100 things, writing, the music moves you

[jana_denardo]

100 things #17, the music moves you

I wanted to write something for today but I’ve been busy being depressed. I did put on some music to sit down and write and thought well, that makes a half way decent blog post. I’m not one who writes well in silence at all. And sometimes it’s downright helpful to have music that reflects my characters.

I’m sure others do this. I know people make soundtracks for their characters. I do as well. Right now I don’t have to. Anything by Beausoliel works for Luc, my Cajun vampire. Just putting it on now takes me back to when I started getting into Cajun music in the early 90’s. My medical career was just taking off and I was thirty with a bright future. In the silence lies the little voice that says so much for those dreams.

But that has nothing to do with writing. The music, it does put me in the right frame of mind for writing. Luc is young and beaten down. The times he comes alive before he falls into Arrigo’s care is at the Fais-do-do. In the original version of this story we see Luc at the dance but nearly two decades later and way way WAY too many vampires in New Orleans stories, I moved them to Vegas. So, no Fais-do-do’s other than in his own apartment. I can easily see him trying to teach Arrigo to dance to it. With Beausoliel blaring out of my speakers, I can see Luc brilliantly and I know what he needs to do.

I have a ton of modern swing and original 1930’s music queued up for writing my demon hunters. Temple, especially, likes to dance. It’s very helpful to me to let the sax and trumpets wave over me and carry me back to a time my grandparents were young. I can see what that foursome is up to as clear as if they were standing in the room with me.

Other characters are harder to find music for such as Hikaru and Liam. Hikaru hides out in the steampunk stylings of Abney Park but Liam is probably a ‘whatever’s on the radio’ kind of guy. He doesn’t form up in my head as well to music.

So what do you write to? Does it change with your characters? Is it pure still silence?

apropos of nothing does anyone know if you can edit a blurb on goodreads or add a note? It never occurred to me when I approved the blurb (and it SHOULD have) that you can't tell from the blurb to The Darkest Midnight in December that it's m/m erotica. I've had other publications like that and saw some low rating because people were upset that they didn't know what they were getting into.

Comments

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I like soundtracks but I usually use them more for driving and getting ideas rather than writing to them.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I do that as well as you well know.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! :D