Sing Me a Story
Sing Me A Story
First, an apology: this article was supposed to up yesterday, but as my schedule has been crazy from dawn to well after dusk – I didn’t even realize I was late until today. Ooops. My bad.
Second: I know the discussion for music and its presence in the writing process has been widely discussed. I also know that everyone has a different answer. Do you listen to specific music when you’re writing? Do you have a playlist? Do you need complete silence?
Here’s the thing for me. Music takes up a good portion of my everyday life. My ipod easily gets a six to eight hour workout every day. Yes, every day. That probably seems a bit obsessive, and perhaps it is, but that’s just me. Music is also a huge part of the writing process for me. My fanfic Fractured Hearts currently has 253 songs in the playlist, and every single time I hear one of the songs it takes me right back to the moment in a specific part of the story. What I wrote, where I was, what I felt. I can’t start writing a chapter until I have a playlist for that specific chapter set. It takes the brainstorming cloud of ideas that I’ve had to that point, and molds them into a cohesive stream of writing that just flows. Of course, I can’t actually listen to the playlist while I’m writing the chapter, but that’s just another one of those inane quirks that make up who I am. I’ve accepted my oddities. ;)
Lately, I’ve found myself wondering if music does to other people what it does to me. Sometimes when I hear a song – even a song I’ve heard a dozen times before – a story bursts into my head in full living color. It’s the same song, but suddenly it isn’t. The words sound different, the voices more significant. A perfect example of this phenomenon for me is what happened yesterday. I was driving home and Katy Perry’s ET came on the radio. I’ve heard the song countless times as it’s a favorite of my daughter’s and she’s always jamming out to it in her room. But yesterday it sounded different. Yesterday the song was suddenly a plea from Bella to Edward in an attempt to make him understand the depth of her feelings for him. It was so clear. I could hear it and see it all. Not that I’m going to write it, but it was an easy example of what I mean. This happens to me all the time. It helps string different characters and plot point of original stories I have in my head, and it really is a great writing tool for me.
Do you think of music as a good writing tool? Or is music for pure entertainment value? I get both from it. I can shake my booty and sing to the hairbrush around my living room looking like a fool and blowing off all kinds of stress. But I can also find massive amounts of inspirations from music that gets put towards my writing. I’d love to know what music does for you.
Until next time,
~Lisa
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