I love movies.
I love animation
and cartoons.
I love music.
These three things
have influenced my writing to a degree that the casual reader will never
understand.
Most of the titles
of my works are named after songs. Usually, at some point in the novel or short
story or novella, the part of the song that influenced the story is described
as a happening to the point that those familiar with the song will understand
the reference. The titles of some upcoming works may not be classic hits, but
album cuts that still inspire a story.
The movies? Oh,
yeah. That influences my work, too. Remember the scene in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom where Indy uses an inflatable
life raft to exit a crashing plane? I adapted that scene and used it in my
Justice Security book, Jim Dandy. I
even gave credit where credit was due with an stray thought in Joey Justice’s
head that it worked for Harrison Ford in that movie, so why wouldn’t it work in
the situation that Joey finds himself in?
One reviewer of Mama Told Me Not To Come made a comment
that he thought was an insult. I found it to be inspiring, and I took it to
heart immediately. The reviewer stated that the novel read like the script to
an action movie.
To that person, I
will always owe a great big “Thank you”. What he thought was a derogatory
statement toward the writing, was actually a compliment. I had deliberately
written the story that way, with cuts from one character to another in rapid
succession to give the reader a glimpse of things that are occurring simultaneously!
How do cartoons and
animation come into my writing?
Read my short story
Saturday In The Park. That one gives
you the scoop with another improbable possibility, with a character even saying
that the event was straight out of a Road Runner cartoon.
Inspiration comes
from everywhere. The writer’s job is to take that inspiration and tell an
entertaining story, with just enough description of things to allow the reader’s
imagination to picture it in their minds.
We are picture
painters. We use words instead of paint brushes. And we are still artists,
because we paint pictures with words.
My question to
those of you that always say that you want to be writers is simple.
Why aren’t you writing?
