Writing

In The Library Of The Mind

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I’m writing this in 2021, a year of plague, political unrest, and climate change. As I write it, I find myself asking what value my writing has and how it can live on to help people. If you are a writer, artist, or other creative, such doubts and concerns may plague you as well.

We can hope people buy our books, treasure them, and pass them on. Perhaps our works will live on as legacies. Maybe we can make donations to libraries or Little Free Libraries. We may reach people unborn, when they find a peculiar book on a shelf.

But books rot, and decay, and fall apart.

Perhaps we can live on in electronic formats. The internet spans the world, and data storage is cheap. Our legacy may be in electrons, pieces of ourselves in a digital afterlife of ebooks.

But can we count on those who distribute them? Businesses are self-interested, and technology changes.

All of this, all of this counts on people taking an interest in our works. Even if our mark is made in libraries and scrawled on silicon, people may not care.

I won’t lie. I certainly hope my work leaves a legacy, that it is read after I am gone. I hope enough of the world is here, so I have a chance to enlighten or entertain or confuse someone after I’m gone.

But I’ve learned – again and again – that a good writer wants to make an impression now.

Many an author I’ve met speaks of “that one person” – the person whose life changed due to their book. I’ve had that experience, and to see your work change a life reminds you that your creations matter. You make an impression.

Then there are the reviews. That one review on a website that says your book made a difference. Maybe you weren’t a life-changer, but you made their life a bit better. You make an impression.

There are sales, newsletters, blog posts like this one. Each one is a chance to reach people. Each is a chance to make an impression.

These impressions we make don’t end. They shape lives, direct people, and change them. Those changes live on in what they do, who they talk to, and how they think. If you wish, you can easily think of it as obvious karma.

Maybe we even make the world better enough that it outlasts the troubles we’ve created.

Our work, first and foremost, must improve others. Let it live in the libraries of the mind.

Steven Savage

The Soundtrack

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

One thing I discuss with my fellow writers is. Music is yet another form of inspiration, of course, but I find there’s another use for it – making soundtracks for your works.

There’s something about making an inspirational soundtrack to remind you of the mood, the characters, etc. You can turn it on, tune in, and have the music help carry your writing forward. I’ve seen these “inspiration tracks” used by writers and artists for most of my life – going back to a D&D game where the DM found his game a theme song.

But I’ve found a related exercise that helps me with my writing: imagining the “Soundtrack Band.”

Imagine your novel, or comic, and so on gets an adaption as a movie or TV show. The producers want you to pick a band that will do the opening and closing themes, and maybe even other music. You even get a chance to pick some of their past songs.

You just get to pick one band.

T.M. Revolution and Thunderbolt Fantasy inspired this exercise, and if you haven’t heard their songs for Thunderbolt Fantasy, do so. Actually, just watch all of Thunderbolt Fantasy.

Anyway, this got me thinking about my series, the Avenoth novels. What band would I choose if I got an anime or a Netflix adaption of my techno-fantasy series? That made me ask a lot of questions.

  • What band could “embody” the setting? What band “sounds right?”
  • What band had songs that fit the setting – and, of course, could easily be repurposed without them having to record something new?
  • What band would probably “get” the setting and be into doing a soundtrack for it?

In my case, the answer came quickly – Powerman 5000. Their techno-metal sound fits, though their latest novel isn’t quite to my tastes. Some of their songs also were inspirations for my novels anyway: “When Worlds Collide,” “Make Us Insane,” and “Supervillain.”

This let me imagine an audio feel for my novels, and that solidified their feel. It was a useful exercise.

So next time you’re playing with that soundtrack, ask what band you might want to do songs in an imaginary adaption.

(If Powerman 5000 is going a different direction, I’ll be talking to T.M. Revolution and Lenny Code Fiction.)

Steven Savage

Why I Wrote It – Chance’s Muse

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Chance’s Muse is my first book on my principles for creating random generators. I took what I’d learned over two-plus decades of running Seventh Sanctum and compiled them into a collection of guides and theories.

I created it because of my own sense of mortality.

Seventh Sanctum started in 1999 after I’d made a few random generators. At first, it was a subsection of my personal site, but it became its own thing due to popularity. It is one of the oldest random generator sites on the internet that I know of, and obviously, an older site means an older creator.

In 2018 I realized I had to ask what the legacy for Seventh Sanctum should be. Though I am in excellent health, I will age at some point, and I won’t be here. Though I love the site, there might be a time of change that means I’d pass it on. I had to ask, “what should be next.”

This resulted in a multi-pronged effort:

  • I identified an inheritor if I die.
  • I participate in a community of randomizer enthusiasts, so I have people that may help.
  • I am rewriting the site in a more modern code base for anyone that may come after me. Plus it helps me keep up on coding.
  • Third, I decided to write things up in a book. That became Chance’s Muse.

Chance’s Muse is part of my legacy, something that will be out there when I’m gone. I’m a writer, so obviously, that was one way to pass on what I learned to others. I am not sure how much good it will do, but then again, what is certain?

There will probably be a sequel or two for it, additional legacies for the future.

This is something I want to encourage in your writing – finding a way to leave a legacy. This is part of mine, but I have talked to other people about writing down histories or experiences – one did not live to do that. This is your chance to create something to outlast and to reach others.

Steven Savage