3 Magazines

I've been very good about controlling my addiction to magazines, and have reduced my subscriptions to just five that I can't live without, which is much better than the twenty-seven I was subscribing to a few years ago.

As a reward now and then for my good behavior I let myself buy a few from the racks; here are the latest three I thought might be of interest to other writers (not that I'm trying to get you hooked or anything):

The March/April '10 issue of Archaeology magazine has some particularly fine articles in it; anyone who is interested in the debate over whether we should clone Neanderthals (which may soon be possible) should really love this issue. One other article that ethralled me was written by Hyung-Eun Kim about the discovery and translation of family letters and personal items placed with entombed body of a Korean gentleman who died in the 16th century. One of the 424 year old letters, written by his pregnant, devastated wife, was used to cover the body like a shroud. Love and loss never changes; despite the centuries that have passed the letter sounds as if it were composed yesterday.

I am quickly becoming addicted to just about everything Stampington & Company publishes, and their Spring 2010 issue of Somerset Digital Studio has so much phenomenal digital art it should be on the must-buy list of all digital artists and writers who create their own cover art. I got some great ideas of how to move in some different directions with my digital art, especially with layering, which I've always been a little timid about trying. Also of particular note: The Charm of Darkness and the Search for Precision, an article showcasing Maro van Middendorf's art (you can see some of the images in his website gallery here) as well as a great look at Vanessa Paxton's incredible photography (I dare you to look at Invisible Walls on page 83 and not be inspired to write something.)

Finally, one of the magazines that has been extremely helpful in transforming my art journaling, Somerset Studio, has the usual great variety of content. I've been picking up magazines and books about mixed media for a while now as I am trying to do more non-traditional art quilts. I'm also about to start on my first assemblage piece and frankly I'm terrified, so anything helps. Why I think this issue is also good for writers is one of the best articles I've read in a long time about the healing power of art by Kelly Rae Roberts. If you ever doubt the meaning what we create has for others, you really need to read this.

What magazines do you read and/or subscribe to that inspire you? Let us know in comments.

Added: Ayla mentioned in comments that it is tough to impossible to get some magazines overseas, so I did some hunting and found that Vanessa Paxton also has a Flickr account. Here's where you can see Invisible Walls online.

MindTracks

Music is probably the single greatest source of creative inspiration for me. Whenever I listen to music, my brain goes into overdrive, and ideas begin to take visual form. The more I listen, the more characters, settings and details go into those ideas, until they become just like movies.

Once I can see the entire story, I hit the keyboard and translate the vision into words. I don't ever lose the story, either -- all I have to do is listen to the song that inspired it and the story movie plays out in my mind exactly as it did the first time I imagined it.

I have no musical preferences, and have come up with novels based on every type of music, from Mozart to Nine Inch Nails. The only strange thing is that I see images but I never hear dialogue, so in that sense, the movies in my head are silent (I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I prefer to compose dialogue spontaneously while I'm writing.)

If you've never tried visualizing story to music, here are a couple of tips on the process:

1. Fresh music won't have any associations for you, so try picking up some albums by musicians and bands you've never heard, or tune into a new station on the radio.

2. Listen when you're in a relaxing or quiet situation. I listen to CDs when I sit on the porch, take a bubble bath, fold laundry, or go for a drive in the country or down by the lake. The more relaxed you are, the more likely your imagination will want to come out and play.

3. Don't try to force it. Keep your mind open and let the images come to you in response to the music. If you're still having trouble envisioning things, try to imagine what colors would best express the song you're listening to. Once you have a palette in mind, imagine those colors defining something about a character or setting.

4. If you choose to listen to music that you've heard before, avoid songs that have bad associations, or that for whatever reason depress or upset you (unless that's a good writing mood for you, then go for it.)

5. After you've listened to music, go spend a little time on the keyboard. Write about whatever you thought of while you were listening. Don't worry about making it perfect, just describe what you saw in your head. I don't listen to music when I write because I find it actually becomes a distraction, but if you don't have a problem with that you can also play the song while you're writing.

Don't be afraid to experiment, either. About half the music I listen to is made outside the United States, and by trying bands from other countries I've discovered some terrific artists that normally don't get air time on our radio stations. I think I have a thing for Canadian bands in particular; Nickelback, The Golden Dogs, and Wintersleep have practically owned the CD player in my car for the last couple of years.

Let's hear what you have to say about music and story -- in comments to this post list a song that inspired you creatively (or if you're new at this, just throw your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Monday, June 4, 2007. I'll draw one name at random from everyone who participates, and grant the winner a musicwish* along with a copy of the Nickelback album that inspired me while I was writing Night Lost, my personal notes about the songs involved, and a signed copy of the end result. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*A musicwish is any music CD by any artist you choose, provided that the CD can be 1) ordered from an online source and 2) costs up to a maximum of $25.00 US dollars. I'll throw in for free any shipping and handling fees that are involved.

Related links:

Laurence O'Donnell's excellent article Music and the Brain.

Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding (A General Overview) by Feyza Sancar explains some of the nuts and bolts involved with the brain as it processes music.

Unreal Influences

While at the book store today, I spotted a book that I later looked up on B&N.com, listed under possibly the longest title I've ever seen: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History by Dan Karlan, Allan Lazar, Jeremy Salter.

Imagine, just typing up the file folder labels for that one. Ouch.

The book's title did make me think about fictional characters who might have had some influence on my work. Laura Ingalls from the Little House Books wasn't fictitious, but her and her family's struggle to survive during The Long Winter definitely left a lasting impression. As did Paiken and Elea, the "ice people" from La Nuit des Temps, and Ivan Denisovich from the novel some rookie named Solzhenitsyn wrote about one day in his miserable life. It's possible they're why a beach girl from Florida ended up writing a novel like Rebel Ice.

I don't write knock-offs or derivative fiction, but there have been some memorable characters that still serve me as shining examples of why one should toss all Da Genre Rules out the window. Devon and Michael from Virginia Coffman's Mistress Devon turned the Gothic novel upside down for me by showing how a theatre troupe deals with treachery on the brink of the American Revolution. Mitji from Madeleine Brent's Golden Urchin demonstrated just how far out you could go with a romance heroine -- like abandoning her as a baby to be raised by Aborigines in the Australian outback -- and still keep her completely plausible and realistic.

Have fictional characters had any impact on your work? Who are they, and how do you think they've influenced your writing?