Inspiration – Music
Music is almost a constant in my writing. Characters might have individual or couple or group themes. Or a story might have a theme, or even a series. Music can be useful in order to evoke a particular mood or time period. Lyrics in particular might steer a plot.
In Between Days series
For a major character like Lili O’Day, music evolves over time. She begins with the theme of Roy Orbison’s Sweet Dream Baby, and then that evolves to Crowded House’s Something So Strong and then to Blind Melon’s Tones of Home until, finally Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, as this is a character very much defined by her subconscious.
For Doug Beckett, his music, too, evolves, from Robbie Williams’s Feel to Snow Patrol’s Shut Your Eyes to Dog’s Eye View’s Everything Falls Apart to, eventually, Billy Joel’s Honesty.
Other characters, like Pamela Hudson, only have one musical theme. When I heard Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good, Pamela suddenly sprang sharply into focus.
Times of the HG Wells series
For the Wells series, it’s all about time. So music is not only useful to set moods. It’s also useful to orient the reader as to time and place. I display the lyrics at the beginning and end of each chapter. This is to continue to bring home the idea of a soundtrack to go along with the set pieces. In addition, character HD Avery is the “music guy”. He can sight-read music and can play piano, guitar and drums. He’s sent on all sorts of musical missions and even, at one point, refers to them as being like Rock ‘n Roll Heaven.
The first mission is about the day the music died. That is, it’s about the deaths of Holly, Valens and Richardson on February 3rd of 1959 in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Because Avery has not yet been hired, Rick Daniels goes on the mission and, as a part of his preparatory work, he listens to music by all three of the musicians. From Buddy Holly, Daniels listens to Every Day and Rave On. From the Big Bopper (JP Richardson), he listens to Chantilly Lace and The Big Bopper’s Wedding. And from Ritchie Valens, Rick listens to La Bamba and Come On Let’s Go. Plus the name of that story, A Long, Long Time Ago, is the first line of Don MacLean’s song about that day, American Pie.
Interphases and Other Series
For the Interphases story Crackerjack, one of the first indications to Geordi and Wesley that there’s a problem is that they hear Take the A Train on the radio.
In the Dispatches from the Romulan War Soldiers’ Marriage Project, the music provided for the many couples’ first dance is a duet by soprano Rosamund Taylor and pop singer Kurt Fong, singing an oldie that works for couples who are about to be separated by wartime and distance – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
For Take Back the Night, not only the title should be a tip-off that the Daranaean women are a bit sick of their treatment. So the first chapter opens with a quote and a link to the Beatles’ Revolution.
Coda
For written fiction online, a link to YouTube can provide a missing soundtrack. It’s also and a major or minor key cue to the reader about mood.
Funny thing is, I can’t write while listening to music. I end up paying too much attention to it!
I hope now there’s an appealing and appropriate soundtrack into your head as you’ve read. But if anything seems like it might be better, feel free to suggest it.
