Today, over at copyblogger, guest blogger, Michael Stelzner of Writing White Papers asked the question, "Who inspires you to write?"
I responded with a list of my favorite writers (Rushdie, Delillo, Wallace Stevens) and some of my favorite musicians as well. Those of you who have followed this blog for a while will know I'm also a musician and draw upon music to influence my own writing often. In fact, I do it here and here.
Today, I want to point out the power of creativity across different forms of media.
I have a very eclectic musical pallet. And among my favorite songs, you'll find selections from Prince and Peter Gabriel. My favorite all-time song, however, is a fairly obscure song called "Skin and Atmosphere" by the band 36 Crazyfists. It poses great dynamics of loud/soft and noisy/quiet. Lyrically, the tale is one of love... to some degree.
I've had the notion to write the story of this song for a few years. While searching for a video to the song on YouTube, I found one made by a film student. His take is different than mine, but now I want to write the story line in his video.
Here's a look.
I tout the power of borrowing from other art forms to help tap your own creativity. This is a prime example of film borrowing from song. And I think it is a better example than an MTV music video, because it was done with attention to the meaning of the song, not just big budgets and flash.
So who inspires me? I'm guess I'm inspired by others who push into new creative territory. It doesn't have to be a particular artist. Creativity taps creativity.
Get tapping.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Creativity Taps Creativity
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Geoff, I agree with you. The inspiration for one of my blog articles came from a TV commercial a few months ago. The words to songs are wonderful tools of inspiration. Today, a lot of my inspiration comes from conversations with friends and from other blogs.
As a songwriter, I do that constantly...poems, movies, short stories, the news...but the interesting thing is that you don't have to usurp the WHOLE PLOT...it could be a line...a character...a "what if instead of doing A they did B"?
You can even go through a story or article with a yellow pen marking phrases, words, moments that COULD be something....
For me it's all about being in that readiness state, where everything around me--faces, gestures, phrases, actions, words--is bursting with potential, as if everything is invisibly hyperlinked with the song it might become.
Great point, Ruth. Playing "what if" is a great way to explore new avenues for creativity. I like your concept of a hyperlinked story. It's a very appropriate analogy.
Post a Comment