huge part of culture. Therefore I know S. E. Hinton as my biggest writing inspiration. S. E. Hinton was a female trailblazer before being a female trailblazer was trendy. I would not be the writer I am today if it weren't for her brilliant storytelling abilities. The dawn may go down today, but S. E. Hinton's golden mark on society is here to stay.
