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The Writing/Music Connection
Sep. 14th, 2011 11:27 pm"For some people, music is just noise, pleasant sound to fill up the silence or drown out what they don't want to hear. To me, it's much more than that. Music can energize me, soothe me, motivate me. Make me laugh, make me cry, make me see things in a new way. It can make me think or quiet my mind." - Elizabeth Morgan, Call Out
When I wrote those words, I had no idea that they'd make their way into my novel. The story didn't even have a premise at that point, only a line of narrative that never made it's way into the book. Eventually, I fleshed out some characters and a plot, and Call Out was born.
Music is a central part of my books (The Hand of Fate and Call Out) just as it's a central part of my life. I didn't set out to write about musicians, but that's what ended up happening. Originally, Brian Kelly was supposed to be working in a bar in Orlando and London Dahlbeck didn't even exist. But as the story took shape, they told me who they really are - rock musicians. And I realized then that I had the chance to do a couple of cool things with my book. I could talk about music - a lot - and I could attempt to paint a picture of rock stars as 'just people'.
But I digress.
Music is not only integrated into my stories, it's the reason those stories made it out of my head and into written words. Without music, I couldn't have written much. Hell, I had to make a playlist of certain songs before I could even write the first scene in Call Out.
Most of the time, I can listen to just about anything (that I like) and it will help get and keep the creative juices flowing. It occurred to me one day that there is a scientific explanation for that; the part of our brains that enjoys music is the same part that sparks creativity. Ain't that cool?
There were times when I did listen to very specific music to help get into the right mindset for writing certain scenes. I made a lot of playlists: angry, sappy, heartbreaking. Sometimes, I would listen to one song over and over and over again in order to get a few short paragraphs to flow the way I wanted to them to.
The most important thing that music did for me, though, was break my bouts of writer's block. More than once, I found that if I just sat down, put on the headphones, and queued up some of my favorite artists, the words would skip through my brain and onto the screen as if by magic. Just like that, writer's block, cured.
So yes, music inspires and motivates me, changes my frame of mind, and tints the way I view the world. For me, there's a very strong connection between music and writing. Without music, there is no writing. Without music, there's not much of anything, really.
When I wrote those words, I had no idea that they'd make their way into my novel. The story didn't even have a premise at that point, only a line of narrative that never made it's way into the book. Eventually, I fleshed out some characters and a plot, and Call Out was born.
Music is a central part of my books (The Hand of Fate and Call Out) just as it's a central part of my life. I didn't set out to write about musicians, but that's what ended up happening. Originally, Brian Kelly was supposed to be working in a bar in Orlando and London Dahlbeck didn't even exist. But as the story took shape, they told me who they really are - rock musicians. And I realized then that I had the chance to do a couple of cool things with my book. I could talk about music - a lot - and I could attempt to paint a picture of rock stars as 'just people'.
But I digress.
Music is not only integrated into my stories, it's the reason those stories made it out of my head and into written words. Without music, I couldn't have written much. Hell, I had to make a playlist of certain songs before I could even write the first scene in Call Out.
Most of the time, I can listen to just about anything (that I like) and it will help get and keep the creative juices flowing. It occurred to me one day that there is a scientific explanation for that; the part of our brains that enjoys music is the same part that sparks creativity. Ain't that cool?
There were times when I did listen to very specific music to help get into the right mindset for writing certain scenes. I made a lot of playlists: angry, sappy, heartbreaking. Sometimes, I would listen to one song over and over and over again in order to get a few short paragraphs to flow the way I wanted to them to.
The most important thing that music did for me, though, was break my bouts of writer's block. More than once, I found that if I just sat down, put on the headphones, and queued up some of my favorite artists, the words would skip through my brain and onto the screen as if by magic. Just like that, writer's block, cured.
So yes, music inspires and motivates me, changes my frame of mind, and tints the way I view the world. For me, there's a very strong connection between music and writing. Without music, there is no writing. Without music, there's not much of anything, really.
