26 October 2006

You lookin' at me?

I’m watching lots of History Channel currently, doing world-building research for my new book. It’s all well and good, but when people ask me where I get my ideas, I tell them, "From real life." If you haven’t freaked out some stranger lately (or alternatively flattered them) with your attention, then you aren’t people-watching nearly enough. My gym is a great source for characters. People grunt and moan and sweat, all reminiscent of swordplay and farming, if you’re into archaic fantasy. They wear weird attire--lots of dry-fit and special padding and odd shoes and new-fangled jackets. It’s all fodder for thinking of a sci-fi wardrobe with a purpose. I even watch pets, about the closest things to slaves in my world. When a dog is in trouble, does he cower instantly, like a slave scrambling to kneel to his master? Or, does he ignore the screams to “SIT”, like a politician nodding to a constituent? For many writers, once you’ve got a character taking up space in your head, a story is bound to follow. The stories are out there, following us around. You’ve just got to keep looking.

3 comments:

writtenwyrdd said...

The most interesting place for finding jumping off points has been www.overheardinnewyork.com. A hoot!

Nice blog. Glad to see others blogging about SFF.

Rashenbo said...

Heheh, I bounced over here from Written's site and I'm liking what you've got going so far!!!

Nice to meet ya in the blogosphere.

Cheers.

Betsy Dornbusch said...

right back atcha. Thanks for visiting our new baby blog, and submit a story, already!