I listen to music when I write. If I don't, I swear I can hear my own heartbeat. And it drives me to distraction.
So then Pandora is my friend. As is variety. But eventually, a song will snag my attention. It starts to form around the story I am writing or belong to a certain character. Thus, every time I hear that song, I'll think about my book or that character.
When I wrote FIRELIGHT, there was one song that absolutely was Miranda's anthem. It fit her both in mood and in lyrics. I cannot hear it now without thinking about Miranda. The same goes for Archer. In truth, there are a lot of songs that I connect to writing FIRELIGHT.
Miranda's song:
Archer's song: (this is actually an environmental plea, but I can't help it, I always think of Archer when I hear it.)
Right now, I'm working on Moonglow. This is Miranda's sister, Daisy's story. In it, Daisy learns a lot about this other world of supernaturals and what they are capable of. And though I am still knee-deep in revisions, I already have a song for Moonglow, if not Daisy.
Moonglow's song:
So what about you? Do you think of a certain song in conjunction with certain characters or books? Do you even want to know what the author was listening to when she wrote a character or book?
Nice blog, love the header.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kristen!
ReplyDeleteI love your new site. I'm following you and have you on my blog roll. Can't wait for your story and book. ; )
@S.P. Thanks, Sara! My sister created that, actually. She is my design slave...I mean, helper. :)
ReplyDelete@Zan Marie Thanks for stopping by! I was starting to hear an echo in here. Oh, the joys of starting up a new blog!
I love hearing echoes of my characters in songs - couldn't write without music either.
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard the Zero 7 song before, but I'm all for getting to know Miranda a little better [g]
@Deniz I love that song so much. :)
ReplyDeleteThere are certain songs that remind me of the book I was reading when I first heard the song. I can be driving down the read and BAM I’m remembering a romance novel that I read in the tenth grade. I was a big dork in high school (I really haven’t changed much) and I spent most of my time listening to music, writing and reading. All of those things go hand in hand in my world even fifteen years later.
ReplyDeleteI have theme music for my different writing projects. I find it to be a great way to infuse emotion in my writing. When my character feels all Brandi Carlile, I listen to Brandi Carlile. Sometimes if lyrics really speak to me, I print them out and tack them on my corkboard- instant inspiration. Right now it’s ‘Stars Fell on Alabama” by Tara Nevins and “Your Surrender” by Neon Trees.
@Buffy --There are definitely songs that remind me of books I've read. When I first read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, my husband kept playing Travis, who had this spoof of Brittney Spear's song, Baby One More Time. Mainly, he did this to annoy me. (g) But damn if that song isn't ingrained in my memory in connection with Outlander, lol.
ReplyDeleteWhat other songs are Firelight related? do you have a playlist?
ReplyDelete