Inspiration
Trolls Go Home! cover by Mark Beech
Where the Sidewalk Ends cover, by Shel Silverstein
Also by Silverstein
Work:
A Book About Children for Young Trolls (Teaser)
You’re growing up quick, and now it’s time to help out.
But what’s being a grown-up troll all about?
Well it’s about catching children! But that’s not hard as it looks.
Just follow the A, B, C’s in this book!
A is for all the children, so good to eat.
B is for brunch, the perfect time for children’s feet.
C is for crying, which they do a whole lot.
D is for dessert, twelve children caramelized in a pot.
E is for how easy it is to catch children in nets.
F is for flatulence as the children digest.
G is for grabbing children when they’re playing hide-and-go-seek.
H is for holding them down so they don’t make a squeak.
I is for icing on all the little children’s heads.
J is for jumping in windows and pulling children from their beds.
Reading Response: Questions from Sourcing Inspiration p. 123
Are you more likely to be inspired by:
1. The presence or absence of contentment?
Ideas come easily when I'm happy and chatting with friends or reading new books, but the motivation to get to work comes strictly from angst land.
2. Personal situations or social conditions?
Personal situations all the way. I don't like contemporary topics. I'd rather invent my own history.
3. Interactions with humans or non-humans?
Humans... sort of. My best ideas come out when I'm essentially talking at other people. They use a keyword and something just clicks on a totally unrelated note. And if I present an idea and it makes them laugh, I know I'm on track.
4. Rest or fatique?
I have to keep an eye on this one. Sleep deprivation used to be my vice. Nothing like the ideas that pop out at 3am after a long shift at work and a good jog. But I'm trying to keep my wits about me more often now. I like having to work for the more abstract thoughts, it feels more earned that way.
5. Relaxation or pressure?
I work with both. I probably work faster with a deadline, but I tend to create ideas in a pretty steady fashion regardless of what's going on. It's really fortunate when I can apply them to classes I'm in at the time.
6. Sobriety or being high?
I'm extremely against inebriation. I think those ideas are ill-deserved, and usually trite. See #4 for more on that.
7. Joy or sorrow?
See #1.
8. Familiarity or mystery?
Probably familiarity. I just read a book of poetry that I found exceptionally inspirational, and I NEVER read poetry, but it was in a style that I like already. So I guess I didn't stray too far.
9. Production or consumption?
I don't consume new media a lot, but I mostly get ideas from exterior sources, again, triggering something completely unrelated from in myself. So 50/50?
10. The past or the present?
Probably the past only because most of my stories are set in some amalgum of the 50's, victorian era, and today. Those eras are already so idealized in their own media that they make fantastic space for commentary.
11. Facts or feelings?
Both? A mainstay of writing is that no matter how fantastic your world, there must be rules. There are certain physics and societal norms that even the most stupendous characters must adhere to. Creating those hard definite boundaries helps facilitate the emotional commentary by the characters found within.
12. Anger or pity?
Anger. I am very a very "let's trace this all back and see why this happened" person and in the end, most people are their own undoing. Empathy sometimes, but rarely pity.
13. Yourself or others?
I love to say I'm an isolationist, but what is a humorist with nobody to amuse but themselves? I'm constantly using my friends as test subjects for concepts and control panels for delivery. I may not be the most sympathetic person, and most of humanity makes me furious, but it's that rage against the human condition that in the end is the topic of every single thing I do. I would be nothing without the things I hate. And I hate everyone.
Trolls Go Home! cover by Mark Beech
Where the Sidewalk Ends cover, by Shel Silverstein
Also by Silverstein
Work:
A Book About Children for Young Trolls (Teaser)
You’re growing up quick, and now it’s time to help out.
But what’s being a grown-up troll all about?
Well it’s about catching children! But that’s not hard as it looks.
Just follow the A, B, C’s in this book!
A is for all the children, so good to eat.
B is for brunch, the perfect time for children’s feet.
C is for crying, which they do a whole lot.
D is for dessert, twelve children caramelized in a pot.
E is for how easy it is to catch children in nets.
F is for flatulence as the children digest.
G is for grabbing children when they’re playing hide-and-go-seek.
H is for holding them down so they don’t make a squeak.
I is for icing on all the little children’s heads.
J is for jumping in windows and pulling children from their beds.
Reading Response: Questions from Sourcing Inspiration p. 123
Are you more likely to be inspired by:
1. The presence or absence of contentment?
Ideas come easily when I'm happy and chatting with friends or reading new books, but the motivation to get to work comes strictly from angst land.
2. Personal situations or social conditions?
Personal situations all the way. I don't like contemporary topics. I'd rather invent my own history.
3. Interactions with humans or non-humans?
Humans... sort of. My best ideas come out when I'm essentially talking at other people. They use a keyword and something just clicks on a totally unrelated note. And if I present an idea and it makes them laugh, I know I'm on track.
4. Rest or fatique?
I have to keep an eye on this one. Sleep deprivation used to be my vice. Nothing like the ideas that pop out at 3am after a long shift at work and a good jog. But I'm trying to keep my wits about me more often now. I like having to work for the more abstract thoughts, it feels more earned that way.
5. Relaxation or pressure?
I work with both. I probably work faster with a deadline, but I tend to create ideas in a pretty steady fashion regardless of what's going on. It's really fortunate when I can apply them to classes I'm in at the time.
6. Sobriety or being high?
I'm extremely against inebriation. I think those ideas are ill-deserved, and usually trite. See #4 for more on that.
7. Joy or sorrow?
See #1.
8. Familiarity or mystery?
Probably familiarity. I just read a book of poetry that I found exceptionally inspirational, and I NEVER read poetry, but it was in a style that I like already. So I guess I didn't stray too far.
9. Production or consumption?
I don't consume new media a lot, but I mostly get ideas from exterior sources, again, triggering something completely unrelated from in myself. So 50/50?
10. The past or the present?
Probably the past only because most of my stories are set in some amalgum of the 50's, victorian era, and today. Those eras are already so idealized in their own media that they make fantastic space for commentary.
11. Facts or feelings?
Both? A mainstay of writing is that no matter how fantastic your world, there must be rules. There are certain physics and societal norms that even the most stupendous characters must adhere to. Creating those hard definite boundaries helps facilitate the emotional commentary by the characters found within.
12. Anger or pity?
Anger. I am very a very "let's trace this all back and see why this happened" person and in the end, most people are their own undoing. Empathy sometimes, but rarely pity.
13. Yourself or others?
I love to say I'm an isolationist, but what is a humorist with nobody to amuse but themselves? I'm constantly using my friends as test subjects for concepts and control panels for delivery. I may not be the most sympathetic person, and most of humanity makes me furious, but it's that rage against the human condition that in the end is the topic of every single thing I do. I would be nothing without the things I hate. And I hate everyone.
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