Creating a Popular Culture Article: Step One
This set of posts will follow the process of undertaking research to create an article for The Artifice.
The topic for this article is: the concept of the guilty pleasure in reading.
I spend a lot of my life writing in so many forms: I write academically for journal articles and for my own qualifications; I write non-fictional, long form essays on popular culture for The Artifice; and I write creatively. As such I too go through patches of writer's block, of frustrations and dry spells, and also I have spent a lot of time engaging with different writing resources and reflecting on my own writing practices. I have attempted to collect here a range of ideas on the processes of writing, inspirations, and my own strategies to share with other developing writers.
NPC a Secondary Character
Role playing games can provide some great sources of inspiration for writers. Not only in engaging as a player or a dungeon/game master, but also by utilising some of their resources. RPGs often are well resourced by fans, and many of their templates or information sheets can hold a wealth of ideas, not only for those writing in the fantasy genre also!
Research Part Two: What to consider when writing popular culture articles
Researching popular culture is a fascinating activity. It requires looking at a range of sources to gain a “taste” of the cultural perceptions inherent in the work. This two part post will be looking at the key factors that need to be considered as an author when beginning to research a popular culture article.
When looking at a Hollywood blockbuster film there are a range of areas to consider:
Map It Out
There are two ways I mean this, one is chronologically and the other is topographically.
Rebuilding the Future: What book would you bring?
An ongoing dinner table discussion has been the question of “what three books would you take to help rebuild the future?” This discussion was prompted by a final scene in the 1960 film The Time Machine, based on the novel by H.G.
Research Part One: What to consider when writing popular culture articles
Researching popular culture is a fascinating activity. It requires looking at a range of sources to gain a “taste” of the cultural perceptions inherent in the work. This two part post will be looking at the key factors that need to be considered as an author when beginning to research a popular culture article.
When looking at a Hollywood blockbuster film there are a range of areas to consider:
Podcasts
Podcasts can be one of the most useful tools for a writer. They are easy to access, they are plentiful and diverse, they are FREE!, and they are something you can listen to while doing other tasks. Often reading is a key suggestion for writers, but sometimes this can be a little tricky for a number of reasons, but time management is a core one.
Curate a Scene
Having trouble getting that scene to work just write? Attempt to curate the music for the scene. This is a little strategy that only works if you already know what you want to have happen but for some reason the scene just isn’t going down on the page correctly.