If I believe the memes on Facebook, all writers have cats. I'm pretty sure not all of them do, but the number of cat/writer memes far outstrip the number of dog/writer memes.
I have four cats -- the luxurious Snowy (pure black; named for the irony value); the mischievious Me-Me, a petite grey and white; the caterwauling calico Girly-Girl, and the rotund black-and-white grump Stinkerbelle. They help me write as you might imagine -- when I sit in the living room at my computer desk, they interrupt me by biting my toes (Me-Me), butting my arms (Snowy), and yelling at me (Girly). Think of these as enforced work breaks.
Exhibit 1: My cats: Snowy, Me-Me, Girly-Girl, and Stinkerbelle
I thought I could involve them in the writing process -- "Me-Me, could you proofread this passage for me?" (Me-Me stares at me with her huge, adorable eyes and licks my nose.) Ok, maybe not.
Many writers love cats. My favorite example was Ernest Hemingway, who loved cats so much he let them wander his estate. Due to the high number of polydactyls (extra-toed) cats on his estate, extra-toed cats became known as "Hemingway Cats".
Perhaps cats inspire writers to imagine. After all, their faces -- darling, elegant, curmudgeonly, bewildered -- display character traits that can be used in our stories. People personify cats in cat memes -- for example, Diabeetus cat (who looked like Wilford Brimley, who starred in commercials about diabetes.)
Exhibit 2: A picture of Wilford Brimley and Diabeetus cat:
Writers even sneak cats into their stories. Robin D. Owens, in her Celta science fiction, writes a collection of telepathic cats who pick their owners. (She also has other animals, but I'm ignoring that for the sake of my thesis here). Cats have become detectives, as in Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who... series. The same things that drive cat-haters up the wall -- their fickleness, their curiosity, their dignity, their mischief-making -- make them good characters.
Why cats and not dogs? Dogs have different characteristics -- they are usually perfect companions, and we associate them with hunting and with sitting by the fireplace. We don't associate them with something that will break open a plot or withstand being gifted with anthropomorphic traits (like Diabeetus Cat above.
I have to go now -- Girly-Girl has arrived for my enforced distraction ...
I love cats and so does my daughter. We don't have one because John is allergic to their dander. My house is also rather small and here in Hotlahoma you seldom find a house with a basements. I dont know where I would put the litter box.
ReplyDeleteCats are unique creatures. They are solitary, aloof, comical, affectionate, inquizative, and can have their own larger than life persona.
The cats that i had when i was a kid were outside cats. They were wonderful companions. They were feral cats that I had coaxed into becoming tame with hot dogs and other food I found in the fridge that I and my siblings did not want to eat. I would spend hours outside playing with them, and petting them and contemplating what happen that day at school. They seemed to be able to sense when i just wanted them to sit in my lap and purr so i could pet them on a day when i was feeling sad. Cats are remarkable. I can imagine why a writer loves cats.
This is Lanetta.
I remember when you and John visited Opalina (my cat who died a few years ago at 20!) John said then he had an allergy, but he played with Opie enough to get her really wound up!
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