It Started With A Theme Song
Have you ever gotten a character, scene or worldbuilding idea you never thought you needed?
Last year, I read a post by Kelly Hashway where she talked about the playlist for her book. It got me thinking. If my characters had their own music video, what would the song be? It’s been a lot of fun. I can’t hear a song without trying to match it with a character.
Funny enough, something unexpected happened while listening to “A Little Faster” by There for Tomorrow.
It had become the song for one of my characters. I suddenly got the idea the way she was using her power wasn’t its true form. She’d simply been letting it go out of control. “A Little Faster” gave me her power when it was under her control.
This seemed to come out of somewhere. I mean, the song became her theme because of the beat not the words. Besides, I thought I was done with her power.
Then, there was “Hero (The Legion of Doom Remix)” by Skillet.
The original version is the song for two of my characters because they’re each other’s hero. The thing is, I never thought of them that way until I heard that song. It’s so obvious now.
I was listening to the remix and suddenly, an epic battle unfolded. I saw who was fighting, why and what each characters was doing. Now, I have an idea of how my series will end. I can’t listen to “Hero (The Legion of Doom Remix)” without picturing that battle or the trailer for the final book in my trilogy.
Finally- well not really but if I listed all the songs that inspired me we’d be here all day- “Awake and Alive (The Quickening).”
I felt the beats and pictured one of my characters dancing to it. Not once had I ever thought of her as a dancer outside of her fighting skills. Through “Awake and Alive,” I saw every one of her moments and felt the emotions behind them. Then, a scene unfolded where one of my POV characters was watching her dance. Now, I have another chapter for book 2 and another dimension to those characters.
What about you, have you ever gotten an idea you never thought you needed?
I so wanted to listen to these, but I'm at work! 🙁
Oh well, I'll have to check them out from home. I can tell I'll probably be on Youtube tonight looking for a song for my own story. Thanks!
These songs are amazing. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I never knew how much music could influence a story!
Hero is on the Touch of Death playlist and Awake and Alive is on The Monster Within playlist. 🙂
Thanks for mentioning me by the way.
I love both those songs. I can't stop listening to them 😉
Hello, new follower here 🙂
I liked the songs, hadn't heard of Skillet or There For Tomorrow before.
I often see scenes unfold when I listen to music and some find their way into my writing. The biggest change was when I was listening to a song called Distorted by Biomechanical which is about being a horrific creature. I imagined a scene with a character who joins the antagonists side. I'd planned to redeem the character early, but after imagining the scene I couldn't. I still feel a bit bad about what I did to the character.
Welcome Emilia! Thanks for following:D
Yeah, I know how you feel. Sometimes the story takes your characters on a path you'd don't want them to be on. We can't force it thought then, the story suffers.
I often use music to write by, but in my solo work, I wouldn't nessecarily have assigned theme music to my characters.
However, in something I'm co-writing, the two protagonists first meet online, when he gets snarky about one of her favourite singers, Barry Manilow…