When you write books, stories and novels, are you inspired by films and television? Or are you mostly inspired by real life experiences or other books? If you are inspired by all, what are you most inspired by and if you're inspired by movies how does that translate into your writing and how does that work because movies are a purely visual medium, so how is that translated? Thanks.
My own life experiences are perhaps the majority of my writing influence - however I was hugely inspired by the t.v. show Twin Peaks, it sent me off to explore surrealism beyond Dali straight into literature - Rimbaud, Baudelier, Paul Eluard, Andre Breton.
I'm definitely inspired by movies; it's an art form in its own right. There are many things a film can do that a book simply can't, and vice versa. For example, when planning my latest novel I got a good bit of inspiration from a documentary I watched. A few bits had swirled around in my head before that, but it was the documentary that made it all click into one wholesome novel in my head, and the synopsis almost spilled out onto the paper - now I am almost ready to write the actual novel. I don't know if I am most inspired by movies, but I do watch a lot of them, and because I'm a slow reader my films/books ratio always leans heavily on the films side of things. But I think that even if you are inspired mostly by movies, that doesn't mean you can't use their techniques in books. Remember that directors and script writers are storytellers too, only in a different form! Of course background music and so forth can't be used in books, but dialogue can be very effective in films (the narration is told through visuals, as you have said, so your brain mainly takes in the dialogue) and as movie scripts rely mostly on dialogue, it usually has to be very good, and learning from it can make your written work much better. And if you like the stunts and such in films, try closing your eyes and running through a particular scene in your head, describing it out loud as you go. Another person on the forum said to literally grab the remote and mute the scene and describe it like that - either way will work. And remember, CGI will never be as good as readers' imaginations! You can bring anything to life and make anything real in the reader's mind, and long as you can write it effectively. I hope your project goes well.
I would say it's a bit of everything. My inspiration isn't really limited to one thing or another. I find inspiration in most things.
When you write books, stories and novels, are you inspired by films and television? ...if referring only to fiction, no... Or are you mostly inspired by real life experiences or other books? ...life, not books... and not 'inspired' but mostly just having my imagination sparked by something i saw/heard/read somewhere...
I watch a lot of documentaries. You can get great insight into many slices of life, hear thoughts and see things that can change what you once thought and give more grounding to ideas. I believe though that you have to live it to whatever extent you can, to give your work a true sense of authenticity, beyond that you can use the real thoughts and actions of others. There is definitely more to gain from the imperfections of life, than that of a polished work of fiction.
Hey, I absolutely LOVED Twin Peaks, including season 2 and the movie. Bearing that in mind, are there any specific novels you might suggest?
Things that resemble Twin Peaks? Honestly I haven't come across anything that resembles it - accept my own unpublished-yet -to-finished novel ( lol ) But I heard they plan to do a twin-peaks style t.v. series based on the book series The Wayward Pines by Blake Crouch. Haven't read it could be good. Other books that are surreal - Nabokov's Invitation to a Beheading - awesome. Automated Alice - Jeff Noon ( great Alice in wonderland twist ) The Cannibal - John Hawkes - bizarre Gravity's Rainbow - Pynchon ( good but it's a long one! ) In the Labyrinth & The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet - odd but good Lost in the Funhouse - John Barth ( it's short stories some are great ) John Collier short stores - these are just plain fun - smart ass genies, people turning into flowers that sort of thing.
For me it's been life. So surprised to learn the author of "The Hunger Games" trilogy was a girl who sat on her ass surfing with the remote. Would have sworn this was someone who lived some kind of country life. Oh well....There I go thinking again. Wife talked me into going to see the movie so I read the 3 books. A first! Something she liked to read, I also enjoyed. But sitting on asses is a prereq for writing and she already had writing skills. She surfs from a reality survival show to, Snookie or Jackass then onto war footage and....Wa-LA! She had it! Think it takes an excellent writer to write about something something they know absolutely nothing about but convince readers they do.
Twin Peaks is pure awesomeness. And it's true: the owls are not what they seem. I get my inspiration from everywhere (although especially from real life experiences), but my and KaTrian's current WIP, Solus, was partly inspired by Aliens (the 2nd movie). Not the characters, but the atmosphere. It's just so amazingly dark and... spacy.
