Many writers choose a theme song for their work in progress, to help them get into the mood of the story or their character. After all music can evoke a wide range of emotions. Fear. Joy. Heartache. A rallying to action. A frenetic sense of spinning out of control. All of which are wonderful fodder for a rewarding reading experience. Right?
So, this past week, I decided to experiment with it for my current wip.
I’m working on the firefighter story for Love Inspired Suspense that I’ve mentioned here before. The heroine is in witness protection and, of course, the bad guys have located her. She feels as if her life will never be her own again, certainly will never be the life she’d dreamed for herself. So…
I chose the song I Dreamed a Dream as sung by Susan Boyle for my heroine’s theme song.
Each morning before I start writing, I play the song, and yes, sing along, imagining myself as my heroine–imagining the dreams she has that she believes are lost forever.
The music stirs in me all the emotions my heroine is feeling and that I want to get onto the page. And I find that it really helps get my creative juices flowing.
I don’t write with the song playing in the background. In fact, I never write with music with lyrics playing in the background (even if what’s playing is an instrumental version) because the lyrics will play in my head and distract me. I simply use the song to kick start my writing.
Your Turn: When and why do you listen to music?
Image courtesy of fotographic1980 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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