In a time of isolation, it’s difficult to feel inspired, so Andrew Prizeman-Nolan shared with us his secret to what inspires him to write and keep going.
In theory, a country-wide lockdown should have been a lot easier on writers. Many complain of wanting to write but must put it to the wayside to make room for other commitments. With nothing but time and little else to do with it, this should have been our time, right?
In need of inspiration? Ah, I’m sure you have a minute mate, read a book or something. But even in our passions, boredom will set eventually. To try to make something of the time I had, I turned to sources I wouldn’t normally associate with inspiration.
Unbeknownst to me, YouTube is chock-full of writers providing a wholly unique experience on the platform. What makes these stand out isn’t necessarily the content of the story, but rather its presentation; the reading of the piece, and the accompanying minimalist graphics or animations provide an atmosphere distinctive to that of a traditional novel. Channels like Pursuit of Wonder and Exurb1a and their means of storytelling have become something of a genre in itself.
Now, there are probably some that will laugh at this one, but with all that time I played a lot of old games, namely Silent Hill 2. Not without fault, the 2001 classic not only holds up today but narratively cut so deep that many still resonate heavily with its themes today. Ask its fans, or those offering four-hour long dissections of its metaphoric presentation online, and many will argue that this game, in particular, makes a genuine case for games to be considered in the conversation of legitimate storytelling modes.