Liam Livings
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4 reasons why I don't have a media blackout while writing

13/6/2013

4 Comments

 
I’ve read about and spoken to some writers who, when they’re ‘in the writing zone,’ don’t read any books or watch any TV. All I can say to that is facepalm! As I’ve said before, it takes all sorts, and that’s what I’m getting at here, there are no hard and fast rules for writing; it’s about what works for you. And as soon as you realise that, you can stop feeling guilty about not doing it ‘the right way’ and get on with what works for you. You may well have a complete lockdown on media while writing, but I don’t. And wouldn’t life be dull if everyone was the same?

1) I write for all year round

At the moment I have three things on the go, four if you could blogging, which I think is still proper writing, I mean, it’s not dancing about architecture is it? (I have Playing By Heart to thank for that one.) I have first round of amends for WIP, after vomit on page first draft. I have a shorter piece bubbling away in the background. I have the first book amends. And I have blogging. So if I had a media blackout I wouldn’t read or watch anything. For the whole year.

2) A phrase/scene/character can give you an idea to expand on in your own writing

In Best Friends Perfect, Kieran and Jo climb Ayers Rock in drag. Yes I took that from Priscilla Queen of the Desert (PQD in our house), but the situation and characters are completely different. It was an interesting event, which I wanted to reflect on differently. Kieran and Jo refer to being inspired by PQD, and that’s way post modern, or something... Haven’t you ever watched a film and thought, I wonder how that character would get on trapped in space? Or maybe those lyrics perfectly express the feeling at the end of a relationship your strong silent character would feel?

Picture
Ayers Rock - I don't own the pic
3)Media consumption is part of your life

In the same way that seeing friends or family is part of your life, media consumption is too. Jonathan Harvey said he wanted to be a teacher before becoming a writer, so he’d have some life experience to draw from in his writing. He’s a writer on Coronation Street, and his first book All She Wants, is about a girl who became a soap star. Most of us consume a fair bit of media every week, so I say why deny yourself an important aspect of life just because you’re writing that month/week/year?

4)Guarding your own voice is important – however

Yes, it’s important to guard your own voice. Some people say they can’t listen to music while they’re writing or they end up writing about what the songs are about. Others say that’s a perfect way to overcome a writing block. I think even if you use an idea in some media, and write about it, the story can only ever be told in your voice: if I went on holiday with three friends, we would all tell the holiday story differently, all using our own voice. That’s all people ever do, tell each other stories: through films, music, books it’s all stories.

Picture
Stories are so important to people. I don't own the pic btw obv...
So what are your thoughts on this? Is a media blackout essential when you’re writing? Do you write in silence, or accompanied by music? I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time

Liam x

4 Comments
Ian
13/6/2013 06:54:21 pm

A media blackout could even be unhealthy. I worry that I'll go so deep in to my own little world that my writing becomes inaccessible and irrelevant to the reader.
Having instantly accessible signposts like music or film references offer a shared experience and help build the relationship with the reader.

Reply
Liam Livings
13/6/2013 11:21:15 pm

Hi Ian, I'd never thought of it like that, but now you describe it like that it could actually be a bit unhealthy!
Liam

Reply
Bruce Page
13/6/2013 07:11:12 pm

Hey!! I personally write a lot of poetry/verse/words/one liners/ expressions. I always have done since I was 14 when, verging on emotional collapse, I needed to talk somewhere. So for a long time that talking was to myself in note books - no odd crappy piece of stationary it had to be in something that reflected my mood/self/feelings. My feelings needed to be safe and tucked away and these needed to be inside something special - because for so long I couldnt tell anyone who I really was - then when I did(!) I needed my writing more than ever!!!! Everything was bursting out and bursting in on me - joy and hate interchangeably - but most of all desire and love! Gosh there's so much space in everyones life for that!

I personally need the wide open space - the air and freedom from my very busy brain - a brain which works fast (and not always effectively) and wears me out!!! writing is a way for me to drill the real emotion into somewhere - a space, a piece of paper. That emotion I think often gets left, squashed, to one side of my brain - while al the rest of the big busy mess takes over. So rest time, away from medias, is essential maintenance for me and then when I have time away from that I can day dream off into a field, the sea side or the rusting trees in my garden. Maybe the media, TV music etc, is distracting me from being the real me? And then when I am on my own without the false stimulation (not the subject area of the media or tv programme the process of what it does itself) I can be my own type of "normal" - not everyone elses normal - unless Like you Liam you find your own way, your own experience or developing the experience of characters in the situations presented by film and movie influences - which I think is fantastical in someways and takes you in a new direction or one of your own interpretation.

Mmm? So me? I need to vent me and exercise the real me in decisions. These aren't diaries that i write - they are moments which have their own identity and memory of that/those moment/s. The name of a poem or a whatever it is that I am writing - convention says it's poetry - I think its Just Me - but if I had a media influence which can take me away in my mind???? Mmmm yes, maybe conventional? Maybe not - but is Shirley Valentine the movie when she's sat at the sunset on arriving in Greece looking out from a taverna (taverna? is that a spanish or greek term? i dont know?!?) with wine in a warm coastal breeze. Thats me in so many moments when i drift off - whether its on a bus, in a wide open space or most recently on top of one of the high tors on Dartmoor in Devon (ha ha ha maybe my own Ayers Rock!) t shirt off arms in the air spinning around and feeling that complete release and freedom! Thats something I came down from and wrote about!

You're right - there is no one way about it!

Reply
Liam Livings
13/6/2013 11:24:39 pm

Hi Bruce,
Whatever works for you! It sounds like you definitely need the headspace away from media to appreciate silence and nature.
Yes, that is Shirley Valentine in the taverna in Greece. She certainly drifts off and finds herself in Greece. And it's only when she goes her husband appreciates what he's missing!
Liam

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    Gay romance & gay fiction author

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