Writing Tips!

Follow The Spark

*whistles* Man, it's been awhile since I updated this one, but here we are

I don't know if other people experience this or if it's just me, but this is something I think is really interesting, so I think more people should look out for it.

A lot of my inspiration for writing comes from music, but every now and then there will be a song or even just a line that sticks in my head. I don't mean like when you get a song stuck in your head and it's annoying, I mean like when there's a line that makes you stop and go, wait a minute... That means something.

And maybe it gives you some sort of feeling or a vibe, or it sparks an idea for a plot or a character. Maybe you just get a glimpse of something and then it just HAUNTS you for ages because you have no idea what it means but you know it's a good idea, so you keep coming back to that line, that song, and the image it gives you.

And eventually that little snippet will grow into a full story because you spend so much time on it. Maybe similar songs will help fill in the gap, who knows, I just find it fascinating that little daydreams or small bits of songs can lead you to what could be the greatest story idea you've ever had.

I'll give you some examples in case this is still confusing, because I think it's hard to explain.

When I listen to the song Praying by Kesha, for instance,

I think of a character I have. Her name is Cora, and she's had a horrible childhood that she's struggling to overcome. She lives in the city and in my story, has grown close to a man that's very spontaneous and deadset on helping her. So when I hear the song, I think of Cora playing the piano at the beginning, pouring her heart out in it, but then I think of her and the man dancing in the middle of a New York Street. It's impractical, there are cars driving by, it's dangerous, but when I hear this song, it's always what I think of. Cora dancing in traffic.

The one that relly made me pinpoint this experience is the song Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene by Hozier (I love it, plz listen to it)

And I don't know what to do with what it gives me. I just get this noir, 1940's vibe. I get speakeasys and dancing flappers. Old style microphones and blood red elbow length gloves. I have the vague outline of a woman. She has no name, she has very few characteristics but a strong personality. I have no plot, just a time period and a very cool vibe. And it's driving me CRAZY that I can't add a story to it, I can't think of something beyond this little details, but at some point I'll get there.

I hope.

The last one isn't even a fully song (although the full song is really good), it's just a line.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, haunted by the ghost of you"

I have no images, I have no characters or plot or vibe, but the line just sticks in my brain, like it could build to something, like there's a thousand stories you could write on it and I just have to think of one. And it plays over and over in my mind until I do something with it, UGH.

Basically what I'm trying to get at is that when something sticks with you- a lyric, a song, something someone says or something you read, etc. Think about it.

It's a little spark of a story, and it's up to you to see what the spark burns into.

So follow the spark and see what happens. 

:)