Wednesday
Wednesday Writing Therapy: Finding Flash Inspiration within Lady Gaga's World
When Lady GaGa sings "got my flash on," I think to myself, "That's the way I roll, too." And when she recognizes and emphasizes the "papa" of paparazzi, I know it's not Derrida's deconstructionism at play, but I'll call it that anyway. I've switched from a keyboard to a disco stick to write flash fiction, and I'm not bluffin' with my muffin here. I'm speaking the straight out truth. I'm gaga over the music of my new muse. And sure she's not nearly as cool as Ray Carver or as hot as Emily Dickinson, but in her own gaga way, she's a literary supahstar. And I'm thrilled to have latched onto her for my newest round of flash writings. Here's what I think I might be able to expect from our partnership.
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Name Change. I like Grandmaster Flash, but that's been taken. And King of the Short Short doesn't sound particularly fame-garnering. Lord RaRa. Oh yeah.
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Gaga Figurative Language. "Hot like Mexico." "Bluffin' with my muffin." "Leather-studded kiss." It's all familiar territory, yes?, but Gaga makes that world her own with the gaga-ness of her similes, metaphors, and images. Consider the song title "Shake Your Kitty." Who else but Gaga? Here's a possible first sentence of my new Gaga-inspired flash: "She looked at me hard, like six-pack abs."
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Gaga-Sounds. I want my writing to make sounds no one's ever heard before. Gaga-sounds originate in the lyrics, and then become something else. For example, I might write something like this. "She wanted to sing again, but she noticed that the color of songs had changed from the spectrum of blue: azure, indigo, aquamarine, turquoise, cornflower, sapphire, periwinkle, la-la-la-va-va-nder, nay-nay-nay-vee, co-co-co-cold-cold-co-co-balt." But, of course, it's not quite to the level of Gaga."Poker Face" begins:
Mum mum mum mah
Mum mum mum mah
Mum mum mum mah
Mum mum mum mah
"Bad Romance" begins here:
Rah-Rah-Rah-ah-ah
Ro-Mah-Ro-Mah-Mah
Gaga-oo-la-la
Want your bad romance
And here's the chorus for "Just Dance":
Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm
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Gaga Time. In "Love Game," Gaga sings, "Maybe three seconds is enough." That's the right attitude for a flash fiction muse. When you're riding the disco stick to fame and fortune in flash fiction, three seconds is not only enough. It's more than enough.
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Gaga Influences. That Lady Gaga emerges as both something new and something we've kind of seen before is exactly how I'd like to arrive on the literary scene. For example, there's clearly the Madonna factor, but that's just part of the past singers and bands that have gone to create Lady Gaga. They're everywhere, but none of them are quite Gaga. One of my favorite "echoes" I hear in Gaga is below, Army of Lovers singing "Ride the Bullet."
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Gaga Fun. In short, Lady Gaga knows what fun is. And I'm ready to have some fun with flash. Call me crazy. Demented. Gaga Dazed. But remember, I prefer Lord RaRa, and my disco stick of flash is poised and at the ready to write some freakin' gaga fiction. Woo-hoo!
posted on 2 Dec 2009, 11:17 AM
My God, I need a post like this---I already feel energized by it! Good one, Randall---thanks!
posted on 19 Feb 2010, 2:26 PM
Did Gaga work to inspire any great flash, Michelle?
posted on 16 Feb 2010, 10:37 PM
Oh my god, you krak me up.
Mine is Rihanna, by the way. The way she twists her hips and move her hobs is just the way i'd like my flash to bump. Every sentence bumps you some place new. :-)
posted on 19 Feb 2010, 2:25 PM
"Hobs?" Never heard that word before. Is that what goes into making beer?