These days I’ve been going through the entire Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Again.
The first time I watched it, I was impressed with the cohesiveness of the overarching plot, and the individual character arcs that spanned three series.
As I’m going through this time, I’m noticing the smaller details – subplot devices, character moments, foreshadowing, etc.
This heightened awareness of storytelling elements (not to mention being steeped in a rich world with a strong plot and dynamic characters) has sharpened my ability to recognize cool ideas, and the emotions behind them.
Emotion is, after all, what I love most about reading and writing.
As a result of having Avatar and storytelling elements on the brain, I’ve started seeing story ideas all around me:
A gorgeous and haunting song about a river, and blood-stained stones.
A news site article about a volcano.
The Book of Leviticus.
A dream staring the Ninth Doctor.
A painting of a girl in a hat on a dirt road.
And, of course, Avatar itself.
I’m still plugging away and making pretty good progress on Old Hag. But in the back of my mind, lightning has struck.
Story sparks are coming to life.
And I’m giddy with anticipation to see what these sparks turn into.
LaChelle Hansen 