As I’ve been working on the second draft of Katie G and The Aliens (still can’t believe I finished the first draft!) I’ve been trying to work out what to write about next in my blog. I mean, there’s only so much I can say about writing the book at the moment. I’m deep into re-reading and editing and the like, but not much there I can really talk about yet. I asked a few people and was often told that I should write more about myself.
Thing is, that’s not something easy for me. I don’t often like to talk about myself so much, I was never raised that way, so it feels a little hard for me to do. One thing I can talk bout, however, is the things I love!
If you look up at the top of this blog post, you’ll see an image that some of you might recognise as John Cusack Rob in the excellent movie, High Fidelity. It’s a movie that hit a lot of the right notes for me, not least of which is that it’s a man who is in the middle of a break up and who works in a record shop, something that actually happened to me, but it’s also about a mon obsessed with the things he loves, something else I can very much relate to, as, well, I’m kinda the same!
Now I love pop culture. I mean, I LOVE pop culture! I love so much of it! Books, movies, television, music, computer games, comic books, football, graphic novels, collectables, the internet, baking and so much other stuff, it’s amazing I ever get anything done! Indeed, it’s these things that tend to get in the way of me writing, half the time!
The obvious way to go for this blog then, if I’m going to talk about the things I love so much, is to just pick a subject and talk about it, I mean, I could write for days on these subjects, but I’ve decided to take a cue from high Fidelity and do it a little different. In the movie, and the novel by the excellent Nick Hornby (more on him in a future blog post!) the main characters are obsessed with music, movies and the like and are often found making Top 5 lists, whereby they pick a subject and then make a list of their top 5 favourites. This can be anything such as Top 5 Songs to Play At A Funeral or Top 5 Side 1’s, Track 1’s (that’s from record albums for the younger readers out there!) and then they debate the heck out of it!
I’m not going to be quite so obsessive, but nor am I going to be really obvious with things like Top 5 Marvel Movies or Top 5 Songs, I mean, let’s face it, I could be sat here for weeks debating those!
Think of this an ongoing and occasional look at the things that I love, the things that inspire me and drive me in my own creativity. These are all the things that have shaped me over nearly fifty years and helped me to decide what to write, how to write and helped me as I’ve been writing as well.
Feel free to make recommendations for me in the comments below and don’t be afraid to tell me if you think I’m wrong whenever I post a Top 5! I mean, I’m not, obviously, but it will be interesting to debate it anyway!
I think I’ll start with music. Top 5 Rock and Metal bands. See you in a few days when I decide!
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