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Articles

Music:  the Writer’s Companion

One would think I could remember those lessons I learned in college.  It’s only been ten years or so since I left.  Although I can read an 800-page novel and watch TV at the same time and tell someone what happened in both, I should remember that when it comes to something like reading a 500-page biology textbook or (apparently) writing, music works better as a backdrop than the TV.  Whether it’s a rerun of JoJo’s Circus I’ve seen for the umpteenth time or a brand new CSI, I get two to three times more work done listening to music in the background than with a TV show.

I’ve found new age and classical music work best for me because they have no lyrics (I tend to try to sing along instead of work) but Laurell K. Hamilton occasionally drops in her blog an eclectic list of CDs she listens to while writing.  Kim Harrison and Kelley Armstrong have pages on their Web sites for songs that can go with their characters or books.  But music can help the writer in several ways other than just as a backdrop for the brain to process data.

Music can help create the setting for your story.  Stuck in an action scene?  Pop in some dance music to get the blood flowing.  Struggling through a candlelight dinner?  Pull out your romantic love song CDs to help.  Need inspiration for a beach or camping scene?  Spin up a Windham Hill CD for ocean or forest sounds.  Need help with that Halloween thriller?  Check out your favorite online store for CDs with Halloween themes you’ll find theme show songs, music with a spooky edge, and special effects to help with those creaky stairs, haunted forest noises, or frightening screams.   Fighting to finish that Christmas story in July?  Put in those Christmas CDs and let the voices of Julie Andrews, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby put you in the holiday spirit.  Whatever scene you’re trying to create, more than likely, there is a CD out there suitable for your mood.

People who play music or events such as concerts can be used as characters or settings in your story.  Mercedes Lackey uses bards and music in at least three of her series.  In addition, she has been able to convert the songs from her books into CDs for purchase.  Janny Wurts has created Arithon, a MasterBard and Mage, as one of the focal points for her Wars of Light and Shadow series.  Kim Harrison gave Rachel Morgan Takata’s music to listen too and then brought him as a minor character in the third book of her Hollows series.  Julia Quinn used the Smythe-Smith musical in her Bridgerton series as an event in the ton where her characters could get together and talk.  They certainty did not listen to the music—apparently the Smythe-Smith family are all musically challenged.  Giving your characters a musical quirk, like poorly singing along while driving, or a place to gather, such as a jazz club, can bring depth and individuality to your romance.

Finally, like poetry and art, music can provide the initial inspiration for your stories.  One day driving down the road, Kansas’s “Dust in the Wind” came on the radio.  It’s a song I’ve listened to many times, yet that day it was the inspiration for a gargoyle story – suddenly I saw dust particles swirling off a high church tower into a sunset as a beast was released from its stone prison.  Your romantic muse can come from a single line or the entire song.  Take those country and western songs--who wouldn’t want to write the heroine for the man whose mother just died and his girlfriend left him with nothing, not even his beloved dog or that wandering cowboy who needs love to give him a reason to settle down?  No matter what form it takes, music can be so much more to a writer than just background noise.