Getting Inside Your Characters Heads

[flynx]

Just curious...does anyone else watch movie scenes or listen to music to manipulate your own emotions to match the emotions your characters would be feeling while writing?

I find movie clips to be great for visualizing my FX, Action Sequences, and Choreagraphed Fight Scenes. Even more inspiring is my collection of movie scores, which I conveniently have categorized by the emotions they invoke in me.

Anyone else do this?

Well, and this may be totally wrong and taboo, but my emotions are manipulated by what I'm writing. Hot stuff gets me hot, fight scenes make me angry (I hate fighting of any kind) and plot twists make me think.

Interestingly (to me) if I need to describe an action, even or maybe especially, a small action say, a flick of the wrist or a glimpse over the shoulder, I sometimes find myself performing the action to see/feel what it actually involves.

For example I had someone glance over their shoulder and until I actually performed it I never realised that a fair proportion of the lower jaw can be hidden in this action. V.useful.

 

[j d worthington]

Well, and this may be totally wrong and taboo, but my emotions are manipulated by what I'm writing. Hot stuff gets me hot, fight scenes make me angry (I hate fighting of any kind) and plot twists make me think.

Interestingly (to me) if I need to describe an action, even or maybe especially, a small action say, a flick of the wrist or a glimpse over the shoulder, I sometimes find myself performing the action to see/feel what it actually involves.

For example I had someone glance over their shoulder and until I actually performed it I never realised that a fair proportion of the lower jaw can be hidden in this action. V.useful.

No; from both my own experience and from various writers I've heard or seen talk about this aspect of things, it's quite common to do this. Some take it to what would seem extremes, but then their writing may belie that assumption. Besides, what you describe as an example makes a very good point: if you don't try those which are feasible, you may get the details completely wrong, or not realize something that you do all the time, because you're not observing closely, whereas when you're practicing it for writing, you are. It's a case of Sherlock Holmes' admonition to Watson: "You see, but you do not observe." So trying things out is often a very good idea...

 

[Black Razor]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Thread to be closed.

~BR

 

[Brian G Turner]

No, may as well keep it open for continued discussion.

 

[The Tennessee Kid]

Just curious...does anyone else watch movie scenes or listen to music to manipulate your own emotions to match the emotions your characters would be feeling while writing?

I find movie clips to be great for visualizing my FX, Action Sequences, and Choreagraphed Fight Scenes. Even more inspiring is my collection of movie scores, which I conveniently have categorized by the emotions they invoke in me.

Anyone else do this?

Could you post the playlist by any chance... I am looking for some new musical scores,and I havent found anything fitting, I think I have exhausted my titanic and star wars cd's.

Josh x

 

[edott]

To get into the mindset for a sword fighting scene i and a friend went into my backyard and fought with padded weapons, left over from our SCA days. i believe my fight description afterwards was pretty good.

 

[Moon Tree]

Hi All,

I have a whole collection of mood music that I use, from just generic tunes, to specific CDs, I guess it would be MP3’s now, for certain scenes or chapters. What really sets me in the mood, is sitting by the fire place, with my laptop.

Moon Tree

 

[Commonmind]

In general when writing action scenes, especially one-on-one duels and the like, I tend to rely on my own imagination a bit more. That's not to say anyone using film or other forms of media for their inspiration is being any less imaginitive, it's just that for my particular style I find it to be a bit counter-productive. One of the things I do in my fantasy writing is bring differing fighting and weapon styles together, and it is quite difficult to express that unless you try and use your own imagination. For large sequences, such as major battles, I rely on my knowledge of historical warfare and I tend to listen to a lot of classical music when writing them. That and Tool or occasionally Journey... if the mood strikes.

 

[Chrystelia]

I only use music to tune out the world and noise around me. I fine classical music and instrumentals most effective in this. After that, the music itself becomes a distraction which means I'm in it, so I then can turn it off and it will be hard to stop after that.