RTW: Jpegs that Jiggle the Juices!
I’m sorry, but I’m trying to fit today’s Road Trip Wednesday with today’s A-to-Z Blogging Challenge letter, and that’s the best I could do. The question this week from YA Highway is: What images inspire/ represent your WIP or favorite book? So, by “jiggle the juices” I mean “inspire one’s creativity”–not… well, whatever you might have been thinking! Like I said, it’s the best I could come up with. I’m sure other A-to-Z/RTW participants came up with much more creative titles. Anyway, to answer the question…
I don’t typically look for pictures to help inspire my writing–nothing against those that do, it’s just not typically my approach. Although, I confess I would like to try it sometime. I dabbled in writing from a picture in the Picture Paints 1000 Words challenge a few weeks back, and that was quite good fun. In any case, all that to say that I didn’t have a ready answer for this. But after much consideration, I have chosen this picture:
Yes, that’s right: ABBA! My WIP is about an alien teenager who accidentally transports herself to Victorian London. One of the things we learn about her is that she’s a huge ABBA fan. That might seem odd for an alien, but people on her planet are in awe of Earth people, Earth technology, and Earth music and fashions. To many teenage girls on that planet, ABBA represent the height of coolness–partly because they come from a country with a cold climate, just like our heroine’s home planet, and English is not their first language, again like our heroine. The fact that she’s a fan of ABBA also serves to remind us that she is a regular teenager. She might be from another planet, but her cares are for things like clothes, shoes, boys, and music–like many other teenagers the universe over. And her ordinary-teenageriness is important to the story. Before anyone says anything, I know ABBA split up long ago, so they are hardly representative of current Earth music. Another thing we learn about my alien’s home planet is that its inhabitants are not exactly keeping up with Earth technology and trends.
So, there’s a picture that represents and to some extent inspires my WIP. How would you answer this question? If you want to participate in this week’s Road Trip, you can reply on your blog and link to your article on the YA Highway blog.
Of all the things I was expecting, a photo of Abba was not it.
Come on then, favourite Abba song? 😉
LOL! Favourite ABBA song–what, mine or hers? I think my alien’s favourite ABBA song is “Summer Night City,” mostly because she loves dancing to it. As for me… mmm… I do actually have a number of favourites. I like “Chiquitita,” partly because of the “glass-half-full” sentiment of the lyric which is kind of like me. I would also list “One of Us,” “The Winner Takes It All,” “The Name of the Game,” and a lot of others. Such great tunes! 🙂
I like your character already. I love ABBA too so she’s awesome in my eyes!
She would almost faint to hear you say that because she thinks Earth people are incredible. The thought that someone on Earth thinks she’s awesome would be the highest compliment anyone could pay her. So Pearl thanks you. 🙂
That picture made me lol. Literally. Totally not what I was expecting! 🙂
I somehow didn’t think that’s what Kirsten had in mind with this challenge… but in all honesty, when I think of my WIP, I think of ABBA. As I point out, the fact my MC likes them so much says a lot about her and her culture, so I figured why not? I’m glad it at least made you laugh. 😀
Abba! This is awesome and hilarious all at the same time. Also, I love how you managed to tie it to A-Z.
Thanks, Liz! The A-to-Z connection is a bit of a stretch, but it’ll do. I’m glad you like it. 🙂
Well, feathered Farah Fawcett hair, Colin! You’ve made me laugh, and I’ll be singing Dancing Queen all day! 🙂
Woohoo! I’m glad this at least brought a smile and a happy song to your day, Daisy! I deliberately chose a mid-70s picture of ABBA, because that’s exactly the image–Farah Fawcett feathery hair and all–Pearl, my alien, has of the band. 🙂
Woot! ABBA! Love ABBA 😉
And that’s a great idea for a WIP!
Thanks, Juliana. I really like this WIP, but it’s taking me a lot longer to write than I thought it would. I think part of the reason is that the concept has so much potential to be awesome, that I don’t want to blow the execution. I want it to be as good as it could be, which is taking a lot of thought and creative energy. But I think it’ll be worth it in the end. 🙂
I already loved your character when you did that mash-up dialogue for RTW one day 😀 and now I really really really want to “meet” her! She sounds great and that picture of ABBA definitely made my day! Thanks for sharing, Colin!
Thanks, Elodie! And you’re very welcome. I really wish I had a finished novel (published too would be nice) for you to read. She really is an interesting character. With this story, I’ve tried to take the popular depictions of aliens and alien cultures and turn them on their head–as you can probably tell (there aren’t too many aliens in popular sci-fi that are devoted ABBA fans!). Your comments encourage me to persevere. Thank you! 🙂
What an awesome detail about your WIP! I was hoping that your character would get to watch the Meryl Streep “Mamma Mia!” film, but I’m guessing that would be hard to pull off in Victorian London. 🙂
Thanks, Rebecca! It might be a while before they’re able to watch DVDs on her home planet, but you can be sure that’s one she’ll want to see! Oh, and when she gets her hands on the “ABBA Gold” DVD… !! 🙂
An alien who is an ABBA fan? That is certainly very quirky and intriguing 🙂 I kind of forgot that today was RTW. Whoops! I have pics for my WiP too. Ah well.
The whole ABBA thing is *so* in line with her character. But you’d have to read the novel to see why. 🙂 There’s still time to participate, Jaime…!
I really like the premise of your story! Sounds cute and funny. Even though I hate ABBA, this is a story I’d like to read.
You’ll be pleased to hear that most of the story has nothing to do with ABBA. This is really more character info… and her ABBA obsession sort of plays a part in how she ends up in Victorian London, so it is somewhat plot-relevant.
Thanks, Suzanne! 🙂
Love it! I always thought there was something kind of alien about ABBA (in a good way). OMG – I had that exact hairdo way back when!
LOL! Thanks, Amy! 🙂
Ahh! This post has so much awesomeness in it! What a great concept for an alien world. I mean why would they keep up with earthly music when they could keep ABBA forever!?!
Love!
Thanks, Carissa! I know! Well, they’re not all as obsessive about ABBA as my alien heroine, but much of 21st century music has yet to reach them. Call me an old-timer, but sometimes that sounds idyllic. 🙂
I really admire all of you that are sticking with the a-to-z challenge–my attention span isn’t that long (squirrel!). I was not expecting ABBA to be your pick, but it’s shown us all another side of you (and your character)
Thanks, Angelica! I’m finding this A-to-Z Challenge to be a lot of fun, actually. Granted, my posts aren’t always as interesting as a lot of other participants’, but I enjoy writing them.
As I said, I don’t normally use pictures to inspire my writing, so I had to think about this one. And when I thought about my WIP, all I could think about was Pearl, my alien, and her love of ABBA, and how much that says about her. Not what Kirsten had in mind, perhaps, but there it is. 🙂
Hello, Colin! I don’t typically look for pictures to inspire my writing, either. I have the images all in my head!
Hope you’re having a great week and happy A to Z!!
Thanks Laura, and thanks for stopping by! 🙂
The title of this post is hilarious, Colin! And ABBA… Knowing this little fact about your MC makes me want to get to know her better. Great post, and great use of the letter J!
Thank you, Katy! The title was probably the hardest part about writing this post. But I wanted to do RTW, and it was either do a separate A-to-Z post or try to find a way to mesh them. And the latter was the greater challenge, so…! 🙂
I think that’s a FABULOUS title! And I love that your character loves Abba. How fun! I don’t come up with pictures to go with my WIP, either. I kind of always wish someone else would do it for me, though.
Thanks, Peggy! The idea of using pictures to inspire a story is good, but it’s just not the way I usually work.
A) I LOVE the post title!
B) LOVE the pic! And how it fits into your story.
Awesome post!
Thank you, Alison! It was a bit of a struggle coming up with the title, so I’m glad you like it. 🙂
Haha! Oh Colin..I saw that picture and almost choked on my Coke. 🙂
I’m stoked you choked on your Coke, but didn’t croak! 😀 Sorry, couldn’t resist… Thanks, Bailey! 🙂
Ha! Love it! I am now imagining your alien’s planet as being very similar to the culture sections of my high school German textbook, which informed us that German teens loved wearing t-shirts that said “Texas” and rocked out to a lot of Lynyrd Skynyrd (in 2002). The idea was that German teens wanted to emulate American pop culture–but either the teens or (I suspect) our textbook authors got it very, very wrong.
That’s interesting, Mrs. S. It would be interesting to get into the planet’s culture because I’m sure they get things wrong about Earth people, and their own citizens may do things they think are Earth-like but are actually way off-mark. However, it would be beyond the scope of the story to explore too much of this. Though I should probably think about things like that, since I’m sure having that in the background as I write will lend color to the story.
Thanks for your thoughts! 🙂
JPGs to Jiggle the Juices… absolutely brilliant:) and, going to have to listen to some Anna now – always love music suggestions and I’ve not heard them before.
Thanks, Jessica! It’s been a long time since I’ve introduced anyone to ABBA, so it’s a pleasure to do so. I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
I’ve just been admiring your website/blog. Wow! I’m seriously impressed by your artistic talent! If anyone happens to be reading this comment, you have to check out Jessica’s site: http://www.jfriday.com/.
This is fantastic. I was just playing the Abba dance game on the Wii today. Wonderful to have a character who is an Abba fan.
Thanks, Carrie. She’s a lot of fun. 🙂