Challenge #4 Finding Inspiration

[FangedSmile]

Another way to get over writer's block is to find a concept.
One of the ways I find concept ideas is by trying to find a source of emotion. This can be a picture or a quote. For this challenge we'll use a picture of quotes.


Look at the quotes and think about the emotion behind them, and then write a concept. This can be a scene, a character, a story idea, or just a piece of dialog. The important thing is just to write something and get your mind to be able to draw inspiration from many sources.

[B. B. Wolf]

"I can look inside if you wish. Perhaps I could find something that helps you."

Saul glared into his glass of whiskey. He hadn't heard her come into the bar, but it was a fairly busy night. What was more surprising was that she was there in the first place. Without looking up he glanced to his left. Form fitting white trousers hugged slim hips and long, shapely legs. The woman's pink shoes and matching, midriff baring tank top insinuated an air of innocence that the wearer had long been void of. He looked away and immediately emptied his mind. Well, tried to. Any time you try to not think about something specifically, you always think of it. Never fails. The light giggles he heard told him she was probably flattered rather than offended, but he still blushed.

"You needn't worry. You have proven to be an irreplaceable asset, and I would not drive you away by invading your privacy."

Saul let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He felt his heart rate slowing down and glared harder into his glass of whiskey.

"You say that, but your offer suggests that you've already had a look."

The girl stepped forward and slid onto the stool nest to him, brushing against his sleeve in the process. Saul watched a myriad of bottles and cans lift themselves from the shelves and begin to go through the process of mixing a drink. Vodka, worcesterchire, hot sauce, salt, pepper, tomato juice, lemon juice, all added themselves to a glass as they were caught up in a slow whirlpool motion. Another glass floated up, this one filled with ice cubes, and the first glass gently tipped its contents into the second. Finally, a single stick of celery pushed it's way through the ice before the whole thing settled in front of the alluring woman. He could almost hear her smile as she spoke to him while idly stirring her drink with the celery stick.

"I need not enter your mind to see that your thoughts are troubled. One need only watch as you attempt to scorch your drink with your burning gaze," she said. The glass disappeared as she took a sip. When it returned to the table, Saul could see the stain from her purple lipstick. His gaze softened at her words and he seemed to sink in on himself.

"If you haven't already, why would you want to look now?" he asked. The woman seemed to contemplate her answer. Saul took a sip of his own drink, the smooth alcohol burning slightly as it traveled down his throat.

"You have become something of import to me. Were I able to lessen your suffering, it would be a boon to both of us. Besides, yours wouldn't be the first soul I've gazed into, and no harm has come of it yet."

She seemed so confident in herself. Like nothing could faze her. And maybe it couldn't, but he couldn't take that chance. Saul sniffed and downed the last few sips of his drink. It burned a lot harsher this time, but still felt good going down. With a hearty sigh he stood up and pushed his glass, along with enough money to pay for both of their drinks, across the bar. Then he turned and finally looked Sabrina in the eyes. His gaze seemed to pass right through her, and she couldn't hide the fact that it made her squirm on the inside. Her expression didn't change. Girl had one hell of a poker face. But her breathing caught, and her shoulders had tensed. The corner of Saul's mouth quirked up in a little half smile.

" 'Yet' being the key word there, doll. One of these days you're going to look deep inside of someone like that, and to late you'll realize that they're looking just as deep inside of you. And you and I both no that you just ain't ready for that."

Saul gently hooked a finger under her chin and lifted it up so she was looking directly at his face. Ever so slowly, he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her lips. When it was done, he took a single step back, picked his hat up off of the bar, and placed it on his head, pulling the wide brim down so it stayed firmly where it was meant to. With a quick wink and that crooked smile, Saul turned and headed outside. Just as the door closed behind him, he heard a glass crashing to the floor. With a soft chuckle, Saul made his way out of town. After all, he had a job to do.

------

I sort of combined this one with the last one. I don't know if I did a very good job with it, but I suppose that's sort of the point, lol! Anywahoos, tell me what you think. I tried to do more than just put the quote in there, but I don't know if it shows very well. I think what I might do is try this again, but just write out a character sheet for Saul. That might work a little better.

[FangedSmile]

Actually, I think you did pretty good. The idea was to use the quote as inspiration, so you don't have to repeat it word for word. So, unless you weren't going for "when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back" then you were getting the concept right. Many authors might put a quote or a poem at the start of a book, or even a chapter and sometimes you don't know what it means until you've finished the whole thing. It's a nice "Ah ha!" moment. So, questions:
1. Did you like this challenge?
2. Do you see this challenge helping you in the future?

Your idea to write just a character sheet could work. Lemme think... for advice, I'd say to try and represent a bit more of the concept behind the quote. You did a good job focusing on the idea, and I think you were trying to incorporate it in the beginning as well, so maybe think about starting a bit earlier. With your character staring into the glass long enough that he doesn't see the drink anymore. He sees everything that troubles him, and tries to figure out how to make that pain go away. Though, he begins to imagine those troubles staring back, judging and trying to find a solution to him. You wouldn't need to be so blunt, though.

I liked your varying sentence lengths, particularly: Any time you try to not think about something specifically, you always think of it. Never fails.
This helps get your character's personality into the dialog. The style already had a slower tone to it, so the short sentence doesn't rush things too much. Nice pacing!
The POV is from Saul's perspective, though you switch a little bit to Sabrina's POV when you mention that she couldn't hide the fact that Saul's gaze made her squirm. You might try mentioning the fact that though her poker face never changed, she tensed her shoulders. Then just say Saul noticed. But that's just my opinion.

[B. B. Wolf]

I didn't even notice that change in perspective. I meant to write it as him noticing it, but it does look like a shift there. The thing with the sentence length is only partially on purpose. I tend to enjoy stories that you read as if they are being told by someone, which means writing the way a person thinks. And I, personally, tend not to think in complete sentences. However, if I write everything the way I think, I'd probably be committed. So finding a happy median is a bit of a challenge sometimes.

P.S. And yes, I definitely enjoyed it, and I could definitely see this being useful in the future. I'll have to try it again with the character sheet, so we'll see how that turns out. But I'll definitely use this again.

[FangedSmile]

Perspective change is something I've really tried to work at because I used to be really terrible at it and my creative writing instructor got on my case. It seemed odd to me, that I couldn't type what I, as the author, knew. I know if a look makes a character uncomfortable, or if specific dial make a character angry even if they hid it. Being told not to do this seemed strange until I was told that unless my characters were psychic or masters of visual cues to a degree almost unheard of, that I should not have them reveal another character's emotions. That was more understandable.

[B. B. Wolf]

That makes a lot of sense. I'm always trying to show the reader exactly what's going on and sometimes I think I get to much into that and less into what is actually supposed to be happening. I'll experiment with that a bit and see if I can improve on it.