Music and Characters

Many writers listen to music while writing. Although I never have, some songs do remind me of my stories and characters. This one, in particular, always made me think of one of my heroines.
Do you have a certain song that characterizes your WIP? Which artists do you find the most inspiring?



My dear friend Anita has a wonderful, heartwarming story up at Pix 'N Pens. If you have time, a comment on her story counts as a vote to be entered to win a box of books. (sorry, had the details wrong when I first posted)

Comments

Donna M. Kohlstrom said…
I never listen to music while writing as I find it distracting. I usually work best in total quiet. Can't say that any one song inspires my stories. Boy, I sound pretty boring!!! LOL!!!
December 8, 2009 at 6:37 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
YOu don't sound boring at all. :-) I don't listen to music either, but when I hear this on the radio it always makes me think of my one manuscript. I work best in total quiet too. :-)
December 8, 2009 at 6:45 AM
Jennifer Shirk said…
Yeah, I don't work to music either.
But I was listening to a lot of country songs before I wrote to get me in the mood of my last wip. It was set in a small town and I just wanted that "feel". :)

Your song for your heroine sounds kind of emotional and sad. Is she? Has she recently lost someone she loves?
December 8, 2009 at 7:15 AM
Tabitha Bird said…
I am the quiet type too. Sometimes I can listen to classical, but never music with words. Somehow all those words get mingled in my head and I can't write!
December 8, 2009 at 7:16 AM
Kristen Painter said…
Once in a while I listen to music, but only if I need to drown out other sounds.
December 8, 2009 at 7:17 AM
Terri Tiffany said…
nope! never turn on the music to write--only to work out!
December 8, 2009 at 7:25 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Terri, my iPod is my best friend at the gym! Music is awesome for upping our energy.

Kristen, drowning out the cat sounds? LOL

Tabitha, that's funny! I do that too, accidentally write words I'm hearing. You listen to classical, huh? I'm always a little awed by people who like "smart" music. LOL


Jennifer, yeah, her son died but she also lives with a lot of guilt and has lost other people too. So the song reminds me of my heroine at the beginning of the story, before her character arc.
Country music...yep, definitely a small town mood there. LOL
December 8, 2009 at 8:03 AM
Linda Kage said…
I always thought of the song "Crazy" by Gnarles Barkley when I was writing the hero in one of my books. He was just so unique and fun, he was crazy.
December 8, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Unknown said…
I just can't do it. I can't listen to music and concentrate! Sigh....and I really like listening to music.

(hahaha Linda...Gnrales Barkely! That is HIlarious!)
December 8, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Linda, I've never heard of that song but will have to check it out. :-)

Marybeth, I don't know how some writers do it either.
December 8, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Okay, LOL, I do know that song and like it.
Your hero must be pretty unique for that to be his theme song. Cool!
December 8, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Tamika: said…
I don't normally write with music. I have wanted to give it a whirl and see how it works for me.

I love Christian music in general, some slow songs would probably be nice.
December 8, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Kristen Torres-Toro said…
I listen to soundtracks when I write, so certain soundtracks remind me of my stories or where I was at a particular moment. I have to listen to music without words when I write, but I definitely have to listen to something.
December 8, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Janna Leadbetter said…
Jessica, how great you posted this today! Yesterday, after my post about a soul's age and my 82yo MC, I had an inherent thought that I should find some music she would like a lot. Listen to it, get into her mood a little. I guess this means I have to! :)
December 8, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Dara said…
I have LOTS of theme songs for my book :P It's kind of an obsession I have...

"Missing" by Evanescence is Miyuki's theme--well, one of them :P It always reminds me of the story behind why she became the snow woman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMPMpHPVTlk

Also, Pillar's song "Secrets and Regrets" is another song that really captures her and the overall book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sje4UPikHfE

I also listen to soundtracks a lot when I'm writing. I have a hard time getting into the story without music :)
December 8, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Arlee Bird said…
Like others have mentioned I don't like wriing along to music that has singing because I get too distracted. Most of the time I play chamber music my Schubert as it is the most relaxing to me and Schubert is one of my favorite composers. Sometimes when I'm writing I'll just play the same disc repeatedly, softly, so it's in the background.
December 8, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Sarah Forgrave said…
Like many others here, I can't concentrate on my writing when there's noise of any kind in the background. Sometimes I like to listen to a worship song called "Be the Centre" before I start writing. It helps ground my focus.
December 8, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Tamika, the cba song that I love for this same manuscript is Held by Natalie Grant. I don't write with music though, this is just a song that makes me think of my heroine. Are you planning to try to write with slower songs?
December 8, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Kristen, I don't know how you do that! Amazing.

LOL Janna. So would that be forties type music? (or is my math really, really bad??? lol)

Dara, I remember that about you. So you listen to music too. I can see how it would get you in the mood, I just don't know how you keep yourself from transcribing the lyrics. LOL!
December 8, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Arlee, that does sound relaxing.
:-)

Sarah, I'm not familiar with that title. I wonder if I've heard it before? Hmm...
December 8, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Cindy R. Wilson said…
Yes, I love music to inspire my writing. Sometimes I even have different songs for different scenes, but always an overall playlist. The theme song for my current manuscript (in edit mode) is Show Me What I'm Looking For by Carolina Liar. Oh boy...it's so perfect for my story. I love it! And I've listened to it so many times that even my little 2-year-old knows most of the words :-D
December 8, 2009 at 11:50 AM
Dara said…
Sometimes I do transcribe the lyrics :P But it doesn't happen as often any more--I think my brain got used to it.
December 8, 2009 at 12:13 PM
Jeanette Levellie said…
Jessie: If I listen to music while I write, I will think the song, sing the song, get up and dance to the song, and then we won't have a book or an article to read, we will only have Jeanette singing and dancing in her office. So, I try to keep things quiet.

On my way to Pix n Pens. Thanks for the Heads up!
December 8, 2009 at 12:34 PM
kah said…
I love that song! They are a great band. Blue October inspires me with a lot of their stuff. I just discovered Hammock and they don't have lyrics but their music creates intense emotions. Great for writing :)
December 8, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Nancy said…
Music would probably distrast me when I write. I've never tried it, but I don't care to do "thinking tasts" with music. I guess I have a one track mind.
December 8, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Elana Johnson said…
I love Evanescence.

I have several music stations at Pandora that I like. Jesse McCartney. (Hey, don't dis it. It's very teen angst.) And Glee Cast. I love the Glee cast one because it gives me musicals like Rent, Wicked and Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Oh! And Disney songs too. I love those.
December 8, 2009 at 1:47 PM
Nancy J. Parra said…
Hi Jessica,

I don't always listen to music when I write. It can be too distracting. :)

But I wrote a creepy book once to Dave Matthews "Grave Digger." Very inspirational for creepy books.

Cheers!
December 8, 2009 at 2:41 PM
jdsanc said…
I so cannot listen to music either. Can't have the TV or even people talking in the library or bookstore. I have to be listening when I am writing. But Love your music choice and clips.
December 8, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Julie Dao said…
I like that song, I think her voice is lovely :) I absolutely need music when I write. Trying to do so in silence is torture!
December 8, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Karen Hossink said…
Oh. I cannot listen to music when I write. Get too lost in the song and can't focus. Hmmmm, wonder where my boys get their ADD/ADHD...*sigh*
December 8, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Anonymous said…
I like instrumental when I'm writing. Jim Brickman especially.
December 8, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Katie Salidas said…
That's a great song! I find I am inspired by a band, not just a song. Many songs from Incubus have helped me find my muse through bad cases of writers block. I just love their music.
December 8, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Deb Shucka said…
My muse is not a musical one. She likes silence. I envy people who can listen to music and be inspired while they write.

Off to check out Anita's story.
December 8, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Jennifer said…
I listen to all sorts of music while writing. Sometimes it's my story-specific playlists, sometimes it's just what happens to come on my iPod. But I do love the music thing.
December 8, 2009 at 7:56 PM
anita said…
when I first started writing, I couldn't listen to anything. Then gradually, I went to classical / elemental / instrumental. Maybe it was just while my voice was developing, becuase now, I always listen to music when I write. And it can be anything from vocals to instrumentals. It all depends on the mood I want to create for the scene.

There's a scene I wrote recently that my agent really liked, and the song that I listened to while writing it was a piano piece. Even when I went back to revise it, I had that same song playing. Unfortunately, I'm terrible at remembering the name of songs, so when she asked me what song inspired it, I couldn't remember. Snort.

BTW, Thanks to everyone who read my story and commented today!
December 8, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Susan J. Reinhardt said…
Hi Jess -

I'm listening to a Christmas song I have to learn for a sign language special. It's not working unless my subconscious is getting it. LOL!

When I write, I need quiet.

Blessings,
Susan :)
December 8, 2009 at 8:35 PM
Eileen Astels Watson said…
I have trouble concentrating on blogging with music even in the background, so I never write with background music. I can't think of any songs that remind me of my characters or the stories, though. That would be great though, if I did.
December 9, 2009 at 9:09 AM
Angie Muresan said…
Jessica, this is the weirdest thing ever! I am sure I commented on this yesterday, yet can't find it anywhere. I don't do music when I write. I need solitude, a never-ending mug of coffee, and chocolate.
And to tell you the truth, I haven't really written all that long to have any of my characters remind me of songs.
December 9, 2009 at 1:43 PM
Tamika: said…
I left a little something for you over at my place:)
December 9, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Tana said…
I have to tell you there has been no stronger propellant to my stories than music. In fact I don't think it's a bad idea to draw inspiration even at the editing stage of the game. Plus I love to lose myself in the lyrics, I'm such a lyrics girl (not to be confused with the lyric police) That I am not ;)
December 9, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Jill Kemerer said…
This is a bit off topic, but I recently studied the Romanov family--the last Tsar of Russia and his kids--and I listened to Rachmaninov (spelling?) at the time. It really brought me a sense of time and place since they were contemporaries.
December 10, 2009 at 1:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We All Got to Learn to Do It Sometime

*grossness alert* We all have to learn to deal with doo-doo eventually. Consider me a newbie mom, but it never occurred to me that my son should be wiping himself until about a month before kindergarten. And then the flashbulb went on and I scrambled to teach him. One problem. He didn't want to. He's fastidious and doesn't like to make mistakes, so the thought of taking care of this daily chore literally reduced him to screaming and crying on the toilet. Basically, he didn't trust himself. He was afraid. Scared to get his hands dirty. Afraid he'd miss something. This is probably weird, but it made me think of us as writers. There comes a point where we have to "grow up" and trust ourselves. We can't always rely on a crit group, agent, or editor to wipe up our mess. I think this should be a part of maturation for every writer, that we can look at our work and be confident in our ability to clean it up. Not saying we'll make it perfect or that we won
Read more

Work First, Play Later

I'm back! I had a wonderful time with my family. Thank you all for asking. :-) In 2009 my schedule evolved into a blog first/write later kind of thing. It happened that way because my husband began using the computer in the afternoons and evenings for his project, but now that I have a router, my schedule's changing. It's time to work first, play later. That means I do my chores/errands in the morning, write at naptime, and visit your wonderful blogs in the afternoons and evenings. So if I don't show up in the morning, don't be alarmed (if you even notice, lol). I'm just changing things up. I'm too exhausted in the evening to write, that's why. During the day I have way more energy to write but at night there's a fifty percent chance I won't do it because I'm so tired. When's the best time for you to write? I also need to shout out my awesome crit partner, Linda Glaz! Some of you may have met her at ACFW. She's a wonderful, faithful,
Read more

Melodramatic Mother

Mom, this one's for you. *wink* The other day we were on the phone and my mom was describing some of her ailments to me. She's normally a healthy person, but she does suffer from allergies and sinus issues. She's also a vivid person and this comes across in her language. In this case, she told me her pain was skewering up through her nose. Skewering. She never finished the description because I laughed. What a perfect word! Strong, to the point, I had an exact (if somewhat gross) image of what was happening. Do you have a vivid person in your life? Someone who thinks in ways you forget to? And in your WIP, are you using the strongest verb possible to convey EXACTLY what you mean?
Read more