Expressing an Atmosphere + Photo Prompt & Poem!

So last week I experienced a terrible nightmare, that eventually morphed into a new idea for a book. I got really excited about this idea in particular, and I’ve been unable to keep my mind off it ever since.

Since I started writing my notes down about it, I’ve got a pretty clear vision for how I want the main setting (an old looking, fantasy village) to look, and just the overall vibe of the story is becoming clearer.

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Sometimes though, it can be hard to express exactly what a place looks like with just words, which is why I decided to try and make an inspiration gallery, to help with my descriptions, but also for a bit of fun!

I love drawing, but I absolutely cannot draw out of my imagination. It just doesn’t work for me, and I always end up needing a picture to draw from. So since that was out of the question, I knew I needed to find some pictures to express what I’ve been seeing inside my head.

I thought about it a lot, but I realised that there weren’t really any movies that matched what I was thinking of. There was a video game though, that just seemed to fit the vibe that I wanted. Skyrim! Oh beloved Skyrim, one of my favourite games of all time. I haven’t played it in a while, but when I first got it a few years ago, I was obsessed. I basically did nothing else but play it all day, quickly my play-time soared above 700 hours, and my level passed 141.

But anyway, I loaded up my old file, and got to work. (Not exactly work, more like meeting an old friend.) I roamed around the cities and the scenery, looking for locations that expressed what I was imagining. Of course there was never an 100% match, but I think that Skyrim comes as close as possible to showing people the feeling, vibe and atmosphere that I want to put into this story and setting.

So these pictures above, would be the way that my main setting would look at the start of the story, when things are happy, and the plot hasn’t taken a darker turn yet. I wanted it to feel old fashioned, but nice and a bit homely too. Like it wouldn’t be too bad to settle down here, look after some animals and weave some clothes or peddle some wares in the square.

However, due to events that take place further in the story, this village setting would experience a drastic change, which I also wanted to capture the atmosphere of.

So this gallery, is what the village would look more like after the halfway point of the story. Things have definitely gotten worse for the villagers, and the vibe is cold and damp, while a general misery lingers in the air. I won’t say why, but it’s definitely not a nice place to live anymore…

So that’s hopefully a good start to what my main setting will feel like. I was always hesitant to do things like this for my other ideas, because I thought that people would think I was plagiarising. But at the same time, I’m not actually going to use any of these pictures when I make my final designs, they’re just there to express an atmosphere, to give me inspiration, and to help me get in the right mood to write.

One thing I have done for my other stories though, is to make playlists of music that capture the feeling of each one. As soon as I had this idea, I started one of those as well! (youtube.com/playlist) The feeling of listening to the playlist, while looking at these pictures is intense, I feel like I’ve been taken to my own world!

Because it’s a new idea, only from last week, I don’t have too many songs in it yet, but I’m happy with the ones I’ve got. But it was while I was listening to one of the songs, and watching the music video, that I saw an opportunity for another inspiration gallery…

This one is a bit different from the other two, because it’s nothing to do with the settings. These pictures to me, were representative of certain characters and events that will take place during the story. Like with the settings, I won’t use anything specifically from these pictures in the final story, but they definitely give off the right atmosphere and mood for the story.

These screenshots all came from music videos of some of my favourite songs, and I was really impressed with how well they expressed what I was going for.

(The music videos were: Taemin – Idea, Shinee – Don’t Call Me, EXO – Monster, and Enhypen – Drunk/Dazed) Also, I just want to say that none of these pictures belong to me, they’re all just screenshots!

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So I’ve had great fun doing these type of mood-board things, and I’d definitely do it again for my other ideas. I think it feels really satisfying to get an image from inside your mind (as close as you can, at least), out onto a real screen to share what you’re thinking. And if you’re like me, who can’t draw without a picture, then maybe an inspiration gallery or mood board would be a big help!

Apart from doing these, I’ve been working on my challenge of creating a new language for this book idea. Last time I had 81 words, but now I’ve gotten up to 132 I think, and it’s been a lot of fun.

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New Video!

In other news, I’ve finished my second video! There was a bit of a disaster, since my microphone broke, but I managed to record the audio on my phone, which saved the day.

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Photo Prompt!

So for the photo prompt this time, I’ve got 2 pictures that I took, that I think are nice and moody, and hopefully give off an unusual, misty feeling, since today’s post has been full of dark and moody images!

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Poem!

I thought it was only fitting to have today’s acrostic word be SKYRIM, because it’s been such a huge help in making this post, and it’s been great to have an excuse to play it again!

Since having this new idea, I’ve

Known what I wanted to share.

Yet I’m lacking in artistic skill,

Requiring a lot of assistance.

Inspiring scenery was easy to find though,

Memories of Skyrim come flooding back.

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Well, that’s what I’ve been up to this week, it’s definitely been a good one, and I feel happy with what I’ve done, which is nice for a change! Thanks for reading!