Story Behind the Story #1: Devil Went Down to Liverpool

Today is the start of a new periodic segment on my website: the Story Behind the Story! Have you ever read a book or short story and wondered, “What was the author thinking when they wrote that?” The idea behind SBS is to answer that exact question! With each post, I’ll tell you a little about the inspiration for one of my pieces of writing (all of which you can find under the Writing tab at the top of this page!).

For my first post, I’m going to talk about one of my more lighthearted works: “Devil Went Down to Liverpool.” You can read it at the link below:

Devil Went Down to Liverpool

This tale of a troubled British Invasion band whose members agree to help a witch in return for a long-awaited record deal started from an assignment during the Rhodes College Summer Writing Institute’s creative writing camp, which I attended in 2019. The task, after reading several fables, was to create one of our own, written with our personal flair.

Admittedly, the structure and tropes of a fable are generally antithetical to my writing style of choice: I prefer writing stories grounded in reality that focus more on smaller, interpersonal conflicts. Witches and magic boxes are not in my arena. This meant that, initially, I was resistant to the idea of having to write about fairies and talking animals.

After some further consideration, however, I realized that the better way to address this assignment was as an opportunity to flout the rules I’d unconsciously set for myself. Ordinarily, I’d never have one of my characters say something as awkward as, “Let’s jive, dudes!” But since I was already writing in a world of true make-believe, there was no reason not to. I decided, then, to make my story as fun to write as possible.

The ’60s is likely my favorite era of music, and the British Invasion one of my favorite movements, so I chose that time period as my setting. I named my band the Froggs, inspired by the misspelled animal band names I already loved, like the Beatles, and the Monkees. I enjoyed scrolling through lists of ’60s slang terms, so I made a witch who spoke almost exclusively using them. I ditched the usual fable animals for a portly walrus, and replaced the dragon’s hoard with a golden record that granted perfect pitch, rather than eternal youth. And, finally, I built my resolution around a pun, which seemed the perfectly cheesy conclusion the story needed.

While this isn’t my favorite story I’ve written, it was certainly one of the most entertaining pieces to write thus far. Hopefully, it’s as enjoyable for you all to read as it was for me to write.

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I think that about wraps it up for now! I hope you enjoyed this first post in my ongoing Story Behind the Story segment. Let me know what you thought in the comments below! Which story do you think should I cover next time? See you soon!