Sunday, December 6, 2009

Music Monday: Boom-de-yada

I know it's a commercial.

I know.

But I still love it.

To me, this song epitomizes joy and happiness. I watch it and think, Hey. I love the whole world, too. And since I'm feeling particularly joyful today, I thought I'd share this little bit of sunshine.



Now, you know I have to link everything back to writing, right? Well, one thing that I noticed when I was trying to analyze this and link it back to writing was this: this was not necessarily a matter of everyone loving everything--it was a lot of little loves linking up to equal loving the whole world.

We're all like that. We all have little loves that we filter our love of the whole world through. It's our own personal "thing" that we love that helps us to translate a love of the whole world.

That applies to characters in writing, too. What makes your characters love the world? For some, it may be another person (think Twilight.)) For others, perhaps that love is for an intangible thing, like knowledge (Encyclopedia Brown...c'mon, I hope I'm not the only one that remembers him). Or how about a love for a goal--and the achievement (or at least effort of striving towards) that goal is the filter that enables the world to be loved for that character (Harry Potter, anyone?).

When we write, we have to remember that for everyone, there's one thing--be it a person, idea, or goal--that we all love, and that enables us to see the world differently. Defining that one thing for our characters will make us better writers by making our characters more real, more human, and more likable. Even for characters who want unlikable things (Hannibal Lector, Dexter from the recent books and TV show on Showtime), the fact that they have something they like is the key to our liking the character.

OK, if I'm going to mention Hannibal Lector and Dexter, I better end on a positive note. The first vid I've got up there is about a year old, but the Discovery Channel recently released another version. Here's a little more pep for your morning!




So, what make YOUR character love the world? Or, what makes YOU love the world?
For me, it's (honestly) writing. Writing makes me think of the world in a different way, a way I love. You?

5 comments:

PJ Hoover said...

Oh, these are perfect!
Kids. For me, it's all about the kids. They are my reward for everything in life.

Leslie @ This is the Refrain said...

Thank you for reminding me those existed! You just made my morning. :D

Robyn Campbell said...

Jesus, my family and definitely writing. Writing takes me away into being lost on an endurance ride, trying to solve a mystery, or watching Chester try to outwit Amos. :) UM, why is my word verification, chest? Chest of gold, perhaps? :)

Cher'ley said...

My favorite song too. It's just so catchy. I hum it all the time. Fun. I like fun songs. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

Angela Ackerman said...

Cool--I hadn't seen that second version. I love the commercials too. They are full of hope, aren't they?