Last week I wrote about my writing process but  I neglected to mention the type of environment in which I like to write best. In our library at home (yes, we have a library) we have a blue Queen Anne chair that is also a recliner. I like to sit in that with my feet up with my laptop and and tap tap tap away.

I also require total silence. An sculptor friend of mine and I were talking about this the other day and he says he needs silence too. He pointed to his head and said, “This is all the noise you need right here.” I totally agree.

However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t think there is an intersection of inspiration between music and words as both are different mediums in storytelling. I can’t tell you how many short stories or vignettes I’ve written based on songs. I don’t know the way your brain works, but I think for a lot of people listening to music conjures pictures in their heads.  And words can do the same thing.

And it can work in the opposite direction too. Lots of songwriters have based songs on stories they’ve read. On The Sounds of Silence album by Simon and Garfunkel Paul Simon wrote the song “Richard Cory” based on the poem by E.A. Robinson of the same name. There are countless examples of artists taking inspiration from each other to create something new and that’s an amazing thing to witness. It’s even more amazing when it happens to you.

The current novel on which I am working has a soundtrack, for sure. I just can’t listen to it while I’m pounding out the words on the computer. But I did put a playlist together and I listen to it whenever I can. It’s amazing how listening to a particular song and thinking about a particular character can give me an idea on how to fix a problem with a plot point, or how to add a new facet to their personality.

When I was constructing this playlist I first started out with my characters and tried to find a song that best fit their personality. Some are bang on, some I am still searching for the perfect anthem. But then after the “character sketch” songs, I put in songs that represent scenes or events I know are going to be in the story. And it isn’t a rigid playlist at all. As I’m listening and something doesn’t feel right, I’ll take it out and put something new in to try it out.  It’s always evolving and growing along with the story in my head.

Here is the current playlist with which I am working:

1. “Lightning Crashes” by Live (Throwing Copper)
2. “Homesick” by Soul Asylum (Grave Dancer’s Union)
3. “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne (The Best Damn Thing)
4. “The World I Know” by Collective Soul (Collective Soul)
5. “Easy Target” by Blink-182 (Blink-182)
6. “Creep” by Radiohead (Pablo Honey)
7. “Rock n’ Roll Lifestyle” by Cake (Motorcade of Generosity)
8. “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry (One of the Boys)
9. “What is Love” by Haddaway (What is Love)
10. “Enter Sandman” by Metallica (Metallica)
11. “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed (Immortalized)
12. “My Immortal” by Evanescence (Fallen)
13. “Song 2” by Blur (Blur)
14. “Pain” by Jimmy Eat World (Futures)
15. “Starlight” by Muse (Black Holes & Revelations)
16. “She Loves You” by the Beatles (1)
17. “Invincible” by Muse (Black Holes & Revelations)
18. “Run to the Water” by Live (The Distance to Here)
19. “Song for the Asking” by Simon & Garfunkel (Bridge over Troubled Water)
20. “Whispers in the Dark” by Mumford & Sons (Babel)

Tracks 1-6 are character sketches. Everything else is situational. While I know you can’t deduce my story from these songs, you can’t deny there is a story in each one of them. There is a little movie in your head when you listen. When I put it all together that little movie becomes the novel I am writing.