It was a cold winter's night when I first saw Maxim. He was walking down a lonely street to the sounds of Simon and Garfunkle. It was raining and his only companion was an amber street light. Taegen and Torrey showed me a glimpse into their world during a Journey song, and I saw how they had first met by chance on a train in South San Francisco. Van showed me his childhood, and how he had loved a girl in high school named Kat, who had been the only one to see past his exterior. He told me his story in detail, then showed it to me with images accompanied by many, many songs. And lately, an assassin named Jaide has been plaguing me with his past through melody. He has a difficult time talking of it, so he shows me in ways he knows I'll best understand. Music. It is my guiding force in my writing. Many writers speak of their characters "coming" to them to have their stories told. I am no different. But if characters make the journey to me to have me pen their tales, music is the avenue they use to travel. I have never been so inspired as I am when listening to songs with beautiful melody and eloquent lyrics. I once told my husband as I was figuring out the details of an idea to a song that I had a "symphony of words in my head." That's the best and most accurate way I can describe it. When I hear the music, I see the story. What begins as a short, flat snippet of something blossoms into a beautiful, flowing, three dimensional idea when I couple it with the right music. What about you? Does music inspire you? Or is it something else? If music does play a part in your writing, what kind of music is it? |
Brieanna,
I'm not one who can listen to music and write. I usually start with one very small idea and build around it.
In order for me to write, I have to have absolute quiet. I wish I could listen to music or television and write.
Sandy