I like Mandy Goes to Aspen because the character is so matter of fact about everything. Even the fact that she’s been hurt pretty badly. But then again, it’s nothing compared to what happened to other people.
This story was written during first quarter 2021. The initial prompt was a single word: avalanche.
It is the first of the short stories I wrote that year. My intention was to write every single day, and I followed through pretty well.
Background
These prompts were more or less random, and I had no plot or plan for this story. But I think it turned out pretty well. Still, the truth is, it did not start to truly come together until I changed Avalanche to A. Valanche.
And one of my favorite parts of this little story is the opening line:
Well, that sucked.
Plot
Somewhat ditzy and average-level talented Mandy Johnson goes to Aspen in order to schmooze with agents, acting coaches, directors, and other actors.
But things take a turn when Mandy is trapped in snow after an avalanche during skiing buries her.
With sardonic humor and a lot of very necessary ingenuity, this aspiring ingenue survives the big one.
Characters
The characters are Mandy (er, Amanda Catherine Johnson, to get technical) and Carol. I never give Carol a last name. There’s also Mandy’s agent, Arlene. But Mandy only mentions Arlene and we never see or hear her ‘on screen’, as it were.
There are also people in the lodge but again, Mandy only refers to them but the reader never sees them. Most of the story is more like a soliloquy.
Memorable Quotes
You know, those huge, slobbery dogs that I am totally afraid of? Those great big lumbering beasts. I hope they have tequila. Or is it brandy? Scotch? Can you tell them your preference?
I’d like a not too slobbery Saint Bernard. And put margaritas in that little keg thing they wear around their necks.
If I absolutely must sacrifice, then I suppose I will live without salt. So uncivilized.
Who am I kidding? I would kiss the first rescue dog I saw.
But not French; it’s not in my contract.
Rating for Mandy Goes to Aspen
The story has a K+ rating. After all, falling down the side of a mountain would make anyone swear.
Takeaways for Mandy Goes to Aspen
I like Mandy. She’s not only a survivor. She’s also self-aware enough to realize that she’s not going to win any prizes. Mandy would be lucky to get a part as Go-Go Dancer #3 in some screamfest. Most importantly, she can figure out how to solve a lot of her own problems.
I have no plans for a sequel or anything else. But I should probably clean this story up and submit it somewhere.
It seems as if the only thing you ever hear about these days is artificial intelligence. And a lot of people and companies are riding the great AI Hype Train.
But is it overblown? What is it really about, anyway?
Buying Your Ticket to the AI Hype Train
Evidently, the term artificial intelligence predates even my birth. But why is it now so, so very hot?
In part, we can all point fingers at ChatGPT. In 2022, they developed newish technology and it took off, fast! Kind of like an express train, if you will.
By early 2023, kids were already using it to write papers.
As a result, parents and educators started to get nervous. Really, really nervous. But can you blame them?
How Did the AI Hype Train Pull Into the Station?
But let’s back up a bit. AI didn’t just spring out fully formed, like Athena vis a vis Zeus. In some ways, it can pay to have had an eclectic career. Because I can honestly explain a couple of its origination points.
Databases
I’m sure most adults have heard of databases. But how many know, exactly, what one is? Well, in a way, it’s a kind of interactive list. It’s a means of organizing (basing) information (data).
Okay, so that was clear as mud.
To best explain databases, I like to turn to a personal favorite explanation.
The Database is Coming From Inside Your House
Wait, what?
We all have a database. You, me, your weird neighbor who lives down the street, and the King of England all have at least one database. And I am more than willing to bet that it’s the same type of database.
I repeat: what?
It’s definitely on your phone, and it may also still be on paper.
I am talking about your address list.
Why is an Address List a Database?
Your address list contains a ton of nuggets of information. Here, I’ll explain.
Say, you have an Uncle Dave Smith, who lives in Idaho, but used to live in Pennsylvania. And he’s married to your Aunt Susie Smith, but she was married before, to a man named William Jones. During her first marriage, Susie was known as Susie Jones.
Susie and William had a child together, Lou Jones. But Susie and Dave had a child together, Carol. Lou is away at college, in Colorado. Carol is engaged to be married to Fred Roe.
Are you with me so far?
If you wanted to list everyone who currently lives in Idaho, you’d get Dave, Susie, Carol, and maybe Lou (after all, college is generally not your permanent mailing address) and possibly also Fred.
Who fits in a set of people who have ever been named Jones? That would be William and Lou. But it’s also Susie.
Now Multiply That Times a Hundred
Let’s say you’re Carol and Fred’s wedding planner. You need to send out the invitations. And let’s say you’re sending so many invitations that it pays to batch mail everything. Using the database, you come up with four people in Idaho.
With a large family and an invitation list as long as your arm, you end up with a lot of data to comb through. A database automatically helps you pull out whatever you want (assuming the data is in there).
The Wonderful World of Granularity
Databases have fields. A field is a specific bit of information. Above, we have first names and we have state addresses. But we also have some relationship info. And while we don’t have ages or dates of birth, we can infer that Susie, Dave, and William are all older than Lou and Carol (but not necessarily Fred). We can also infer that William is older than Carol.
Now add the usual trappings of an address book, such as full name, address, phone number with area code, and ZIP code. With this information, you have even more inferences you can draw.
For example, if two people don’t share a full address, but they share a ZIP code, you know that means they live close to each other. If the wedding is somewhere they could drive to, but it’s a far drive, you could add a note suggesting to those people that they travel together.
What Does This Have to do With the AI Hype Train?
The generative and predictive AI you’ve been hearing about is really just a fancy way of saying it’s a database.
Say what?
There’s a ton of information, and all your computer does is look it up. Just like you look up Aunt Susie’s address in a book or on your phone.
Except a computer does this millions of times faster.
Now it’s time to look at the other piece.
Language Models
A language model is a list of words. But unlike a database, it contains a bit more info. It’s essentially in terms of probabilities. This isn’t really like the chance of someone saying the word infant vs the word baby.
Rather, it’s the chance of someone saying the word the or the word pickle. Because while we don’t see those words as even close to being interchangeable, a computer doesn’t. That is, unless it is taught. But otherwise, it’s just items on a list to a computer.
But where and how does such a huge model come together?
The Derailing of the AI Hype Train
To build a large language model, you need content. Lots and lots of more or less properly written content. This content should cover a large swath of human thought and activity. It has to be very broad in scope.
So, the developers turned to a place where they knew there was a ton of content, more or less properly written, covering great, big chunks of the human experience.
The internet.
Except there’s just one problem.
The Fly in the Ointment
They didn’t get most people’s permission to use the content. Also, they never checked it for accuracy or tone. A computer can’t figure those things out (yet). But you and I can. For example, we can tell when someone’s joking about something.
The AI takes it seriously.
And what about all the personal data online? The GDPR law specifically says that individuals must give clear consent to the processing of their personal data. Did AI and its creators take the time to figure out which of the trillions of web pages have personal data?
The answer to that would clearly be: no.
Finally, there’s also the matter of copyright. There’s a ton of original material online. It may be snippets of professionally written fiction, like in a blurb. Or it could be places for posting fiction, like Wattpad.
Did the creators of the language model used in AI stop to ask the authors whether they could have permission to train the model on their prose or poetry?
What do you think?
The Caboose at the End of the AI Hype Train
So, it’s mainly just a fancier, easier to use version of the databases that have been around for decades. And its training process for the language model is more than a little suspect. It can’t read your mind. It’s not Skynet. Yet.
There are plenty of companies which are trying to replace content writers with generative AI. But this technology, in that area, really isn’t ready for primetime. Predictive AI, on the other hand, more or less is.
Predictive is the kind of AI being used to cull through thousands of records to compare the data from one medical test results to determine the likelihood of the patient getting cancer. This is the kind of speed which humans just can’t do.
So when you read another breathless article or blog post about artificial intelligence, check to see if the author is riding the AI hype train.
Because Casey Jones, you’d better watch your speed.
What is writing freedom, and why is it important? It’s a piece of the writing puzzle that you simply cannot leave out.
Do You Have Writing Freedom?
The best definition I can give of this term is not only freedom of the press and freedom of speech, but also the freedom to write more or less what you want to. Of course, there are some exceptions even in an extremely free society.
But imagine living in a place where your choice of topics or genres or characters was dictated by the state. I couldn’t honestly find one (if you can, please comment!). But of course there have been plenty of times when tyrants controlled what the press could write about.
That’s more or less what state media is all about.
But let’s look at some other limits.
Libel
Of course, defaming someone in print is problematic. Sure, there’s no one staying your hand, or anything. But you really, really do not want to go down that road.
You would be on the business end of what could easily turn into a rather expensive lawsuit. That is not a place where anyone should ever want to be.
So, Dante notwithstanding, writing less than flattering things about your enemies is not a good idea.
A better idea? Change names and circumstances until the originals are no longer recognizable. If Zach from San Francisco becomes Amy from Buffalo, that’ll help.
Cultural Appropriation/Cultural Ignorance
Should men write women? After all, they’ve never been women. Yet this has being going on for centuries. If men did not or could not write female characters, we would never have literary characters like Juliet Capulet, or Dolores Claiborne.
Should younger people write older people? After all, they’ve never been in their sixties, eighties, nineties, or beyond. But we wouldn’t have Atticus Finch if authors didn’t do this.
Should people of one religion write people of another? That one’s a little trickier. I would suggest studying the rituals and the liturgy of the faith that’s not your own. And talking to adherents is never a bad idea.
At the same time, writers should keep in mind that adherents are all different, even those within the exact same sect.
… And Then There’s Race
Folks, we have now entered the minefield.
If you’re writing a Black character, for example, and you’re Asian, you probably don’t have the same experiences. And basing your character off Black characters you’ve seen on TV or in the movies is a surefire way to miss the boat on doing it right.
After all, popular culture is rife with exaggerations. But that’s kind of the point, particularly in comedy. Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley is rather different from Diahann Carrol as Julia Baker.
If you Frankenstein together your character based on that, well, you’re bound to be writing something truly offensive. And don’t get me started with characters who are essentially an illustration of White Savior Syndrome.
But Shouldn’t Writing Freedom Include the Freedom to Write a Diverse Cast of Characters?
Absolutely! Not only is this all right, it’s downright necessary if your writing takes place in the present time. Never seeing a Black doctor in your medical drama, or an Asian construction worker kinda denies reality.
Unless you’re trying to illustrate discriminatory hiring, or maybe all a racist character ever sees or hears.
It’s also a good stretch. Adding characters who are different from you can add some depth to your prose.
Respectfully Handling the Writing Freedom to Write Characters Who Are Not Like You
What is the easiest and most effective way to make sure you’re writing from a position of respect when you’re writing people who are not like you? The method should come as no great shock.
Talk to the people who are in the same race, religion, gender, etc. of the character you’re trying to write. Ask them if your prose works. Find out what they’re okay with, and what they’re offended by. And ask lots of people! Again, one opinion is not enough.
Don’t Abuse Your Writing Freedom
Just because society or the government doesn’t restrict the kinds of characters or stories you can write, doesn’t mean you should go out and just write whatever, willy-nilly, because you feel like it. Not when respect for real people’s identities is at stake.
Being sensitive to different kinds of people, and different kinds of characters, makes you a better writer.
So, remember, remember the fifth of November—which also happens to be Election Day here in the US—and I hope you’ll also remember to treat diverse characters with as much dignity and respect as you do real folks.
TV shows can be a great source of inspiration. And they can go beyond TV Tropes and even into something (almost, let’s not kid ourselves, folks) profound. So, what do I mean?
TV Shows
Let’s set the news aside. For the most part, we see three kinds of television programs:
Comedy
Drama
Nonfiction
And then they subdivide, e. g. comedy divides into sketch shows like Saturday Night Live, or sitcoms like Will and Grace, or most cartoons. And drama divides into genres such as police procedurals, westerns, etc. Furthermore, reality television is really drama, by the way.
And finally nonfiction comprises the news and documentaries. But it’s also educational programming for children. While a few potential outliers (such as music videos), or hybrid programs with both drama and comedy (e. g. Desperate Housewives) exist, most shows hit one of the big three categories.
Inspiration
Because everyone gets inspiration differently, consider how fan fiction grabs you. Very often, you watch a program but feel it’s incomplete. Or you might want a different ending or to gender swap the characters. By doing this with all television, and not just your own personal fandom, you can garner a ton of inspiration.
Naturally, you need to stay out of copyright infringement territory. However, there’s no copyright on basic ideas, just on their execution. Consider all the fish out of water comedies. Or think of the many episodes with people caught in a freezer. They exist because those situations work. And all the writers do is add a different spin on it all.
Authentic Experiences
In addition, consider the characters and their portrayers. Why is a character of African descent? Is it because they are having authentic experiences, or is it an attempt at diversity, or is it tokenism?
When Jewish characters (for example) are on the screen, does the audience get more than an occasion reference to Chanukah? Or do they just get a surname, or a trope? Or worse, do they get thinly-veiled anti-Semitic caricatures?
Are LGBTQ characters more than their sexuality, or are they stereotyped, or is it no big deal? Or are they killed off quickly, once they’re no longer useful to the plot, the show runners, or the network? And look at the smart characters, the dumb ones, and the evil ones. Do characters have any sort of depth at all?
And who’s writing these experiences? Are members of marginalized communities represented in the writers’ room?
Takeaways
You can get great inspiration from television viewing. Look at shows with a critical eye and consider how you’d improve or change them. Mash them up and make these ideas your own.
TV shows can inspire writing. But steer clear of fan fiction if you want to sell your work, and keep in mind that the structure and tropes of television differ from those for the written word.
For complex evil characters to work, you’ve got to give them some screen time, as it were. Because a paragraph or two simply will not cut it.
Backstory
Since evil characters are a certain type of character, it pays to give them a backstory as deep and rich and meaningful as the ones you give to your hero characters. Hence, just as you do with your hero characters, think about where and when they were born. Do they have siblings? Do their parents still live?
Maybe there were early signs of trouble. Did they start small? Could they have been abused or neglected? Did they abuse weaker, younger siblings, or animals? Both of those signify deep mental disturbances. Perhaps there is trauma.
Motivation (Motive)
So, why is this particular character evil? What drives their behavior? Because real human beings don’t just do bad things for fun, what gives? Are they seeking vengeance for something? Did they lose their own true love, their fortune, their family, or their home? Maybe they were horribly humiliated.
Characters who are evil simply for the sake of being evil are boring and unrealistic. Humans just plain don’t work that way (because people who are evil for the sake of being evil tend to be psychopaths in real life).
And the same is true of characters who are evil merely to drive the plot. Your terrorists need a reason why they do what they do, no matter how odd.
Means
And for your complex evil characters to do their thing, they need some way of getting it done. Hence an impoverished character would need funds, probably. Or a disabled character might need someone else to be the muscle. And a famous character might simply pay someone else to do their dirty work. Or they might need to be in disguise.
Means for characters can potentially also be about weaponry. Your French medieval society would only have rudimentary use of gunpowder. For example, Joan of Arc lived during a time of gunpowder use but didn’t necessarily use it herself. However, your evil character might just be a jerk or a person who calls others names. If that’s the case, then you should know which slurs were used when.
And pay attention to age! Evil five-year-olds are very different from evil fifty-year-olds.
Opportunity
Your complex evil characters have limitations if they live far from your other characters, unless they have access to fast transportation. Furthermore, modern or future characters can attack in cyberspace or its equivalent. Or maybe they can attack over the phone or via letter if you go back in time far enough.
There’s got to be some ancient Roman who attacked with words written on stone tablets, or via messenger. And if there isn’t, write one!
Attacks in person mean your complex evil characters are at risk. The victim might hit back. Or there could be shrapnel flying around. Plus there’s always a possibility of police involvement. People for real “commit suicide by cop”. Maybe your evil characters do something like that.
Is a Comeuppance for Your Complex Evil Characters Necessary?
Not every character gets punished, just as not every real-life criminal is caught. How do you want your story end? Or do you maybe want to open up the possibility of a sequel?
Rehabilitation
And even in prison or under a doctor’s care, not everyone changes their ways.
There are also issues with imprisonment. During a lot of history, it was just barely this side of torture, if it was at all. Even the best-run prisons, with the least amount of corruption, have dirt and danger. Also, there’s the question of suicidal evil characters. Currently, the American prison system is supposed to have good safeguards. But suicides still happen. Or murders which look like suicides.
Revenge
Your complex evil characters might want to avenge, well, nearly anything. And even if you used that as their motivation before, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it again. It can still work.
Complex Evil Characters: Takeaways
There’s a reason why this post is divided into motive, means, and opportunity—just like in a police investigation. You may want to consider such steps in turn when writing. They will keep you focused and help you to address areas you might accidentally overlook or gloss over.
Complex evil characters can be memorable. Just ask Hannibal Lecter.
Visual artists and the visual arts can be a source of intense inspiration. Because their struggles can be a lot like a writer’s.
Consider how a piece of art makes any of us feel. Does it inspire? Or are you puzzled? Can it move you emotionally? And what’s happening around the fringes? Because sometimes the details and the background are of more interest than the main subject. You know, just like in books sometimes.
Hence let’s take a look at some well-known inspiring pieces.
The Mysterious Lady
Of course Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world.
Furthermore, the mystery of the piece continues to this day, as it has for a few hundred years. So, what, exactly, does her smile mean? After all, it’s a small smile. And so the model intrigues us, even now.
The Weird Landscape
Here’s another one. Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory is another very well-known piece although you might not have known its name.
Because the painting is so strange, it can offer any number of interpretations. How important is time? Is the setting a desert?
And what about the odd white lump in the center? Could that maybe be a creature wearing a clock as a saddle? Maybe it means we are all driven by time and memory. Hence we are all under its yoke.
So think about the paintings (and sculptures, too!) which you know. And consider what you see in them, for they may help, particularly with writer’s block.
More Art and Artists
Consider more art and visual artists. Van Gogh can be dreamy but also kind of scary. And the fact that it’s well-known that he was insane adds a bit of spice to things.
Marcel Duchamp, on the other hand (just Google him!) has a rather different visual style, to say the least. Well, that’s one way of putting it.
And go back even further, all the way, as far as art even goes.
What if you could get in the head of the person who painted the walls of their cave, or the sculptor of the Venus of Willendorf? Are the paintings meant to guarantee a good hunt? Or are they just decorative? Is the Venus an object of reverence? Or a sex object? Or is it something else entirely. Hell, maybe it’s just a doll.
Making any of these decisions can easily inform a story about those people, about that painter (several painters, most likely) and that sculptor. Writing their stories is a bit like writing the story of humanity itself.
A Practical Idea
So did you know that Pinterest has secret pin boards? It’s true. And what that means is, you can always create a secret board for only you to see. Or you can share it with a select audience, such as beta readers or even fans, if you like.
And all you need to do is, go to your profile and scroll all the way down. You’ll find it on the left (“Create Secret Board“). And that’s all you need to. So fill it with art which has meaning for you.
Visual Artists: Some Takeaways
Visual artists and art can inspire. And the internet means you don’t even have to visit a museum, although you might want to, anyway. Because they can be kind of fun. And you should get out of the house more often, anyway.
Are you getting some inspiration from your characters’ names?
Sometimes a character won’t “speak” to us until we give them the right name.
Names Are Our Identity
While names have meanings, you can even get inspiration simply from how they sound. What’s Gertrude like? How about Lakeisha? Or maybe Stefan or Juan?
Popularity
The popularity of what people call their children changes over time. This can depend upon movie stars, politicians, or even religious figures. When I was born in 1962, my first name, Janet, was already past its peak. However, it was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Why?
Because in 1937, Janet Gaynor starred in A Star is Born. However, Janet Leigh did not star in Psycho until 1960. And Janet Jackson doesn’t seem to be having too much of an effect on baby naming. For a lot of little girls who would have had the name Janet in the past, now often have the name Jennifer or Jessica.
Ethnicity
Another factor? Ethnicity. Maria easily made the crossover to non-Spanish and non-Italian families, but not Juan and Vito. How many non-Russians have the name Boris (the British politician Boris Johnson notwithstanding)? And do you know any non-Irish women named Siobhan? So when you create your characters, see if you can match ethnicity.
Of course there are Jewish kids named Sean and British people named Dominic. So this isn’t a hard and fast rule or anything.
For westerners, traditional names generally come from both the Old and New Testament, or from the saints. Hence you see Margaret and Mary, but also James and David. Other related names can be similar or with alternate spellings or derivatives. Marynel and Maryellen of course derive from Mary, and Stefan is just the German version of Stephen (or Steven).
In my own work, the most traditional names mainly come from The Real Hub of the Universe. But this is because that trilogy takes place in the 1870s and 1880s.
Inventions
People also, sometimes, invent new names. Actress Alyssa Milano’s daughter is named Elizabella. So of course the name comes from clipping the Beth part off Elizabeth and instead inserting the similar name, Bella. While it might or might not catch on more widely, it’s a fairly harmless alteration. Plus it allows for a number of shortenings.
Because all of the characters in Untrustworthy are aliens, I had to come up with names. Hence I came up with Tathrelle, Ixalla, Adger, and Velexio.
Takeaways For Names
Name your characters whatever you wish, but do keep them consistent within your universe. And while there’s technically nothing wrong with having two similarly-named characters, if they spend too much time together and are otherwise too similar, that can lead to some issues. Hence you might occasionally want to change Tim and Tom to Tim and Dan.
And keep in mind, names can come into and go out of fashion. These days, very old-fashioned names are often popular again. Hence, your futuristic science fiction novel might have people named Hiram, Dorcas, or Ethel.
Yes, You Can Still Get Inspiration from Instances of Sexism
Sexism remains an unpleasant reality in our world.
Since sexism is still with us today, you might see it, or even experience it yourself. However, even an unpleasant experience can inspire fiction writing. Because sometimes, you just want to write a villain. And maybe your villain can eventually see the light and change, too.
Sexism At Work
In the United States, there are rather specific laws governing and prohibiting gender discrimination. However, that was not always the case. If you write historical fiction, things can differ considerably. Consider what gender discrimination means. It means judging a person’s characteristics or abilities based upon sex and often traditional gender roles.
Hence judges might see women as better parents in custody battles. Or men might get blue collar jobs more often due to perceived differences in physical strength. And this can happen even when physical strength does not factor into job performance.
Sometimes women lose out on promotions due to imagined differences in toughness. And men can find they are overly scrutinized in professions where they may be in the minority. These can be nursing or teaching or the like.
In Social Situations
Some instances of sexism have mild or semi-benevolent origins in what is gallantry behavior. Holding the door for someone is a nice thing to do. However, when a person only holds the door for women, that is move which treats the sexes differently.
Even a positive difference is a difference, particularly when it can be a vestige of not just gallantry. It can also be a vestige of behaving as if women are incapable of taking care of themselves.
Social sexism can also take the form of deciding who asks whom out, or who pays for a night out. Waitstaff can perpetuate this by asking for women’s food orders first, and also by giving the man the check. Teachers might perpetuate these behaviors by giving strength tasks to boys and praising the quietness or cooperation of girls.
When sex is an excuse for a snap decision about someone without taking specifics into consideration, then it’s sexism.
Casual Prejudging and Sexism
Whether you try to excuse it as locker room banter, or it appalls you, sometimes people indulge in this. And it can even happen almost inadvertently.
One area where this tends to happen is with apparel. It’s rare when boys or men receive judgment for what they wear. That is, unless it’s overly feminine, filthy, or completely inappropriate for the occasion or task at hand. Or it’s the wrong team’s jersey.
Women and girls are often judged by their clothes. It can be skirt or shorts length, the neckline of a blouse, or the height of their heels. And yes, sadly, that goes into the rape old trope. What was she wearing?
No matter what, we still hear it.
Sexism and Transgender Folks
As trans people become more common in our world, they, too, are often subject to sexism. But there is also a bit of it being self-inflicted. How does someone who is pre-surgery and even pre-hormones satisfy their need to be a gender they were not assigned to at birth?
It can be with some preconceived notions about the sexes. Transwomen may feel the need to wear a chic sweater set and pearls, and put on makeup. While women assigned female at birth knock around in jeans and sneakers.
And transmen may feel the need to grow facial hair (if they are able to). They may even embrace male pattern baldness if testosterone therapy turns that gene on in them. Contrast this with men assigned female at birth, who may use Rogaine or do anything to avoid a five o’clock shadow.
But Do They Experience Sexism?
You’d better believe they do. But with trans people, it’s likely to be wedded to transphobia or terfism. It’s even harder for minors who are trans.
Takeaways
Characters can remark on everything from who pays for dinner to who gets the right to vote. They can support sexist conventions by pulling out chairs for women and giving little boys toy trucks. They can upend those conventions by giving up seats on the subway to men. Or by giving little girls chemistry sets. Or by accepting trans folk wholeheartedly, and without reservation.
Exercise should be a vital part of anyone’s life. And you don’t have to be a gym rat to get inspiration from your workout or from what happens while you’re exercising. As we have seen in other instances, exercise is just another vehicle for inspiration if you look at it that way.
Your Workout
In order to maintain good health, you need to get up from your computer or chair on occasion. And you need to work out in some manner. Of course your decision as to what to do depends upon any number of factors. Maybe you’re elite and can train for a triathlon.
However, for beginners, getting around the block might present difficulties. And if your area is sometimes an unsafe one, you might end up working out inside. So that can mean a gym membership or a pool or mall walking or even just equipment in your home.
Hence one factor is your environment. As you observe it, consider your characters. Would the chipmunks you see on a nature trail amuse them? Or would they fight off demons while jogging in a less than savory part of town? Maybe they see exercise as a meditation (a lot of people do).
Your Characters Working Out
Your characters can get in on the action, too. Action and fantasy characters would fight or train. Romantic characters could go for walks. Science fiction characters might work out as a part of military training or even as a health requirement in low gravity.
For Mettle, Elise Jeffries jogs. And, in one of the first chapters, she jogs and that gets her (and the reader) around the neighborhood. She helps to set the scene and show some foreshadowing simply by doing what I have the character loving to do.
Observations
Getting outside means you can overhear conversations. You can people watch, too.
Writer’s Block and Depression
First of all, I want to make it clear that, if you feel the need for medical intervention, please go ahead! A lot of writers can experience certain levels of depression and so by all means, care for yourself. And for God’s sake, I am not saying that all you need is to go outside and be magically cured. Chemical imbalances require more than some fresh air.
For example, if you experience seasonal affective disorder, you will need to find full-spectrum light. Hence you need to either mimic it with a special light or go out in the sunlight. And here in New England, the winters are full of days with very little sunlight. Very, very little.
Hence I have learned to get myself outside and to shovel snow if I have to (I’ve got to watch my back these days, so I do not make the kind of fast progress I used to) or walk carefully to avoid slipping on ice. Good boots are a lifesaver. It’s great to sit on the porch, too, and I try to make a habit of doing that when the weather is at all warm.
It doesn’t hurt that I can people watch then as well.
If none or not too much of that is in the cards for you, a gym membership or mall walking can at least help. Because you will also need to get up, get dressed, and get outside in order to do either.
Often, if we commit to just five minutes, we can feel good about continuing.
Psst, you can do that with writing as well!
Exercise: Some Takeaways
Getting up and getting around is a great way to add little droppers full of scene setting and exposition to your story. A place that is always very hot and humid is going to inform the way characters dress, socialize, and eat. And the same is true of a cold, dry environment.
What happens when characters are assaulted because they’re wearing too little in the oppressive heat? And what happens when villains can convincingly hide their faces without rousing suspicion, because everyone is so bundled up?
But exercise is also a necessity for you, the writer, you know.
Everybody needs to take a break from writing. Your eyes will thank you! So you may as well get up and get some exercise. Live long enough to finish your series! Do it for your fans!
Why, of course it is! And, in fact, it can sometimes be hard not to be inspired by the music in our lives. And we may even, consciously or not, try to emulate videos in what we write.
Just don’t out and out steal, okay? But an homage? It should be fine.
Inspiration from Music
Music is a rather common pairing with writing. Some people cannot write without it. Others are inspired by it. Still others are haunted by it.
Lyrics
Sometimes, it’s the lyrics. For me, personally, I pay a lot of attention to lyrics. As a result, I have a lot of trouble listening to tunes while writing or even editing. I have to shut it off, as I am unable to concentrate.
But I do listen when I go outside or offline. For a fan fiction piece, I created a kind of bad girl character. However, she did not come to life until I listened to Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good.
It’s not just the words, though. And it isn’t just the video. The bass line did it, too. As a result, the character snapped into sharp focus. I could not stop listening to the song until I finished the piece.
The Sound of Music (The Von Trapp Family and Others)
For a genius character addled with ADHD, I wanted his mind to be going about a thousand miles an hour. The best way to do this was to listen to fast-moving songs. Therefore, this one was a must.
The song itself is kind of silly. The words are somewhat nonsensical. But the beat is fast. It’s not rap, although speed rap could have worked as well. Either way, the sound was discordant. And that was the idea. With so much clanging going on his head, the character was simply incapable of concentrating.
A Constant Companion
So, when I was writing Untrustworthy, Pompeii by the group Bastille was in very heavy rotation on a local college station that my husband and I listen to a lot. That song embedded itself into my mind and it became the song for that book. And to this day, I can’t hear this song without thinking of the book. And, for the most part, vice versa.
When Things Go Wrong
With the character of Peri Martin, a lot of her essence came to life when I started to listen to an older song I love—When Things Go Wrong, by Robin Lane and the Chartbusters. But for the romance, it was Squeeze’s Take Me, I’m Yours.
So for the successor Time Addicts trilogy, most of the playlist was songs about time. But two of them stand out: Time Waits for No One by the Rolling Stones and Got the Time by Anthrax (a cover of the Joe Jackson tune).
The Funky Ceilidh
Of course, Ceilidh O’Malley had to have this song by Black 47. In 2022, when I was writing a prequel to Real Hub of the Universe, I also listened to a lot of Irish music. But the song that really brings me back to her is always Pure by the Lightning Seeds.
The Whole Shebang
For Mettle, I saw the separate point of view chapters as episodes in a series or miniseries on television. And much like the TV show Murphy Brown used a lot of different music, I fell in love with the idea of giving each chapter or at least each character their own tune. But since the book mostly takes place in Boston, the characters would have their own song with some form of Boston connection.
So, here’s how that shook out.
This list is set up by character, song title, and artist.
Eleanor Braverman – I Do – J Geils Band (I may change this one)
Noah Braverman – Roadrunner – Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
Craig Firenze – Shipping Up to Boston – The Dropkick Murphys
Dez Hunter – It’s a Shame About Ray – The Lemonheads
Elise Jeffries – When Things Go Wrong – Robin Lane and the Chartbusters
Kitty Kowalski – The Queen of Suffolk County – The Dropkick Murphys
Minka Lopez – My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars
Nell Murphy – The Wanderer – Donna Summer
Olga Nicolaev – Train Kept Rollin’ – Aerosmith (I may change this one)
Mei-Lin Quan – Voices Carry – ‘Til Tuesday
So then, for the love scene, it would be Boston’s More Than a Feeling. Of course, there are a thousand others I could add.
Because, do I want to leave out State Radio’s Counting All Crows? Or The Pixies’ Monkey Gone to Heaven? But at some point, you have to put a bow on it and say, “That’s it. I’m done.”
Enigmans and Others
So, I don’t tend to use a playlist for short stories. And The Enigman Cave never really got a song attached to it, either.
Creation
For those who need songs to write, playlists are a must. And you can find several on YouTube by searching on writing playlist. However, that might not work for a lot of people. Because writing is a personal thing, just like musical taste is. If I prefer disco, and you prefer country, we’re both right, so long as we keep writing.
So one great thing about YouTube is the ability to create private playlists. If your inspirational music of choice is BTS or the Bee Gees or Britney Spears or Beethoven or The Beatles or Bobby Darin—then that’s fantastic! And no one need be the wiser.
Music and Writing: Takeaways
If you need it, then by all means listen to tunes while writing or editing. If you don’t, then don’t. And don’t let anyone tell you their way is somehow better. It’s hard to find anything more subjective than this.
Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory is another very well-known piece although you might not have known its name.
You must be logged in to post a comment.