They say that to write well, one must read – and this is true.
However, I have found that it is also true that one must look. This may actually be more important than simply reading what others have written.
One must be constantly observing and recording mentally a vast plethora of things – pictures, locations, expressions, conversations, actions and reactions. These can come from books, movies, television shows, blogs, comic books, documentaries, the list goes on… I credit three fourths of my education to research I have done in the years since I left school – research that continues to this day.
To feed and supplement the ridiculously vast demand for knowledge and familiarity that writing requires, I consume media at an alarming rate – drinking in imagery and digesting nuance with far greater frequency than any physical nourishment that I consume. The things I have learned about in the course of pursuing writing or game creation are as varied and diverse as anyone could possibly imagine – from cooking to blacksmithing, from perfume formulation to Brazilian Ju-jitsu, from ancient Roman monetary systems to the pond life of Costa Rica.
The library in my mind is vast, and it always hungers…