Just to be clear, all this stuff I’m doing isn’t for the sake of writing/inspiration/refreshing anything at all. I’m reading/watching/listening because this is the stuff that fascinates me, that sucks me in and keeps me interested. Side benefit; stories form.
Today it’s “Plague’s Progress, A Social History of Man and Disease”. Written by Arno Karlen, my son and I are reading it for his assignment, and it is full of good stuff.
There’s the story of the crew of The Unicorn, in 1619 (and already I’m thinking, “Unicorns? Then?”). 61 of the 64 crewmembers died “agonising deaths”. Recently, it’s been decided they died because they ate raw polar bear meat, which was considered a delicacy.
That’s a single paragraph in this book!
Here’s Leife Shallcross:
“I use music a lot. Not so much when I write, but as a way of generating ideas. The way the vocals and instruments shape the melody is always good for setting mood or creating character. A rhythm might evoke a gang of highwaymen on horseback, or a troupe of mechanical ballerinas.
“I also get a lot of inspiration when getting to know new music with lyrics, when half the time I have no idea what the lyrics are, but my brain is just making stuff up to go with the music. A mis-heard lyric is a great source of unlikely and evocative combinations of words!”
I asked Leife what her current mondegreen is!
She said, “Currently I’m playing with ‘rumour thief’ from a Florence & the Machine album. I have no idea what the actual lyric is!”
[…] Kaaron Warren has been running a series of posts (her own and guests’) called “Refreshing the Wells” on the different ways writers refill their wells of inspiration. Thusfar the list includes: agonising death, mondegreens, talking to strangers, orders for boots, appalling magazines and dog toys. Of course it does. […]
[…] Kaaron Warren has been running a series of posts (her own and guests’) called “Refreshing the Wells” on the different ways writers refill their wells of inspiration. Thusfar the list includes: agonising death, mondegreens, talking to strangers, orders for boots, appalling magazines and dog toys. Of course it does. […]