Writing - How Nature can be a Muse


Watching this video of masses of seafoam covering the beaches of an Australian town got to me wondering just how polluted our oceans have become. The foam was caused by the churning of the waters in the Pacific by a cyclone.

Although it seems funny and people were walking through the foam laughing at its uniqueness, I have to think it’s a bad sign and that possibly those people shouldn’t be playing in what could be a toxic substance.

Combine this event with the odd weather patterns seen world-wide, the destruction Sandy caused, the many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes of the past year or two and it’s so obvious this world is going through massive changes (which are apparently cyclic according to studies of climate change).

The only question is this: are we exacerbating those changes through pollution, fracking, draining natural resources?






Would you be brave enough to walk this close to a lava flow and take a sample? I know I wouldn't.





As a writer I imagine several scenarios for possible stories. What do you see when you view these two videos?

Rebecca Ryals Russell
MG/YA Fantasy Author
Fantastical Worlds of Rebecca Ryals Russell



4 comments:

Magdalena Ball said...

Good story starters, Rebecca.

Shirley Corder said...

Rebecca these are two amazing video clips! In answer to your first question, I don't think I would have wanted to go into that foam. I admit I wouldn't have thought of the toxic aspect so much as being terrified I'd get swallowed up by it! I can't believe the woman in the caravan just staying put! What if it covered the van? (You can see I'm a real woman of faith and power when it comes to nature doing weird things!) And no, I definitely wouldn't be walking on the rocks near that lava. It is smoking in places, and in some of the shots the rocks themselves are literally red hot.
Thanks for sharing these.

Mary Jo Guglielmo said...

For me, the health of our environment is becoming more frightening each year. Just looking at the photo is like the beginning of some wifi story.

Karen Cioffi said...

How frightening, like a sci-fi horror movie! And, I would NOT go into that foam. I agree that the freak occurrences may be signs, but I believe it's not all nature, I think we have a hand in the mix now.

This is all great fodder for writers though!

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