Not to go all āWeāre not so different, you and I,ā but thereās plenty that writers can learn from the creative practices of the other arts. Take the example of musicians.
Sometimes an idea needs to wait for the right time. Jillian Hess pulls some lessons on developing ideas from how The Beatles wrote their lyrics. Diane Warren explains how catching a snippet of James Brolinās pillow talk with Barbra Streisand percolated in her brain until she transformed it into the chart-topping power ballad from Armageddon.
Taking a step further out, James Melton explains techniques for improving as a jazz soloist which can apply to writing dialogue and managing traffic within scenes. Itās all about phrasing and leaving space for the other elements.
Bear McCreary breaks down how music integrates the themes of Foundation into its sound:
Gail Brand, John Sloboda, Ben Saul, and Martin Hathaway look to jazz musicians and their audiences to try and understand how each side sees their relationship. Are these musicians focused only on their craft, or do they look to the audience to decide whatās working? Itās complicated, and dealing with audience feedback (or potential audience expectations) is a dilemma thatās not just for musicians:
Jazz and the music performed āunder its influenceā is a form based on innovation in compositional style, improvisation and communication between musicians. One may ask whether keeping the audience at some kind of distance from the artistic process is necessary to ensure that this innovation continues. If the jazz musician is too responsive to audience preferences, would the form continue to evolve? And if jazz musicians need to continue to develop their artistry and innovation in the act of live performance, what implications does this have for their relationship with an audience?
Mark Korven shows off the creepiest instruments in his repertoire, used to ratchet up the tension when scoring suspense and horror films. Come for the hurdy-gurdy, stay for the rest of the nightmare fuel.
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ā±ļø You can sprint if you want to (but donāt leave your friends behind)
Each week we post a comment thread for writers to meet up, cheer each other on, and put some words on the page with a Write Sprint.
Whatās a Write Sprint?
John wrote up an explanation, but hereās the short version: Set a timer for 60 minutes, close down all distractions, and do nothing but write until that timer goes off.
Sometimes thatās all it takes to get some momentum going with your writing: You set aside this time for writing and nothing else, so youād better use it!
Shout out to Chitra Soundar and Christin Balan for sprinting with us last week!
š“ Get stories unstuck
The Writer Emergency Pack has the tools you need!
Fix plot holes
Add tension to scenes
Spice up stock characters
And itās now available in two sizes! The original deck still fits in your pocket, but the new XL deck has twice as many writing prompts and a larger format.
Itās exactly the type of tool to push me in the right direction without taking over my story.
āJulie Falatko (Kickstarter backer)
Previously on Innerestingā¦
In case you missed it, in last issueās most clicked link Michael at Lessons From the Screenplay looks at how information is parceled out in Ex Machina in a way that allows the audience to play along with its confidence game between the three leads:
What else is inneresting?
Emily Fox Kaplan reimagines a story of childhood abuse as a fairy tale, exploring genre expectations, how storytelling tropes frame personal trauma, and the limits of a protagonistās power.
James Gaunt looks back on 1990s Free Tibet activism to piece together what happened to the movementās momentum.
In a lesson on persistence and iteration, David Smith shows the steps it took for him to program an iOS widget with a smoothly scrolling set of clock hands.
And thatās whatās inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
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š£ Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art, or Bluesky @ccsont.bsky.social