Today, I wanted to highlight a current UofM exhibition that speaks on issues that are closeto my heart. The 16th Annual rEVOLUTION: Transformation exhibition, which is curated by the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) here on campus, showcases work created by UofM studentallies and survivors of sexual violence. I was deeply moved by the powerful work on display. For the above illustration, I drew from my own experience as a sexual assault survivor as well as references to some of the pieces on display. To see the virtual exhibition in its entirety, click here! I strongly encourage everyone to spend time with this empowering body of work.
Often times I find myself in the mood to write a song, but unable to think of a single lyric. Honestly it’s one of the most frustrating feelings because the songwriting bug only bites me every once in a while, and when I’m in the right mood to hash out a new song, I want to jump on the writing train and ride it all the way to the last line. But this can be super difficult to do if you don’t have any specific inspiration.
Because of this, I’ve come up with a list of ideas and topics over the years which really help me focus and usually can provide enough momentum to get the ball rolling. I figured I might as well share a few of them here!
Treat the song you’re trying to write like a diary. Fill it with the things that seem to personal to share with the entirety of the world. Usually the more personal something is, the stronger you will feel about it, and the greater investment you’ll be able to put into the song. You don’t have to use specific names or places from your personal life, but real experiences are a lot easier to write about than fake ones.
On that note: DON’T try to write about something you know nothing about. If you’ve never experienced a heartbreak, it’s going to be very hard to write a breakup song, etc.
DO write about things that you are passionate about. This can be anything from your career, to a specific hobby, to a charity you have an emotional investment in. I remember when I was younger my mom sent me an article about this tradition overseas where people would go hunt dolphins for sport for a week or something like that (I was one of those weird pre teen girls obsessed with dolphins for a while) and I ended up writing a song inspired by how sick and sad that story made me.
DO build up from the bottom. Let’s say you think of one really awesome line for a song–maybe it’s the hook; maybe it’s the end of the chorus. Perhaps you just think of the title. Sometimes one good line is all you need to start with. Think of the song like a puzzle: you have one key piece, and now you have to fill in the picture around it.
Building from the bottom can also start with an image instead of a line. I wrote a song in high school that I ended up calling “Mason Jars,” which was born from a picture I saw on Pinterest of a group of girls sitting in a field with a bunch of mason jars and those little fairy lights that were trendy for a while. I ended up combining that image with a personal experience I had at Relay for Life that also used mason jars, and the song became an anthem about remembering things of the past but looking forward with hope.
Basically, there is no RIGHT way to write a song. There are so many different approaches you can utilize. If you get stuck, don’t sweat it. Everyone experiences writer’s block at some point or another. Just take a step back, and don’t try to force it. Try thinking about the song in a different way. Maybe just focus on one image or one line. Establish a personal connection. Whatever works for you!
This is a found poem from Darwin’s The Voyage of The Beagle, which I don’t necessarily recommend reading, but if you want to you can here. That’s why color has a “u” in it. Also, if you want to try erasure poetry this is the site this poem originated from.
(G D C D G)
Time
Time is a playboy
He won’t scratch your car, but he’ll break your heart
And you’ll fall apart before the second date
(G D C D G)
Time
Time is a bouncer
Wears diamond chains, got ice in his veins
He goes to operas but he stays awake
(C Em D G)
Time
Waiting for the madness
Honey it’s a tragedy
That I spent it on you
(Am G D Em)
Oh, Time
Waiting by the altar
Roses from your mother
Cheating and spending on you
When writing a story, all too often creators develop a linear course of events, from which worldbuilding information is slowly introduced to the readers through the characters’ exploration of the narrative plot. What isn’t essential to the story ends up being relegated to obscure references or supplementary material elsewhere. While this form of worldbuilding can still impact the reader emotionally with its intentional design, there is still a disconnect present between the reader and the main character, primarily due to the fact that the reader is prevented from fully experiencing the world on their own terms in following the perspectives of the character themselves.
As such, some stories have fallen on a model of interactive fiction where the reader is able to gain agency within the story and discover the world through their own perspective by actively making choices to move the narration along. Recognizing the power that this narrative style had, Failbetter Games developed the text-based open-world RPG Fallen London to explore the concept of a lore-rich exploratory world that provides the player with the gift of choice.
In Fallen London, choices are immediately given to the player from the start as they craft their own identity and explore a Victorian-Gothic underworld full of many diverse and intriguing storylines that are revealed incrementally and at random. A sense of depth and space is carefully cultivated within the player through the vivid descriptions and visualizations of the city and its residents. Additionally, gameplay decisions are limited by action points, which causes the player to consider their actions carefully and to experience the story in real time.
But, what makes the game most interesting is the fact that it can’t be completed in the traditional sense where there is a clear path to victory. Rather, fulfillment is created on the player’s own accord based on their own ambition. Within the Fallen London universe, the Seeking Mr. Eaten’s Name (SMEN) storyline has become widely regarded as the storyline that challenges the extent to which a player’s ambition lasts through the sacrifice that they must go through to reach the ending, which holds no equivalent reward. Pursuing SMEN is a brutal endeavor that slowly drains the player of their in-game belongings as they’re all given up in hopes of gaining a slim glimpse of progress, simulating a downward spiral of desperation and struggle. To make matters even more unconventional, if the storyline is completed in its entirety, the game ends. The account is no longer playable: a shocking realization that permanent consequences are not avoidable even within a game.
In the end, with this mixture of endless world exploration and permanence, Fallen London truly resembles an in-depth world where the player has the power to shape the narrative to their own desires and one in which the text-based visual format can thrive as seen through Failbetter Games’ dedication to the game even years after its initial release in 2009. While sometimes the nature of Fallen London being all-encompassing from character attributes to storyline depth causes the beginning player to feel overwhelmed by the amount of choice, the slow evolution of becoming comfortable in navigating the visual space is a compelling enough motive to continue the exploration of the world for those who find themselves motivated by knowledge.
