Writing in Reverse

Influence and Involvement

I discovered something that I never expected to have had such an influence over me as much as music did.  More specifically at the time, Marilyn Manson.  The band and the man himself was just fascinating to me and nothing ever before, let alone a band, captured my interest like this did. 

After discovering their music, I also discovered their meaning - which I thought was just incredibly amazing.  I never saw anything like it before - the creation of a solid meaning through music, and I mean real meaning.  They stood for so many things and it shocked me how involved I became in anything that had to do with them, how I could relate to music more than I could to anything else. 

I researched everything about it, about the strange man himself, and for the first time in my life, I was starting to discover a meaning of my own.  I started to look at the world through different eyes and it looked so much more brighter.  Everything stared to make sense to me. 

I'm not really religious and that's something I always struggled with because it made me feel guilty.  It's something I still have issues with.  Not to mention, I always had thoughts or opinions on politics, violence, abuse, judgment, and life in general.   But it was as if everything they 'preached' made it so much more clearer for me - including the idea of individuality. And I noticed that every other concept Marilyn Manson had was something I could relate to and it helped me understand myself more and the world.  That it's okay to be alone and different because every one who judges you for it is no better. The band proves their point every time someone judges them and writes them off as a sick excuse.  And after a while, I started to love my faults and not be ashamed of them.  I started to feel good about myself.

Of course, it didn't mean it was something my parents liked, especially my dad.  He is so narrow minded and I'm the complete opposite.  They didn't bother trying to understand at first, didn't understand that this was part of the reason I was feeling better as a person.  And it just made me mad.  It was a while until my mom came around to it but I still don't think she fully understands.  There is no hope for my dad to understand.  He hears rumors and that means case closed in his mind. 

I was changing and they started to see it but there was nothing they could do about it.  I was happy and they can't be mad about the reason being something out of the ordinary.  It was also something nobody expected of me since I was so quiet  and didn't seem to be into hard rock.  But like I said, that's there issue.

Destiny was the same way.  She has her own bands she obsessed over and now, we could do it together.  Music dominates the conversation between us and the funny part is she doesn't care for my music and I don't care for hers that much either.  But we both find it interesting nonetheless to find out new things about the bands and their front man and tell each other.

As of now, nearly two years later, I can say they are what started my interest in music, and it didn't stop there.  I started to get into a few more bands such as Korn and Evanescence.  But Marilyn Manson will remain to be one of the bigger causes to my inspiration and a personal hero of mine, no matter how dumb that may sound to you.

I was never influenced by anything to write - just the need to tell a story.  But after finding and going deeper into music, it influenced my outlook on everything and I have music to thank for widening different aspects of imagination.  It's made me start thinking of different ideas of my own, expanding pass just writing for fun and going to different genres in the future.  But to also write to express an idea in an original way, to inspire more people with it besides myself.

So I have music to thank for that. However, I don't let that interfere with the content of what I'm actually writing. 

In Island Rush, I wrote scenes where Janice and Casey ask each other questions about themselves.  And I involved some answers that were related to me.  For example, my favorite food is carrot cake, I am allergic to green beans, allergic to cats, and I love Starwars.  All these things I involved within my characters, their characteristics as they admitted to each other.   

But there is a difference between that and letting something from your personal life guide your story or your characters.  There are countless stories on this site I have read and managed to roll my eyes at with how obvious it is that they are portraying themselves through their characters.  For example, when you have a very negative character in a story and when you leave a negative author's note that has the same tone, same amount of stupidity as the character.  I don't judge those people.  It's just something I don't find to be very creative.

That's why, though I show parts of my opinion and personality through the characters, I don't let that affect the mood of the story or guide it in a direction the writer wants it to go in.  In my opinion, if you are a good writer, you need to let the story go wherever it needs to go.  The story needs to guide itself, not have it controlled by the writer's personal life.

As a writer, you put everything you have into your writing.  You put yourself in your writing because your style can define you.  But don't go so far as to write a story that revolves around you. I don't have an issue with that if that's what is fun for the writer but don't do it and try to pass it off as a story influenced by nothing but your imagination.  Of course, you put yourself in your main character.  To get better perspective and even as an escape when you write.  But you need to respect your characters enough not to take them over.

As music began to have a greater impact on me, I didn't let that control what I write.  Every time I write, I write with my music playing but it had no connection as it should be in my opinion. 

But influence directly to a story is something completely different.  It's okay to have influence.  In fact, there isn't one thing you write that isn't influenced when you really think about it.  Everything you create, everything you put into this world, is essentially copied over time even if you don't realize it.  If you are writing a scene about something as common as a table and chairs even.  Nothing specifically influenced you to write about that.  However, tables and chairs needed to have already existed and be known, used, for you to put it in your story.  Technically, you can count that as influence in my eyes though in others, it could be different. 

But when something specific influences you, something more than a common object or even the topic of your conversation in dialogue, it can be different - and risky.  For example, I read a Stephen King story where the main character ended up getting bit by a rat and getting very sick.  And when I started thinking that I needed something to happen to Casey near the end, that popped in my head.  Why doesn't Casey get bit by a rat?

Now, this is the tricky part.  I didn't want to copy, do anything like that.  I wanted it to be original and that's what I tried my best at doing considering that I was 'influenced' by that idea from another book. I think it's fine to get an idea for your story from other works.  You just need to make it very different, very original to where nothing is the same besides the fact that that they were both bit by rats.  I went more in depth with what Casey went though, the pain, his sickness.  I needed to make this my own and though I did, it still was a risky move for the sake of my originality.

That's something people need to realize.  It's okay to put parts of yourself in your book, pieces of other works because in the end, everything is influenced by something.  Just make it your own.