April 29, 2020-We’ve all seen those photos online that look like inkblots, and the question is always, “What do you see?” Of course, it’s all about perception. One person may look at the image and see a spider where another may look at it and see an angel. The point is perspective is essential, especially for authors.
Around here, we do our best to ensure that when we write, it’s from a different point of view. Let me explain; in my upcoming book King Midas, I tell the story from the perspective of King Midas’ barber. Why do I do that? Because in my opinion, it’s more interesting. The fable of King Midas has been told a thousand times before with a few differences here and there, but usually not many. I wanted to put a different spin on things and put my readers in a place where perhaps a well-known story is totally different than we thought it was.
One of the things that inspired me to write a different take on stories was something called twisted tales. A great example of this is an audiobook titled, As Old As Time, and it’s based on Beauty and the Beast. But instead of rehashing the same old story, the author decided to mix it up a bit. The premise is that Belle and the Beast are living happily ever after in the castle when one day, they find out that it was Belle’s mother who cursed the Beast. Wow! Talk about a totally different spin on a classic story that opens an entirely new can of worms! Writing from a different perspective can open up your writing and give you infinite new possibilities for your work. Here are some more examples to get your creativity flowing:
- The Wizard of Oz-What if they had written from a perspective of Dorothy’s ruby slippers and how they saw the world through their own “eyes.”
- Aladdin-What does the magic carpet have to say about the adventure, or how does Rajah the tiger see the events unfold?
- The Jungle Book-What about the villain Shere Khan? How did he become a villain? Why does he see the world the way he does, and was he always that way? What events unfolded in his life made him so jaded?
You get the point. Every time you sit down to write, it’s crucial to choose a perspective that will entertain and allow your audience to see the world in a little bit of a different way. This helps open up the minds and hearts of your readers. Happy Writing, X LLB
