Terry Pratchett
It was on the BBC news today. Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's disease. He says he'll be able to finish his current commitments (two books) and there should be time for a few more. This has hit me hard. When David Gemmell, the author of my favourite book, died it was more of a fact of life. It may be the idea of a mind as amazing as Pratchett's being eroded slowly but surely. Maybe it's the fact he's seems like such a nice bloke. His books have been a massive, huge, gigantic influence on me as a reader and as a writer. I'm not sure what else to write or if I should even be writing anything at all.
I salute the man. That is all.
On Music
I've got to write an essay. Rather I should say I am writing an essay. It's still in the planning stages and the first draft will be written this weekend. It's due on December 10th and time is kind of pressing... It always is these days.
So... Music! The essay is on my influences, books, writers etc. that have had an affect on my writing practice. When I think about it a lot my influences are just as much comics and movies as they are novels. It's okay to put that stuff in. I asked. But what about that other massive influence in my life: Music? There's rarely a waking moment when I'm not listening to music in one form or another. It affects my mood, it's a comfort and a companion. It's something I absolutely could not live without. But does it count as an influence on my writing practice?
I think it is and should. As I write this I'm listening to Nympthetamine by Cradle of Filth. It's cheesy metal. I can't describe it. The band can't really either. It's epic, it's silly, it's pretentious, it's pretty ridiculous. But it puts me in mind of gothic fantasy. I know that sounds obvious since that's one of the genres they're intruding on but it really puts it in mind. When I imagine that kind of setting this kind of music helps. Mainly because that kind of setting doesn't really work for me if the writer is taking themselves entirely seriously...
The point is this. When I'm writing I have to be listening to music. Unlike a lot of people, who find it distracts them, I find it focuses my thoughts in a particular direction... and I have music for pretty much every direction I could require. So I'd say music is a massive influence on my writing practice. But how to describe that? How to write about that in an essay? Did I just do it? Is this kind of writing suitable? I guess time will tell. The only thing I know for sure is that I can't let this essay be handed in without mentioning In Flames, Misery Loves Co., Queen and a whole host of other bands...
...except I can't. The essay is 3000 words. So I'll have to limit myself to a few. And that's an entirely new issue... Which few?
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A Note on Influence
I think you can find influence in anything... But I sometimes if it's possible to be influenced in advance. Now the story I'm currently working on is a bit of fantasy. It's probably also going to be really bad. But hey it's for reading out loud and no one can "see" the prose. It's also the one idea I feel most confident about writing right now. Anyway so it turns out it's a bit of a mash up of two Neil Gaiman stories. The first being Stardust (saw the it for the first time this weekend) and the second being Preludes and Nocturnes (which I also re-read this weekend). I planned this story out over the last three weeks. Go figure. Over-active imagination or some kind of pre-cognitive ability? You decide!