The Soundtrack to Your Story

I've been doing this for awhile. When I start a new story, I can't help but listen to music. Then, when I listen to music, I hear songs that fit with the plot I came up with. I take those songs that fit with the plot, and organize them into the plot, and eventually I just have this soundtrack for whatever I'm writing. I find it helps me a lot, especially when I have writers block. It also helps get me in the mood for whatever scene I may be writing. I tend to understand the feelings of the characters better as well.

Does anybody else do this or something similar? Just so...you know...I know I'm not completely crazy.

Sorta. I listen to songs that fit the scene or chapter. For instance, School's Out once inspired a fast paced, action adventure story that took place during the summer.

And if I have writer's block, I open up a song that fits the story, listen to it, and take it from there.

No, not crazy at all my friend. I do exactly the same thing. Exactly the same thing. For instance, when I was working on the preliminary draft of The Chair of Wind and Darkness, I got so used to the songs of each scene - and hence so very tired of switching discs every time I made progress - that I actually just went and burned myself a disc with all the songs in order of my plot, by scene. I labelled it C of W&D Soundtrack. And now that's what I listen to whenever I work on it. ^_^

What really gets me is those rare occasions when you here a song and it so perfectly matches a scene you're writing in everything - mood, feel, length, lyrics, instrumentation - that it almost seems like the scene and that song were written to correspond. I know EXATCLY where you're coming from.

Antually, I wondered more than once if it was possible to sell a CD soundtrack for a book...? ^_~

Lol, glad I'm not crazy either...

That is major cool. Actually that's a really good idea. And DD-we're all crazy people, right?

Always. ^_~

This is a great topic. I listen to music to get me into the right mood to write. Sometimes I place a song with a particular scene. It really does help. Lately, I've been listening to the "Braveheart" sound track while writing "1649." I hate the movie (don't get me started), but the music is beautiful.

Hmmm...I'll have to try this. Unfortunately I have trouble listening to music when I'm writing: I usually start singing along.

I thought that was the best part!

Yeah, except if you've got the words of the song in your head rather than the words that should be flowing onto the paper.

I think all writers are a bit crazy. Though the real word is eccentric.

I do have a sort of soundtrack for the book I'm writing now. It's a non-fiction book about my year in residence and the local college in Cornwall (which will be posted here until I start sending it to publishers). My boyfriend made a sort of video yearbook, with a slide show and music. I tend to listen to that when I'm writing something new for it, especially if I'm writing about en event that was shown in the video.

Cassandra wrote:Yeah, except that if you've got the words of the song in your head rather than the words that should be flowing onto the paper.

A problem similar to Cassandra's for me, though I don't sing along usually... 0o If its not simply instrumental the words of the piece often start going round and round my head; at that point they show up on the paper along with what's meant to be there...and it ends often too tangled for comprehension. !_!

But music can be very thematic... A few shorts I've written have been to music - sometimes the most unlikely songs too. ^_^"

I do that sometimes too. In a story that I'm writing I tend to listen to Sarah Mclachlan or James Gallway. So as you can see from the plethora of posts that you are not alone or crazy.

I listen to Sarah Mclachlan ALL THE TIME. She's one of my favorite artists, and I use a lot of her songs in my 'soundtracks'. Like "Do What you Have to Do" (The one that made me tear up) "Fallen", "Adia", "Push", "Wait", etc...

Rei wrote:I think all writers are a bit crazy. Though the real word is eccentric.

lol Yes, I prefer eccentric.

That's a really good idea, I'm going to have to try that now. It gives me something to do that still kind of fits with the story when I'm having trouble actually writing it.

hprules13 wrote:

Rei wrote:I think all writers are a bit crazy. Though the real word is eccentric.

lol Yes, I prefer eccentric.

That's a really good idea, I'm going to have to try that now. It gives me something to do that still kind of fits with the story when I'm having trouble actually writing it.

No, the writers and story-tellers -- they're the sane fellows out of all the rest. ^_~ Or insane is the inverse of that negative perception we have of it. Without the poets and artists, any society goes blinking mad.