My love for Holmes and his London goes back into childhood. Little did I know Hans Zimmer had also settled into a corner of my music-world at that time through his involvement with Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Muppet Treasure Island. Now his Sherlock Holmes score is integral in my writing for children.
When it comes to writing about trolls, I wanted to relay a sense of their industriousness and superior attitude. They are particularly proud of their city hidden away from the rest of the world, but a hidden city is no fun to live in when you are a child. My narrator is the pet human for a girl troll who insists on finding adventure in the least likely places. That is, I wanted the character to insist on adventures, but I had no clue how to get the girls into trouble. Originally I played the first half of the track “My Mind Rebels at Stagnation” over and over as I described the girls’ walk to their mutual schools. What better way to sneak in descriptions of the bustling city and the trolls’ day to day life? How…normal.
I felt like the boy in To Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street. Should the girls imagine an adventure? How would the readers know what is fact in this universe and what isn’t? Way too confusing so early in the story. Then I finally allowed the second half of “My Mind Rebels” to play out. The tone shifts completely here from the rhythmic gear-like sounds of strings to brass swelling with menace. I finally pictured a bully showdown. Too normal. A bully showdown involving a dare. Better. A bully showdown involving a dare with the monster guarding a magical troll bridge. Take that, Mulberry Street!
Click here to find out more about Hans Zimmer’s Sherlock Holmes.
Jean Lee's World 
Great, I found it 🙂 Music is a huge part of any film. I have read about how Hans Zimmer works – it is so complex and amazing.
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I’m glad you could! Sometimes I have hiccups with SoundCloud–this was one of those occasions.
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The video/music is not playing…probably something I’ve done! Let the readers find out for themselves I reckon, re – knowing what’s in the universe and what isn’t. I’m 115 (nearly) and I still don’t know!
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GAH! Thought I fixed that. (angry mumbling)
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Matters not, I checked it out on YouTube…certainly better, much better than the film
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Glad you found it at last!
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Well, harumph, it’s working here…maybe a regional thing? Anyway–yes, you’re right. We must all have our own journeys of discovery. 🙂
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That was a very interesting post by the way…should have said that earlier. There’s me, writing with template rules yet otherwise with no rules so it made me wonder if that’s my problem…perhaps, indeed more likely, I’m missing the point decent writers work toward, and succeed because of. Yours, Eric the Vagrant, Roadside,M25 Motorway, Somewhere in South East England! (found some sardines in a discarded time at dusk, all will be OK until the morn).
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Ah, but why on worth work like all the “decent” writers? Those folks apparently have hours upon hours to dedicate to craft. I have, like, one. Sometimes. If I bribe the kids with television. A life of vagrancy certainly sounds like an apt stimulus for creativity…and exercise…an all around “character building” time if I ever knew one!
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That you write so well when faced with the distractions of a young family says a lot for your natural ability to write…’the gift’ I guess it be otherwise known. I have no such distractions, therefore no excuse and sometimes think my reluctance to learn and apply some basic rules is the thing holding me back when it comes to writing say, the boring (to me) links between key scenes of a story in a book. Short stories, ‘almost poetry’, no problem…the book I’m working on, big problem! I’ve enjoyed this post a lot…it has made me think. So, Ms Lee I owe you thanks. Have a splendid day.
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An imagination such as yours will never be matched, Dear Friend. Your gift is in creating moments of such completeness I could never create. To be Midwestern about it: familiar with potholders? Those square weavings of rags you use to set pots on the table, or to pick them up, etc. You make potholders of lovely colors and themes. Your table of plenty is a delight to behold.
I set out to make a potholder, and it turns into a lopsided quilt because I CAN’T DO SMALL. (let alone straight angles. Damn fabric.) You’ve a gift as much as I, and no mistake. xxxx
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I promised myself one complete book of fiction before I die. Already I have another poetry book written, just waiting for inspiration on the cover art and the discipline to sort out the order. This book though, months in the writing yet only halfway through has bits I am pleased with yet not so the parts that carry forward the tale…they remain the words of a novice. Never forget you also paint pictures with words in a style unique to just you…a style as smooth as silk…not idle praise I stress.
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I bow, speechless, in gratitude.
As for your novel, it sounds like YOU could use some NaNoWriMo. Perhaps not in November, but in April. I’m thinking on that one–Camp NaNo. It’s a bit more flexible in setting goals, and you can arrange virtual “cabins” with other writers. Maybe you and I should both plan on signing up come spring. 🙂
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I always thought Nano Wrimo played rugby for Fiji! What is it? I am rather thick in that regard.
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LOL!
It’s short for National Novel Writing Month. What started as a fun lark has transformed into a nonprofit group. The challenge of writing 50K words in a month is only a part of what they do nowadays; they like raising funds for writing-based classes for schools and libraries, for instance. 🙂 http://www.nanowrimo.org
🙂
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Not sure I am brave enough having checked it out…need the bravery pills afforded me yet not thus far consumed I picked up on Planet Zorg 1,018 years ago (calculation based on current Earth time).
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Well, bravery pills or not, I have faith in you, Time Traveler. xxxx
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Sherlock was my hero as a kid. I would play imaginary games trying to defeat Moriaty. I visited the Reichenback Falls a couple of times. Actually was a deeply emotional thing for me – silly old sausage. The local village Meiringen has a Sherlock museum and many thinks like statues and hotels named after him.
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Oooo, that’s cool! I LOVED Jeremy Brett as Holmes, and all the episodes they did. Favorite adaptations, hands down. When I was a kid I wrote a mystery starring him. No clue what happened to it, though I’m sure it was awful 🙂
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