Skye Lansing
This is difficult to peg down. Honestly? All over.
Movies, books, music, video games. Some nights I'll watch one of my favorite movies and just think about how the story is constructed, or try to figure out why different characters behave the way they do.
Something similar happens with video games (for me, at least), since the whole point of the medium is to give the player a situation to deal with. Often that can make me wonder how one of my characters would approach the situation.
Books are another thing entirely, I'm convinced it is impossible to write well without being someone who enjoy's reading. Every book you read gives you a lesson in how to construct a story and shows you different tools that you can use to convey meaning. Even if you pick out things you dislike about a book you have learned something—possibly about yourself, or possibly about things to avoid doing in your own writing.
Music is probably the least motivational for me, but I definitely use it to motivate myself. There are certain songs I know I can play to reach particular emotional states, which can help with writing certain scenes. I also find that soft music that lacks vocalizations helps me focus on my work if I play it in the background while writing.
Movies, books, music, video games. Some nights I'll watch one of my favorite movies and just think about how the story is constructed, or try to figure out why different characters behave the way they do.
Something similar happens with video games (for me, at least), since the whole point of the medium is to give the player a situation to deal with. Often that can make me wonder how one of my characters would approach the situation.
Books are another thing entirely, I'm convinced it is impossible to write well without being someone who enjoy's reading. Every book you read gives you a lesson in how to construct a story and shows you different tools that you can use to convey meaning. Even if you pick out things you dislike about a book you have learned something—possibly about yourself, or possibly about things to avoid doing in your own writing.
Music is probably the least motivational for me, but I definitely use it to motivate myself. There are certain songs I know I can play to reach particular emotional states, which can help with writing certain scenes. I also find that soft music that lacks vocalizations helps me focus on my work if I play it in the background while writing.
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