Ain’t Afraid to Die

When writing, inspiration can come from any place. It can come from a simple interaction on the street. It can come from a leaf blowing down the road. It can come from a bad TV show or a song that has a profound effect on you.

I’ve been a fan of Dir en Grey since I was 18. I love their music. Considering they started out as a Japanese Visual Kei band, their music is similar to American metal but also different. I still enjoy their music to this day.

In 2001 they released a single called “Ain’t Afraid to Die”. When I first heard this song I liked it. After hearing it again a few years ago I had a flash of images that came to mind when I heard it. That flash of images morphed to become a series of scenes that will make up the lowest point in a screenplay that I plan to write.

Now, every time I hear it I see the scene. I feel reinvigorated to write it again. This means that I need to start developing the characters. I need to build the base for the story and work on character creation.

Sure, that sounds easy enough, right? Well… maybe. I’m still working on getting all the notes together to start working on the final draft of a screenplay that I already worked on. I also have started writing the sequel to it (it’s a three part story). I could work on three screenplays at one time. The problem with that being that I would need to keep the two story lines straight.

Ah, there’s the rub. That’s always the problem when one finally wants to sit down and pound out a story. You want to keep your stories straight. I have a story that I have mostly mentally planned. I have it almost halfway written. I will get them all done.

Maybe I should lock myself in a room listening to music and only writing. That sounds great in theory, however in practice… I’m pretty sure that would not help my stories. Not to mention with the added distractions of moving and raising a puppy, it doesn’t look like that is feasible. At least not right now. I think that it might be best to start with finishing the first screenplay. Have that one edited and final draft written. Work on the story line that I have mostly done.

I’ll keep listening to “Ain’t Afraid to Die” so it’ll keep the images and dialog as fresh in my head as possible. I will tell the story that that song has evoked for me. It’s a story I think I need to tell.