It’s my pleasure to have Darcy Town on the blog
today. Darcy describes herself as a Sci-Fi Fantasy Geek. She’s a consultant, by
profession and an indie author who enjoys dark humor. Darcy will share with us how music impacts her
writing, a subject most of us can relate to, so without further ado…
Music and Writing – The Importance of Having a
Soundtrack
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| Darcy Town, Author |
You think soundtrack and you might think movies,
but I think soundtrack and I think books.
Music has been a large part of my writing since…well, I can’t even
remember when I started selecting songs for scene creation. I collect (and like) songs that I can picture
going to a scene, whether in my current novel or some half-baked idea that I
haven’t started to take notes for. I’m
always building, editing, and listening to book music. It’s the only thing on my Zune.
I also select music for characters and their
themes. I like to have three to five
songs that describe some aspect of a character, or a relationship between two
or more characters. I use these songs to
remind myself that yeah, this is what this character is all about. If I’m feeling uninspired or stuck on a
scene, I’ll turn my music on, sit back, and see where the song takes me. My wildest and most offbeat tangents have
come due to some melodies. Without the
music, my stories and characters might be completely different than they are
today.
So, long and short of it, I listen to book music
on the bus, during lunch, while I workout, zone out, etc. There’s only one time I do not listen to
music. And that’s while writing. I know some writers listen to music while
they write to get them in the right mood…but music is a brain altering drug and
I know my readers won’t be listening to a song (or at least not to my song) at the point that they read, so
I cannot write under the influence. I
have to know that my scenes, characters, and dialogue can stand on their own
and give the emotional impact that I desire, without the bolstering of notes
and lyrics.
I’ve been asked if I have music that I enjoy separately
from my book music. The answer to that
is no, they are intertwined. If I cannot
picture it with a scene, then I don’t like it.
That both broadens and shrinks my musical tastes in interesting ways. I’ll always give something a try when it’s
suggested to me; after all I may find the next best song for my new character
and that can absolutely make my day.
I felt like I should end this by listing a few of
the songs that I utilized for my series. A larger list is on my blog, but here’s
a shortlist.
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| Click to go to Blurb |
Wastes Series:
Slam
by
Pendulum
9
Crimes by
Damien Rice
Becoming
Insane
by Infected Mushroom
Space
Dementia
by Muse
Apply by Glasser
A
Sight to Behold
by Devendra Banhart and
Howl by Florence
and the Machine.
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| Click to go to Blurb |
Morningstar Trilogy:
The
Way You Are
by Ingrid Michaelson
The
Operation
by Charlotte Gainsbourg
You
Did a Good Thing
by Sleepthief
Lust by The
Raveonettes
Fallen by Delerium
Intervention by Arcade
Fire
The Con
by Tegan and Sara
You can find more information about my writing and
musical choices over on: http://navigatorsanddemons.wordpress.com/
See a listing of Darcy’s books on Goodreads.
Darcy, thanks for being here today. I know that certain songs help create a great atmosphere for our stories, but like you I find music very distracting while writing. For me, way more singing goes on than writing. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Darcy.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about shaping any of my characters with a song, but I've listened to songs to shape the atmosphere in my writing.
Very interesting. I never listen to music when I write, but I Iove to fill the house with it when I'm doing anything else. It's inspiring and calming and exciting. It can create any atmosphere I need--just not when I'm actually inside my head and imagining a different world, then trying to put that into words. We are all so different, and that's what's fascinating about reading how others create their stories. Thanks for the interview.
ReplyDeleteHi Darcy! I love music while writing and even reading also! Great source of inspiration!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I really enjoyed the chance to write about this topic. :)
ReplyDeleteI only really listen to music when I edit. When I'm writing, it's too much of a distraction.
ReplyDeleteHOw cooL! I do listen to some particular instrumental music when I'm writing. I find that it gets me in the mood:)
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Sometimes I listen, sometimes not. I get what you mean about music forming images and feelings of characters and story. That happens to me, but so far not in a usable way. It's instantaneous and fleeting. I've never been able to capture it.
ReplyDeleteI love music but not when I'm writing. I like it to be nice and quiet. But I like to think of selections to go with scenes when they're written.
ReplyDeleteDenise
I don't listen to music when I'm editing, but will when I'm drafting and revising. I'm drafting two WIPs this month and one is dark and one is light-hearted. I switch the tunes to fit the tone of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI started listening to music to drown out my family so I could write. With three boys, a dog, two cats, and a husband it became a necessity.
ReplyDeleteI will listen to music when I'm proofing, but not doing re-write type stuff.
ReplyDelete@Ciara, I can understand that. I happen to have a pretty noiseless environment at the moment (the noisy dogs are kept upstairs and I write downstairs at the opposite end of the house :) ).
I’ve always enjoyed using music to help set or alter the mood as I write. It can make such a difference, often sending my thoughts tripping down a creative road I hadn’t expected. Music helps me to imagine the visuals of characters or scenes, like a movie inside my head. While there are vocals I love and use for inspiration, I can’t listen to them as I write. If I have music on while writing it must be instrumental only. Even then, it sometimes gets too distracting because I get caught up in singing or humming along and pull myself right out of the story.
ReplyDeleteI listen to music often when writing. I;ve learned to write in silence and with lots of noise. I often have YouTube playing live performances while writing.
ReplyDelete@Susan, I know what you mean. I'll start daydreaming the scenes instead of writing them down. Plus I'll tend to rush to get the pacing of the story to go with the music and that isn't always a good thing. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of listening to music while I write, and I like the music to fit what I'm writing. I know some people find it distracting, but not me. =D
ReplyDeleteI use music as a writing tool, as well. But I am the opposite. I create a soundtrack for a novel, but only listen to it when I'm writing, editing, proofing, revising. Sometimes I have to stop and sing along, but that's one of the "pitfalls" of the occupation :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks to everybody for dropping in and commenting and thanks to Darcy for sharing her writing process and how music impacts her writing.
ReplyDelete