I know I usually end
with a quote—and I still will—this just felt right.
This blog post will be about the importance of music while
writing and for writing.
I never really just
listen to music. I learn from it, in a
way. I hear a song and either love it
for what it is or love it because my characters do, or love it because I know
it will help me during a scene.
“All the greats are the
ones remembered.” New Year's Day, Black Veil Brides. I know I am taking that line out of context
from the song, because BVB was not talking about writers. But how true is that line? The greats are
remembered and their works with stand time.
In this song they also say “Legends never die.” Which is true. Stoker, Frank, Shelley, etc., and some modern
day writers are going to be the greats, and even when their physical bodies
pass their works will remain. But what
makes them great, I mean besides withstanding time and having great
stories? I can’t say for everyone, but
some writers listen to music while writing and some even say which songs they
listened to while writing, and what songs helped inspire them.
I do. I am in no way calling myself a great, but I
can tell you this music has shaped my writing:
(I wrote this in 2009
about writing and posted it as a note on FB, I will expand on it after)
Music plays such an
important role in everyone's everyday life. Without music in life, in each day,
life would be boring. Seriously, think about it. In a grocery store, or in any
other store for that matter, without music, it would be an eerie quiet. More
than just in places of shopping think about movies.
In any movie especially
thrillers music plays a larger and bigger role than even the most famous
actor. For example, look at the movie Disturbia. Even if someone has watched
this movie four or more times the thriller, the intense scenes still will get
to that person. The music begins with a steady drum like a heartbeat, that soon
signals the bass to come in and play a few cords, which then signals the guitar
to come in and screech out some high suspenseful notes, and so on. Try to watch
a thriller movie muted, or any movie for that matter, it will not be as
intense. The reason it will not be as intense, is the music is key to get the
heart beating faster.
I am writing books and
once I got my iTunes account up and running and got my songs (many thanks to my
cousin for helping me with my account) I made playlists for all of my books.
Each song has a key element in the books becoming movies. Listening to Version 1 playlist while typing
Version 3 helps, because I know what should not go into the book, as well as
listening to Version 3 playlist while typing Version 3, because it helps me to
know what needs to be in the book.
It is truly amazing how
one song, or one word, or one line, or one sentence, or one verse in any song
can say all that is need to be said. It is amazing that either a whole song or
a little piece of a song can sum up all of anyone's emotions, and it is amazing
how music can help someone heal (emotionally, mentally, physically).
I did edit the above a
little just now, but it still applies today.
My taste in music has
changed a lot from 2008-2009 era until now.
Back then I would only listen to Lifehouse, Switchfoot, Natasha
Bedingfield (still love them, still listen).
Now I still listen to them but I also added, Evanescence, Black Veil
Brides, Automatic Loveletter, Juliet Simms, Imagine Dragons, We are the Fallen,
Ben Moody, David Hodges, and of course others but those most often. Now, yes some of these bands weren’t around
back then, but if they were I don’t think I would have listened to them,
because I didn’t understand the full importance of music while writing, until
BVB and Evanescence.
Here is a funny story, I
cannot tell you for which book but one day I was on the treadmill at the gym
and listening to music and I remembered that I bought BVB’s “In the End” so I
put that on and fell off the treadmill.
From the first notes this beautiful scene played in front of me for the
end of one of my series. I literally
forgot how to walk, I just froze in awe, and got thrown from the machine. I had listened to other songs before and had
experiences where I saw scenes I already thought about, but this time it gave
me a scene. Black Veil Brides was
already a character favorite in the book and from that their music has helped
shape that book. I have to thank them
for that.
Juliet Simms music from Automatic Loveletter inspired the
epigraph for one of my books (if we are FB friends there are a few chapters of
It Started on a Thursday up if you are interested in reading some works of
mine). And from that I actually want
characters to meet through her in that book, I just have to go about it
legally, like get permission. I feel
like I am rambling and not getting my point across, but music is so important
in writing, for writing.
I am not the typical
bands fan. And with saying what I am
about to say please don’t get offended.
A lot of bands have fans that call them “heroes” because the band saved
them. I get it, I do, but I am not that
fan. I personally don’t think it is not
fair to put that label on a band, because yes they helped the kid, but it is a
big burden for the band to carry. For
me, I like bands because my characters.
There are very few bands that I just like because I discovered
them. For example BVB I love you and am
not labeling you, this was Google. I
have this one fantastically gorgeous boy named Jake in Life’s not a
Fantasy. He originally was going to be
this emo character, like full on emo. So
I Googled “emo” and Alex Evans came up as the first result, then I was looking
through pictures, (I already had a face for Jake, just wanted to fine tune
character traits,) then this beautiful face was on the screen so I clicked on
it and it said “Andy Sixx” so I was curious and looked up him and found out
that he was a lead singer in a band called Black Veil Brides. I listened and fell in love. Since then Andy and the band have gone
through image and sound changes and Andy no longer goes by “Andy Sixx” but
rather “Andy Biersack”. Actually no band I like was my choice it always has
something to do with my books. Yeah, so
I am not the typical fan. Huh, that’s
weird…well this just loops back to my post about writer/character relationships. I wouldn’t like any bands probably if it
wasn’t for my book.
Music helps keep me
focused in writing. I sometimes listen
to other books playlists while writing so I remember what goes where and don’t
repeat scenes from book to book. I already
have a repeated name in two different books, but the gender and spelling
changes so I think I can get away with that. Ugh, I feel like this isn’t coming
out right and for some reason I am having a hard time writing this. I’m listening to music right now, writing
this and it is wonderful, I am having flashes of scenes coming to me, so maybe
I should just give you an excerpt, yeah, that sounds good. Oh! Oh! and I will associate a song with it. Yes!
* * *
Here is a scene from a WIP (to be completed December 2013):
Que the music:
Just drums, rolling a beat of various rhythms, but all letting you know
something is about to go wrong.
Screaming. A girl screaming. A girl screaming and clenching her hair in
her fists. A girl screaming and
clenching her hair in her fists while falling to her knees on the ground.
This wasn’t any
ordinary scream. No. This wasn’t just fear. This was anger. This was sadness. Harper was your ordinary school girl. She was at the time fifteen years old.
Here is where we
begin.
Que the music:
quiet and slow the drums some, add violins and flutes playing just a few
ominous repeating notes/chords.
I felt like I was stuck in a hall of mirrors. I could see myself and other people’s
reflections, but I was frozen in my terror.
I could not find my way out.
Every turn I made took me further into the maze. I felt like I was staring at myself from two
mirrors that were directly across from each other. Every motion echoed infinitesimally, but I
could see how fake it was. It was me, but it was my reflection. I started the motion and my accursed
doppelgängers mimicked my every motion.
I couldn’t break free. I wanted
to crash through the mirrors. I wanted
to watch them tumble to the ground in a chain reaction like large silver
reflective and distorted dominoes.
It wasn’t my fault, but it kind of is. It is all of our faults. Possibly mostly mine. I didn’t see it. I should have. I remember Jessica aimlessly pulling me to my
feet. I remember grabbing onto her
shoulders just in time for the both of us to fall to the ground. I was a mess.
I never cried so hard in my life.
April 11 a Thursday. I will never
forget. This was the day I walked into
the school gymnasium for a shortcut because I was running late to school. I kept my head below the windows and walked
in the shadows that when I heard it. It
sounded like a belt being slapped on itself but duller, then came the awful
gurgling. (Que the music change again:
take away the flutes and a bass playing a low and repeating note, just one,
sometimes it is held out, other times it is short) I looked towards the
sound and saw his body swinging from the rafters. I started screaming/I started to scream.
Que music again:
add in a symphony.
Parker was struggling. He was stuck between life and death. He was slowly dying in front of me and
fighting with every ounce of strength he had left in him to reverse his
previous action. He now wanted to
live. I started screaming and his eyes
flashed to mine. He reached his left
hand out to me. I touched his hand and
his finger nails scratched my skin, leaving small red marks. I pulled my phone out and dialed 911. I said nothing to the operator I just
screamed.
* * *
So I don’t officially
have a song for this scene, for other scenes, yes, but that is further in the
book, and they are not written yet and would give away too much.
30 Seconds to Mars is
another favorite of mine, and thank god I wasn’t driving, I had the BVB
experience with them. A song of their newest album, Love Lust Faith + Dreams,
made me freeze. I saw a character rising
from something, while another fell to their knees screaming. Can’t tell you the song specifically, the
scene, or the book, mostly because it will not be in the book. This will be something that is a movie
exclusive only once I’m published and have movie rights, so fingers crossed!
Peace,
Love, and Inspiration
Keep
writing and remember
#itsawriterthing
Toni-Anne
Lombardo
Quotes: “Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can't.”
–Johnny Depp
“Music is the universal language of mankind.” –Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow
“Where words fail, music speaks.” –Hans Christian Andersen
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