A Little Bit of Inspiration -- Pick a Song

Music really resonates with stories for me. Last week my co-worker was listening to a piano station on Pandora, and a song was playing that I instantly recognized as the song playing during a very pivotal point in LOST. I asked who it was, looked it up, and I was right! For a good portion of the day to come, I couldn't get my mind off of that final episode of LOST (below, and now I have LOST on the brain again).

There are certain songs in my life that transport me back to a time and place, and there are some songs I can no longer listen to because they make me too sad. My dog was going into surgery, and If I Die Young by The Band Perry (below) was playing as they draped the leash over her neck and took her away from us. I was already terrified about her emergency surgery to remove a possible cancerous tumor, and going under the anesthesia. The song did not help... Needless to say, I was a crying mess.

Now, I can't stand to hear this song, and every time it plays, I remember that sad moment in my life.

So my challenge to you, create a short story, poem, flash fiction, or brainstorming session using a song (or two, or ten!)

Pick a favorite song (or a least favorite song, or any song at all). Sit in a quiet room, or put your headphones on. Close your eyes, and let the song transport you. What does it remind you of? A time and place in your own life? A piece of fiction? A movie? A TV show? Take this place you've thought up in your mind, and this is your setting.

As you listen to the song, what emotions does it conjure up? Make a list of these emotions as you go through the song.

Listen again, this time, listen for the five senses, write down any senses that come to you -- what do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste?

Listen again, and this time write down any images that come to mind. What is the tone of the song? The mood? Take notes on all of these items.

Now, if the song has lyrics, is there a particular line that stands out to you? Write down any words or lines from the song that come to mind.

As you listen to the song, is there a character in the song? Who is this character? The singer, someone the singer is talking about, an onlooker? Someone you think of completely outside of the song? Can you turn this person into a character?

I know these may be very strange things to think about, and may not apply to all songs. But after you've listened a few times, you should have a good amount of notes that you can turn into a story.

And remember to credit the song and the artist for your inspiration!! I hope you enjoy this little exercise!

Thoughts on Writing -- Questions on Setting

Last week I put up a call for questions, and one of my friends got back to me with some great ones. Here are three that focus on setting with the answers. I will likely do this again later this month, so if YOU have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I will add them to my list. You can ask ANYTHING that has to do with writing.

How do you describe setting without sounding like a nature documentary? 

Too much landscape description or being too broad in your description is what makes it sound like a nature documentary. When you think about it, in modern fiction, how often do you need to describe the landscape? Most of the time, it's not that important. Zoom in. What is important to your character at that moment in time? I am a minimalist when it comes to this department. But, my general rule? The five senses. Try to touch (hehe) on each of them. What does your character see, hear, smell, feel, taste? Obviously, you can't always apply all five, but forcing yourself to think of all these things will help you to enrich the setting. Remember, you want readers to have freedom to think; too much detail doesn't leave much up to the imagination, but you need enough of a sprinkling that you can set the stage for the reader.

How important is it to actually describe a setting?

Important. Every writer has somewhere they really thrive. Some love setting, some dialogue, some action, others prose or internal monologue. I don't usually focus as much on setting as I probably should, as I mentioned before, I like to leave a lot up to the reader's mind -- instead, I like dialogue (a post on this coming soon); I could live entirely in a book of dialogue, both writing, and reading, it's so much fun. But that's lazy. Setting is important. My friend, Linda Simoni-Wastila, is amazinggg with setting, I envy her talent. I'd love to get her answer to this question (and if she takes me up on this...I will put a link to her blog post right here...:)) But, in short, setting is extremely important. It's a tool that you can use to set the mood, manipulate the tone, and generally direct the reader's mind into the place where you want them to be. I like to establish it near the beginning. Set up that place where your characters can thrive. Then you have the ability to move within that space.

Thank you for the questions, Heather. Check out posts to come later this month with more answers!