Pop culture writing influences.

[ascanius]

Ok so I've noticed that I tend to include parts from songs into my writing, be it a character, a scene or event, or something else. These snippents usually impact the story in a meaning full way too. I based the entire turning point and most of the marraige customes off Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, mostly this...
Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrough ya
She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

I mean I got everything, and it is a very pivitol point for the two characters, it's not the point where they find true love but where they make decisions about themselves.

Other times things take a very dark disturbing turn and I take snippets from a certain tea song by Otep (those of you who listen to Otep will know which one.) It's intense soo...but I based certain events for two characters off that song.... which is kinda disturbing in itself.

I have another one, something an actress did but I don't feel like digging through my WIP right now, I have one reference to Brangelina, I don't know if i'll keep it though. Anyway do you have any pop cultural references or have you ever had a song or something from pop culture take over the whole process. It's a lot of fun to include this stuff but without it being obvious.

 

[Penpilot]

FYI, even using parts of songs in your story can get you sued if you don't ask/pay for permission. You can quote books but songs are problematic. It's because one line from a book is a very tiny percentage of the whole, but one line from a song can be a very significant chunk of the whole.


As for pop culture, I use it all the time in stories set in modern times. It's hard not to, at least for me.

 

[Xitra_Blud]

Haha, interesting. I was just think about this myself this morning. I was going to post a post like this, but you beat me to the punch. Yes. I tend to get a lot of inspiration from other arts and entertainments whether it be a character, plot, or setting. I've found that music is probably my biggest inspiration. It's interesting how one art can influence so much more. I found a list today of some of the greatest arts that were highly influenced by other great arts. I think it's great how one great idea can be the seed of so many more.

A lot of what I'm writing now comes from a song by Nightwish. I didn't use the lyrics, but meaning of the song had a lot of inspiration. I also got a lot of character inspiration from the anime Kuroshitsuji, and I won't deny that one of the songs on the soundtrack is helpful when writing. It matches perfectly to the mood of the story and is like score music when I'm writing.

I agree with Penplot that you may want to be careful with songs. If you are copying someone's lyrics, it could be considered plagiarism. What I'd do is, instead of copying the lyrics word from word, I'd come up with my own lyrics that have the same meaning, that way it doesn't effect your story and you don't have to worry about copyright laws.

 

[ascanius]

ok I need to clarify. I don't use the lyrics but the idea behind the lyrics. For instance I have a female MC bathing, not on the roof, then she goes a breaks his/a throne then cuts his hair. It all has deeper significance than just what is happening too. Like the cutting of the hair has a cultural and religious value for the female MC etc.

 

[WooHooMan]

ok I need to clarify. I don't use the lyrics but the idea behind the lyrics. For instance I have a female MC bathing, not on the roof, then she goes a breaks his/a throne then cuts his hair. It all has deeper significance than just what is happening too. Like the cutting of the hair has a cultural and religious value for the female MC etc.

So are you asking about non-literary works that influence our writing?

If so, most of my characters are somehow based on songs or albums. I mean, songs can tell stories or give insight to characters so I don't think it's the slightest bit noteworthy that you'd take an image or character from a song.