[Writing] On Writing What I Love to Read

I've been hearing that lately--the idea that the kind of story you want to write is often similar to what you love reading. A few of my writing friends mentioned that in the past few months, and I've also seen it on Twitter as well as in some of the writing magazines I subscribe to.

When I started taking my writing more seriously in the mid-90s, I'd originally started with a wave of Stephen King novels that my ex handed me (The Stand was of note, and was partly the inspiration for my penchant for an ensemble cast rather than a single POV). After I moved back to Athol, I made a conscious effort to pick up more science fiction novels, considering that was the genre I'd started writing at the time. But it wasn't until I was making the weekly trips to the comic book store at Hampshire Mall that I'd also started heading to the bookstores there--specifically, hanging out at the old anchor store there, Media Play (I think Best Buy is there now). They had a pretty decent science fiction section, and I'd spend an hour or so there, digging through the shelves and trying out a few novels here and there. This is where I found Kate Elliott's Jaran novels and Richard Paul Russo's Carlucci books, and a host of others.

Some of them fell by the wayside, read but not leaving much of an impression. On the other hand, there were others that just clicked with me--they may not be Hugo Award-winning novels, but they were books I really enjoyed. As I've often said, these are the novels that would hit me in just the right way that I'd want to run downstairs and start writing my own book right there and then. Those are the books that I love reading--the ones that spark that excitement, even if they're just entertainment. I've been reading a lot of different genres over the last ten years, but it's only recently that I've come back to actively looking for those specific books that hit me just the right way.

Recently I began reminding myself that that is the kind of book I want to write as well. I don't want to write The Great American Science Fiction Novel, nor do I want to write The Most Awesomest Book Ever (although having my stories labeled that after the fact would be nice!). I want to write something that will kick that spark of excitement in me, and hopefully in others. I think that reminding myself of that on a more consistent basis will in effect make my writing (and my revision) that much better.

#atozchallenge #wis L is for Let Me Go

"Let Me Go" by Heaven 17 is one of those quintessential 80s synthpop songs that you know from the first few notes, one that everyone loves to hear on those retro shows. For those of us who grew up watching the first few years of MTV, we loved it whenever that freaky black and white video came on where the trench-coated singer gets lost in an abandoned city. Surprisingly, it failed as a single in the UK (it only hit #41) but made it all the way to #4 in the US dance charts in 1982.

In doing research for my Walk in Silence project, the most interesting has been watching the evolution of post-punk and synthpop in the early 80s--specifically, the line that stretches from the death of UK punk in 1977, through the purposely uncommercial and experimental rock in the late 70s, up through the original post-punk of bands like Wire and early Public Image Limited...and the arrival of bands that got their start in the clubs such as Human League, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and so on. By 1981-82, the two had somehow melded together in the UK and hit the charts on a steady basis. Had MTV not been around, they probably would have been picked up eventually, but at the time, the US charts were still filled with either straight ahead guitar rock or the last vestiges of disco and other dance-oriented songs--and rarely were they heard together. What the British charts and MTV brought to the States was a catchy and radio-friendly mix of the two. And as most of these bands became bigger and more famous, some of the more leftfield post-punk made its way to the college radio stations and the outpost "new rock" stations such as WFNX and KROQ. It really wasn't until around 1983 or 1984 or so when the first hint of what became the "college rock" of the 80s made its presence known (primarily with bands like The Cure, The Smiths, XTC, and all the others we know and love now).

I'd like to think that in that brief time, from around 1981-1983, the synthpop, club and pub bands from the UK, the ones pioneering the post-punk genre, were the ones that laid the original foundation for 80s alternative rock.