I've always loved this painting -- Flaming June by Frederic Leighton -- which also has an interesting origin story behind it. Allegedly it was found hidden in a chimney by a construction worker in 1962, who sold it to a junk shop for about fifty bucks. Sixty years later it's widely considered a masterpiece of Victorian art. The museum that currently owns it turned down an offer of six million pounds to purchase it from one of its famous admirers, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
I think I'm drawn to this painting because the gown worn by the lady is orange, a color that not a lot of people really love but I happen to adore, and it reminds me of hibiscus like this one that grew around my house when I was a kid. I also think it's simply beautiful.
Those type of connections are what I think about when I'm world-building or creating a character or even choreographing a scene. Am I offering something new and different, will I connect with the reader on some emotional level, and what their reaction will be as they read? I don't keep revisiting these questions as I'm writing -- that's overthinking the story, which can derail a writer -- but they're always in the back of my mind when I create. Then, when I edit, I look for the answers to those questions.
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