I am very thankful for my mom. Somewhere in all the intelligence and perseverance there’s a creative gene that passed on to her kids and grandkids. I, of course, am a writer while my sister is an artist. In spite of the difference we come together in creative unison, bouncing ideas off each other and pushing each other to succeed. Also from our bond I’ve taken away some lessons that I’ve added to my writing.

Bodies don’t bend like that

There’s been times when a scene plays out in my head like a movie. I can see an action take place that would look incredible on the big screen. As an artist my sister has to study anatomy. Even if you exaggerate the form of the being it has to move with some semblance of structure. So when I come with what I think would be an amazing sequence the question of ‘is there a reason for them to bend like that’ will pop up. Whether human, alien, animal, or gelatinous mass, your characters have an anatomy that has to be accounted for.

Color pallette

In everyday life I pretty much wear black on black with an occasional pair of blue jeans thrown in the mix. Why? Now I could say the old stereotype of men have know idea how to dress themselves…and I will say that. What goes together never rushes to the front of my mind when dressing myself. Although that may be how I treat myself that is not the fate my characters should be submitted to. Just putting your characters in a one tone outfit is boring, not something that would grab your eye in real life so why would it do so on the page? Give your dressings some pizzazz of color…unless they’re in some bizarre cult or something.

Colors carry emotion

In a subconscious way we associate things with colors such as red with stop, yellow with danger, etc etc… But there is much more to them than that. Green can represent life and vibrancy while red can too. It all depends on how you, the word artist, chooses to use them. In most cases people associate green with life because of nature. They think of grass and ivy drinking in the sun. what about the head of a match though? It’s brimming with the potential of life, a life that brings heat and safety as it rises. Purple, yellow, white, any color you can think of carries a series of emotions. It’s up to you to draw them out to flesh out the world.

These were just a few things I know I managed to draw from embracing another medium. Trying to see a story through art is a great way to improve your writing and I hope you take the time to embrace another style of art as well.

Until next time have a writeous day!

_______________________

Matt Williams is an avid reader, a collector of many pens, an ever improving father of two, and an all-around fanboy. When he’s not wrestling with cats or a long commute you can find him hunkered down writing something imaginative. He’s working on publishing his first book Beyond Here, a middle grade story involving a coma and a singing flower with a bent stem sometime in 2016, along with a few projects with his other daughter.