Let me tell you how my latest story came together.
As I type, I’m waiting to go and get my train to what will be the last wedding in a year of many great weddings. This particular marriage is that of one of my longest and closest friends. As part of the wedding day… frivolities… the bride and groom challenged their guests, via their website, to make the ‘Most Impressive Wedding Video Message’. They did so some time ago, to be fair.
In all honesty, I had skim read and forgotten about this challenge until another one of my close friends asked me what I was doing for it (with 4 days to go until submission)! I had no idea what to do, just as I hadn’t for the past however many months, but guilt and an impending deadline can be a powerful tool for creativity. I had a brainwave on the Wednesday to do the thing I do best — write. Presenting writing in video format though would be a challenge. That’s where brainwave two came in.
I used to draw A LOT. But I haven’t really done much in over a decade, as other interests and hobbies as well as working life, took over. After all that time, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to draw as the perfect visual medium for my video message. All I can say is that I’m glad I did.
For a video just over two minutes long, it took maybe 10 to 12 hours in total to produce. This includes the sketching, shading, inking, cutting, story filming and editing down. It was such a rewarding process to create something that came straight from the soul. I’d almost forgotten about that trance-like feeling of settling into a rhythm to draw. It’s similar but yet much different from the state you find yourself in when in the creative flow with fiction. For one thing you can listen to music. (Most especially music with lyrics!)
Although most of the story is told through the visual aids, it’s the combination of images and words that create the emotional impact. This was the first time I’ve written a narrative in a little while, as well. That’s two reminders to make time to do what you love often. I guess we can definitely call this flash (non)fiction?
ashleythorpe.com 