Friday, August 13, 2010

Tuning In

I don't know about you, but music is a huge, and I mean HUGE! part of my daily life.

It's always on at the house, in the car, and more often than not I have my earphones stuffed in at work, grooving away to some tunes.

Now comes the don't-make-fun-of-me part - I loooove dance music. Adore it. House, Trance, cheesy-ass techno.. if it's got a baseline, I'll listen to it (at least once).

Don't get me wrong, I like mainstream, too. One Republic and The Script have spots in my playlist, but I'm much more interested in Tiƫsto's or Guetta's latest releases, and checking what's hot on bpmtv.com's charts.

As a result of the constant soundtrack in my life, it comes as no surprise that I find a lot of plot bunnies being born of lyrics. I guess this isn't an unusual phenomenon in the writing world.

I thought it would be fun (for me at least) to share some of the songs that pushed the direction of my stories.

And YES! they're dance-ish tunes. Get over the bass and listen to the melody and lyrics, I tell you!

One of my very first stories which I allude to every so often but will never speak of in detail was born of this song:

(Disclaimer: the video sucks. I just like the lyrics/melody)

Keep the Fire Burning by The Outsiders

In particular, the spot that starts about 1:45 into the song. <3 it. The thought of someone pushing hard to restore your faith in love, and standing right behind you, even through what feels like the end of your world, just speaks Romance to me.

For my current works, I don't have a particular one for Touch, so I'm skipping that one, but when I started writing DiD, there was one song in my playlist that had a lot of influence:

Dancing Into Danger by Novaspace

Um.. notice the title? LOL Yeah. The story ended up being called Dancing into Danger, although that may change. For now, though, it's DiD.

Although the lyrics in the song aren't all that deep, I just kept picturing some chick at a dance club, boogying her little behind off, and watching over her shoulder for The Bad Thing.

In the case of my story, The Bad Thing is an evil little bastard Kari calls The Perv. Dun-dun-dun! *cue dramatic music*

Okay. Moving on.

About a month ago, I heard a song on the satellite that I thought was pretty cool, and it stuck with me, although nothing immediately came to mind.

Then, almost 2 weeks ago, I decided I wanted to hear it again, so I pulled up the video on YouTube.

I sat there for probably 10 minutes after the song ended, a glazed look on my face and my mouth hanging open, while a vicious plot bunny scampered around my brain.

It's moments like that one that make me very glad I live alone. I'm sure I looked like I'd been poleaxed.

But I digress. So, VOILA! The catalyst for Forgiveness:

Touch by Natasha Bedingfield

The story is a lot darker than either the song or the video; however, the entire concept of how one life can unknowingly influence another is exceptionally intriguing to me.

And thus, Forgiveness was born.

I also thought it was hilarious that I'd been working so hard on a story named Touch, and a video of that same title spawned a whole new plot line.

Sometimes, I also find some lyrics making their way into my books. Altered, of course, to my own voice; however, the jumping off point may have been a word combination that got my mind or heart racing.

In the spirit of sharing, I'm going to post a couple of lines from DiD influenced by song lyrics. But first, I need to find my notebook where I have it written down. Cue hyperventilation, since I can't find it. (ack! check back later for the post, unless I really can't find it, in which case I'll be in full-blown panic mode)

Update: Found it, as per the post after this one. But, as I mentioned, I'm sharing a line of story that was a direct translation from a song lyric.

From John O'Callaghan feat. Sarah Howells - Find Yourself (beginning at :30 if you're interested)

"Bright lights on a starless night burn a hole in the dying day. Lookin' at life through a loaded gun..."

We stare at the blossoming stars, just beginning to burn through the burgeoning twilight.

"I feel like, no matter what direction I turn, I've got a loaded gun pointed at me. Do you have any idea what my life is like, Drew?"


To close, I love the fact that 20 different people can listen to the above songs, and come up with about 50 different plots to write. That's the real magic of music to me - it never affects two people the same.

If you're so inclined, I'd love to know what songs influenced or embody your writing!

2 comments:

  1. Brandy's Right Here (Departed) inspired my urban fantasy. I saw the video on youtube and a plot bunny attacked me and hasn't left me alone.

    Music is a big part of my writing life. I'm always on the look the 'perfect' song for a character, a scene or a story.

    Great post.

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  2. great song! i've always liked brandy. the lyrics are excellent plot bunny fodder, too! thanks for sharing :D

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