The life of a writer is weird. Everything I do, to some extent, involves writing. Every show or movie I watch, every book I read, every game I play, every conversation I am involved in or overhear… all of it goes into the ol’ skull sponge so I can pull it out later for a story.
I mean, obviously not everything I hear is going to end up in a story. But it is all little snippets, little pieces of information that get stored away for use. It’s wonderful and exhausting… you lose some of the innocence of watching a show “just for leisure,” since at its core everything is going to be involved in work. And hey, I’m not complaining. This is part of why I love being a writer… seeing the world through a weird and wonderful lens that I can then use to communicate to my readers in new and interesting ways.
Huh. I just realized that “skull sponge” was from Cyberpunk 2077. See what I mean? In it goes, out it comes.
Anyway. Just a weird thought I had. I’m working on a quasi-speculative-fiction-pirate story right now, and its making me realize that much of what I “know” about pirates isn’t actually factual, but based on other media I’ve consumed. Which, in this case, totally fine, since I’m not trying to have a factual, historical story… just something with sorta-pirate set-dressing. But even that involves knowing enough of the history to make sure I get those parts right. And, hey, if I happen to watch Pirates of the Caribbean a few times for research… so be it!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!