Dragon Chases Shadow

Happy Thursday, everyone! I sincerely hope that your weeks haven’t been stressful in the slightest, because stress is annoying and I know we’d rather not deal with it at all. ;-)

All month long, we’ve been talking about television shows, books, and the occasional movie which have inspired me along the way in my writing career. We’ve discussed things like my personal favorites and the things that really inspired me to start writing to begin with, and today, we’re discussing something new. Something that’s only recently started to inspire me, because it hasn’t been around all that long.

Into The Badlands

AMC

There aren’t many shows I watch on AMC, but this is one I simply couldn’t do without. I’ve been watching it from the very beginning, and it’s been a really fun addition to my viewing repertoire.

Honestly, I can’t even tell you what it’s about. Because it honestly doesn’t always make any sense at all. But that’s part of what I love about it, since I’m not really watching it for love of any particular characters.

Yep, that’s right.

I watch it for the ridiculous samurai-style fight scenes. And there are plenty of them in every episode.

But you know what? People like those fight scenes. I like those fight scenes. I enjoy them, I get a miniature thrill out of them, and I love it. I love trying to translate those fight scenes into words on a page (though I’d say I haven’t quite mastered it at the level of Into the Badlands).

That’s what’s inspiring, to me.

I know, it sounds a little strange, but I’m inspired by things that challenge me, by things I know I’m not quite ready to do on my own. I’m inspired by watching a crazy television show that doesn’t always make sense, and by watching the characters in that show knock each other senseless every now and again.

See, there’s a reason why so many people gravitate more toward television than they do toward written stories. Television is easy. We can simply watch it and see a story play out before our eyes, rather than putting in the effort of having our imagination make the story appear within our minds. But that’s what I want to replicate in story. I want my readers to be able to see every single thing my characters are doing, and I want them to see it as vividly as they see the fights in the badlands.

That’s inspiring to me. That’s something I can strive for.

Also, if you haven’t watched the show, I do highly recommend it. It is a lot of fun, it’s crazy, and the story just keeps getting weirder—which is just how I like a story of this sort. Let me know if you start watching! I think the first two seasons are on Netflix. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

[love]

{Rani Divine}