Take Five
Five-minute reads about writing
to help you with NaNoWriMo
Nov. 1 - Nov. 30, 2011
Courtesy: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)
Twitter: @RandomMagicTour
#13: The 24/7 movie studio
One of the nicest things about writing is that you're never bored. You notice all kinds of things, and never know when they might spark a story or some other creative project. It's also a great escape, because you can visit all kinds of places, characters and so on, whenever you like. You can go on vacation without all the fuss and bother, just by being in your own head.
It's also nice to build things, and could say that writing is a building art, like architecture, except that you build with ideas rather than materials like wood or brick or cement - but otherwise it's very similar. Or you can change things that bother you, in a way; you can create all kinds of different worlds, right injustices, create happy endings for people.
But mostly it's great for the entertainment value, could be alone on a desert island with nothing to entertain you but a piece of string and still be wildly entertained for years, just playing in your own imagination as if it were a limitless jungle gym.
Shown above: Random Magic trailer.
This book trailer is just the world from the pages of Random Magic shared in visual form - but it's only one interpretation. The power of imagination is virtually limitless, so use it, run wild, you never can tell what amazing story might pop into your head at any time.
This goes for any kind of creative project, actually, where you're trying to manifest something from your head in a tangible form. It's only a dream because it hasn't happened yet.
So, one of the nicest things about writing is that you don't actually need TV or movies or sports stadiums or concert halls or movie production studios or what have you - because they're all there in your head, whenever you need them.
All the stories you'll ever need, with lighting and special effects and soundtracks and everything, it's all there.
Of course, finding exactly the right combination of objects you need in a vast - almost kind of infinite - warehouse like that can be a bit tricky, but that's also part of the adventure, in a way. You discover all kinds of cool treasures along the way, too.
Today's exercise: For five minutes, just shut off the TV, tune out distractions, take a break from the Internet - and look within.
Close your eyes and see what shows up in your mind. It might be nothing more than a name, the vague image of a face, or a line of dialogue, but it will be something.
All the stories you'll ever need, with lighting and special effects and soundtracks and everything, it's all there.
So, one of the nicest things about writing is that you don't actually need TV or movies or sports stadiums or concert halls or movie production studios or what have you - because they're all there in your head, whenever you need them.
All the stories you'll ever need, with lighting and special effects and soundtracks and everything, it's all there.
Of course, finding exactly the right combination of objects you need in a vast - almost kind of infinite - warehouse like that can be a bit tricky, but that's also part of the adventure, in a way. You discover all kinds of cool treasures along the way, too.
Today's exercise: For five minutes, just shut off the TV, tune out distractions, take a break from the Internet - and look within.
Close your eyes and see what shows up in your mind. It might be nothing more than a name, the vague image of a face, or a line of dialogue, but it will be something.
All the stories you'll ever need, with lighting and special effects and soundtracks and everything, it's all there.
Anyway, that's the enjoyable part of writing. Tomorrow we'll talk about the not-so-enjoyable part of writing!
- Sasha Soren, author of Random Magic.
About this series
The Take Five series is curated by Sasha Soren, author of Random Magic. You can find out more about the book here, if you like:
Notes: Excerpt shown is from an interview with author Sasha Soren at Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf.
