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Story Soundtracks
by
Paula Roe
As authors we
write to evoke a mental response, to have our readers experience
the emotion within the story and our characters. A great song,
complete with melody and lyrics, is the same.
There's a strong
parallel between authors and songwriters, who only have 3-5
minutes to grab your attention. This depth of storytelling within
such a small timeframe has always fascinated me.
Last year, while I
was editing what was to be my first sale to Silhouette Desire, I
was listening to my favourite band's latest album and was struck
with how powerful the lyrics were in a particular song. Detailing
the angst of break up and the desire to rekindle the relationship,
they went -
"All the things I
thought were made of gold, turned out to be every shade of wrong.
But now I'm on the way back, chasing something better, and it's
turning me around. Baby, if you still care, if there's still a
burning ember, I'm ready to surrender now." ("Surrender", Sister
Hazel)
Wow. Combine the
beauty of those words with fabulous guitars and a strong drum beat
and I realised I had a powerful writing tool right here. When I
played the songs that called to me, I had instant recall of
emotion and purpose every time, which quickly centred me in my
story and conflict.
This realisation
prompted me to make a play list for each of my books and in doing
so, I figured out something else: that even if I had similar
themes and hooks, not every 'love lost' song, for example, would
fit both my lovers-reunited stories.
Themes, feelings and emotions
A story soundtrack
is more than just 'writing music', a background melody some
authors need playing in order to write. The aim of a soundtrack is
to capture a unique feeling and mood (sometimes more, because you
book will be filled with different moods and feelings, right?) so
you can use it as a tool to instantly immerse you in your story.
You may even end
up making a mini-story when you put the songs together. This is
used to great effect in movies, where the music director must
chose songs that will sum up a particular scene.
Some songs I've
used in soundtracks include:
§
Backstreet
Boys' "Incomplete." - an angst-y, come-back-to-me song with a big
rock ballad sound, complete with violins.
§
Kelly
Clarkson's "Because of You" has a strong thread of conflict in the
lyrics" "Because of you I'll never stray too far from the
sidewalk. Because of you I'll learn to play on the same side so I
don't get hurt."
§
Rebecca
Lynn Howard' heartbreaking "Forgive" details a relationship gone
wrong (and always brings a tear to my eye). Even the disco remix
by Reina is every bit as emotional... although you can dance to
that one!
§
The Dixie
Chicks detail the hopes and dreams of a young girl venturing out
into the world with "Wide Open Spaces", the sadness of a lost love
in "Loving Arms" and the breakdown of a family in "You Were Mine."
§
Nickelback's "Savin' Me" and "Far Away" are both powerful, angry
rock anthems, very alpha yet heart wrenching.
§
Cher's "All
or Nothing".
§
Sister
Hazel's "Champagne High" effectively imparts the poignancy of a
man at his ex-girlfriend's wedding.
§
Evanescence's "Going Under" and "Bring Me to Life" are great for
an angry I-will-survive theme.
§
Cliff
Richards' "Miss You Nights" for, you guessed it, a guy who's
missing his girl. Simple arrangement yet very powerful.
Finding songs
Long gone are the
days when you'd have to buy a whole album when you just want one
song. Single downloads are available from www.sanity.com.au
or some stores offer you a self-serve kiosk where you can chose
and burn your own CD selections.
You can use it as a tool to instantly immerse you in your story
And thanks to the
internet, most band websites also have video clips that can bring
new meaning to the lyrics. Watch Grammy-winning band Rascal Flatts'
"What Hurts The Most" at www.rascalflatts.com and you'll
see what I mean:
"What hurts the
most is being so close. And having so much to say, and watching
you walk away. Never knowing what could have been. And not seeing
that loving you is what I was trying to do."
Needless to say,
along with their gorgeous "Words I Couldn't Say", ("what do I do
now that you're gone? No backup plan, no second chance and no-one
else to blame."), both made it onto the soundtrack for my second
Desire release, Boardrooms and a Billionaire Heir.
Other ways of finding music is to:
§
listen
carefully when watching a movie or your favourite TV show (Gray's
Anatomy gave me the beautiful "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol)
§
Check out
the video hits shows
§
surf the
internet - I discovered "All The Same" by Sick Puppies - featuring
the Free Hugs Man - on YouTube at http://tinyurl.com/pman7
§
Go into
your local CD store for a free listen
§
Ask other
authors about their own story soundtracks
Characterisation
The beauty of
story soundtracks is that they're as individual as the characters
you're creating. They can work with hard rock, ballads, even dance
music.
You can also make
a soundtrack of songs that you think your character would listen
to. In my first book, Forgotten Marriage, my heroine Ally
needs mental courage and listens to the disco remix of Gloria
Gaynor's "I Will Survive". In a current wip, my hero loves 90s
'hair bands' like Bon Jovi and Europe.
Does your
character listen to jazz? Opera? Fergie or Edith Piaf?
Powderfinger or Pavarotti? Whatever you decide, you need to make
sure that their tastes are individual, which will deepen their
sense of who they are.
Go forth and listen!
Whatever your
story theme, there's a song out there to encapsulate it. It's your
challenge to go and listen to as much as you can, and with
Amazon's free sampling feature and cheap downloads to your
computer and MP3 players, it's never been easier.
For more
information about Paula's books and latest releases, visit
her website |
