Today on Fable and the Verbivore, we’re sharing an unscripted episode about creating images that do a great job of representing or encapsulating an idea, stand out, and that stick in our memory.

Over the last year, we’ve done a wide range of topics — from writing about disabilities to writing with empathy —that took a lot of energy and preparation. We’ve also been doing this podcast for almost 5 years and as we celebrate our 250th episode this last month we felt it would be fun to do a series of episodes getting back to our roots of how this first began — through unplanned conversations about life, books, and the writing craft. So, for right now we’re continuing to see where our conversations take us, without planning in advance what we’ll talk about.

This idea was inspired by the anecdote from last week’s episode that author Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) brings plastic severed mannequin arms to give out at conferences and book signings and continues our conversation about preparing for conferences and book signings by discussing how sticky images and surprising details can help your work feel distinctive and stand out.

In this conversation, we talk about visuals that can help make your story memorable or encapsulate your brand. Specifically, we bring up some examples and unpack what makes them stand out in our minds. Things like:

• Sofi Tukker’s BREAD album - Using a normal everyday object and creating unexpected images like with the bread dress

• A character donating to a pigeon charity in So Not Meant To Be - How the choice of pigeons feels a little odd as many have a negative reaction to them or are likely to champion dogs or cats, the absurd image of a pigeon in a suit or hat cements itself into your mind (similar to mnemonic memory devices like the steps used for creating a memory palace)

• The cereal scene in Get Out - Making something uncomfortable by having the context add meaning and unease to a slightly off action a character engages in after commiting a horrifying act, doing something just a little different than our normal social scripts by having the cereal in a bowl separate from the glass of milk rather than mixing them together

• The ending of Identity - Use a false ending and a surprise twist to cement the final image in your mind

• Paying attention to your own quirks that are a little different, unexpected, or slightly absurd — Taking a lot of extra time to make the perfect bite with a little bit of each type of food when you eat a salad or entree, or only allowing an even number of Cheerios in your final bites of cereal

• The tea scene in Blue Eye Samarai — Set a normal activity within an unreal or unsettling context, as with an invitation to tea from an enemy where you are pretty certain it is a ruse for an ambush

Towards the end of this discussion, we talk about how imperfect things often get talked about and engaged with more than perfect things. How sometimes the choice to be a little odd, step a foot outside of cultural norms, or push into something that we haven’t seen before can allow your work to gain more interest and traction.

We hope you enjoy this episode and the more improvisational format of this series and that some of this connects with your own journey!

Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

Fable and the Verbivore continue their conversation about preparing for conferences and book signings by discussing how sticky Images and surprising details can help your work feel distinctive and stand out. This idea was inspired by the annecdote from last weeks episode that author Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) brings plastic severed mannequin arms to give out at conferences and book signings.

The Verbivore incorrectly calls Blue Eye Samurai a film. It’s a tv series.

Books, Films, and Music Mentioned:

• BREAD by Sofi Tukker

• So Not Meant To Be (Cane Brothers, #2) by Meghan Quinn

• Get Out - Directed by Jordan Peele

• Signs - Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

• Identity - Directed by James Mangold

• Blue Eye Samurai - Directed by Jane Wu

Music from:https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)