Okay, so this is another long (and boring) title for a post.
But you know what? I have found oblique or inferred titles do not get the views, irrespective of how well thought out those titles may be, and regardless of the quality of the post’s content.
Possibly, this is because many readers just ‘don’t get’ them? Or it maybe it is because people think the writer is being ‘a bit too clever’?
So, here I am with a plain statement for a blog post title. At least this way you get the gist of what the article is about… or do you?
Read on to find out…
I am a regular listener of the radio. I don’t just mean music radio, the odd quiz show or sport. I am referring to ‘talk’ radio, interviews, articles and in-depth discussions.
Serious radio, if you like to call it that.
I got hooked on listening to this sort or broadcast some years back when I did a lot of driving. Sometimes music becomes monotonous; there are times when even your favourite and most loved tracks won’t cut the mustard.
Then you have the ‘Radio Presenters’, we used to call them DJ’s back in the day.
But that was when DJ’s were star celebrities, when everyone and, I mean everyone, knew their names because they were bloody good at entertaining and engaging all who were tuned in.
Unlike the inane, immature, crass drivel which spouts from the mouths of the current drove of unprofessional, clearly uneducated people who host many a radio shows, both on national and local stations.
Okay, rant over. Back to the article…
When you have many miles to drive, listening to intelligent and informative conversation, presentation and debated opinions is often welcome company.
I have found many a premise for a new story, or a character base, or a situation to set my tales within, by listening to such programmes. Some of those inspirations are still with me, unused. Some are notes, other simply bullet points, an aide memoir waiting to be built upon at some future date.
Others have found homes, they are now part of my story worlds awaiting the next reader to uncover their being.
Yes, one’s muse may be triggered by many things. All writers, I am sure, gain inspiration from a million stimuli each and every day; films, TV, magazines, social media, overheard conversation, observed actions… the list is limitless.
BUT…
For me listening to the radio has become a prime source for stimulating my creative juices.
I think this is because when one listens exclusively, that is without accompanying visual input, the mind can focus more accurately, its subconscious, or semi-conscious, concentration allowed to fix, to centre on the words alone without distraction.
Yes, when driving the main emphasis and attention is clearly applied to controlling the car and reacting to all which is around you. However, your cognitive ability allows another part of your mind to absorb and assimilate the information you hear, clearly and precisely, without conflicting with the prime task in hand, that is your driving.
When I hear something of interest, I take a mental note of the time, channel and programme name, so when I am home, I can go to the broadcaster’s website and re-run the article I heard earlier. It is then I make my written notes and detailed memos.
Allow me to give a couple of examples by way of explanation.
The following is from an earlier post, (January 2015), called ‘Subject Matter’. https://wp.me/p5nj7r-2H
A few days ago, while driving home I tuned into a programme which was delving into the issue of female autism. This report was enlightening enough regarding the subject itself. I found it full of stimulating information which I could, and still can, use in my future writings.
However, one statement touched my heart to such a degree I knew I had found a wonderful gem of inspiration.
One of the experts discussing this condition told of his interview with a young sufferer who, upon being diagnosed, said to her doctor, with much relief;
“For all my life it felt as if I had a black spot inside of me. I thought it would never go away”.
That one simple sentence was, for me, like finding a pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow. Those of you who are artistically minded will, for certain, understand the enormity of such a stimulus.
Another example, which I have already taken advantage of, by writing a poem called ‘My heart’, was during a play where one of the lines was about skeletons ‘kissing with their skulls’.
I wrote the following poem shortly after arriving home that evening.
Here is that poem.
My Heart
My heart is a grave for lovers
Where skeletons embrace ever crumbling lust,
And skulls kiss in breathless anguish.
Scarlet blood long soaked into the ashes,
Forgotten passions abandon, the cast-off flesh,
Sensuous agonies of the soul
Haunt faded moments embezzled by time.
Rise up from the earth,
Stand upon your tombstone,
Seek your absent self, your withered spirit
Wandering aimlessly in immortal eternity.
But look not within my heart,
For it is but a grave for lovers.
This poem and many others can be found in my book Shadows of Emotion.
Shadows of Emotion (Paperback)
OR simply paste, ISBN-13: 978-1500510312 into your Amazon search bar.
Ramblings from a Writer's Mind 