The Tara Tracks

I’m part of a group of musically-obsessed authors who decided to blog today about none other than….music and how it inspires our writing. A special thank you to Ronna and Stephanie Kuehnert for inviting me to participate!

I’ve actually blogged about this topic before and posted playlists for my upcoming book HARMONIC FEEDBACK. Feel free to check out that post here

To add to what I’ve already said, music and writing are like peanut butter & strawberry jelly for me. I can’t have one without the other. Music paints the initial pictures of a story for me. I can see the character’s faces, feel their emotions, and hear their voices…as if I’m watching a movie in my head. On the flip side, I’m also a musician. My books inspire my music. I write lyrics based on the stories and characters I’ve created. In fact, I even write melodies for each character…something that fits their energy, so to speak.

Music and writing have gone hand and hand for me since I can remember. Although, I had no interest in making music myself until high school…interestingly enough. I guess I never believed I had my family’s musical talent. I certainly didn’t get my mom’s incredible painting or drawing skills. No, I was more of a braniac type…and a writer. In fact, at the age of 12, I wanted to be a pediatrician…and a novelist. I think at once point I wanted to be a prosecutor too, but we’ll skip that part. Nobody ever accused me of being practical

Then one day…sometime in junior high…I was listening to my tiny pink (yes, pink–shaddup)boom box. I think they were playing Bjork’s “Human Behavior”–we had the coolest radio station in San Francisco back then. They’d play music like Tool, Bjork, New Order, and White Zombie back to back. What radio station does that now? Seriously? Anyway, I was just staring at my ceiling, day dreaming (this was often how I spent after-school nights) and I started seeing these characters and a story in my head. A bored girl who gets to go on some exotic adventure–not that *I* was inserting my OWN fantasies in there or anything. But I remember getting so pumped up about it that I tore into one of my notebooks and started writing. Then..I begged my mom for some cash to buy Bjork’s debut album

This became a ritual for me. Every story had a different soundtrack/album that I would play over…and over..and over. You see, this was in the dinosaur age(the 90’s) before the days of mp3s. Some of us didn’t even have CD players yet…we had *whispers* tapes. And those tapes were a precious commodity for me. You see, I’d often play them until they broke. And well, I didn’t have money to buy a new one. So I had this system down of using a sliver of scotch tape to tape it back together…yes, literally. I have NO clue how I got this to work, but…it worked like a charm every time. Hey, at the time I thought I was brilliant. AND without my quick fix, I wouldn’t have been able to write.

No, really. I CANNOT write without music. It is impossible. I’ve tried. At the very least, I need music for the emotion of a scene. Writing, in many ways, is like acting. To do a character justice, I absolutely have to feel what they feel. The right song is the bridge that brings me into their head and situation.

I can’t make music without a story. Every song needs to tell a story–even if it doesn’t have lyrics. Melodies tell stories..even beats tell stories. I’d be lost without my characters guiding me along…telling me their darkest secrets Granted, every once in awhile, I write a song based on personal experience, but then again…I think every character I create has a small part of me or my life experiences in them.

Now it’s your turn. How does music affect your writing process? Or do you need music at all?

Please check out the other authors who are blogging about this topic today. They have written some beautiful stories!

http://stephaniekuehnert.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferlinforth.blogspot.com/
http://www.jerismithready.com/blog/
http://chapmansmythe.livejournal.com/
http://bryanbliss.blogspot.com/
http://marleydelaroseauthor.blogspot.com/

Over the last year I’ve discovered that I really enjoy editing. Granted, I don’t enjoy it as much as writing, but I do love helping others shape up their manuscripts. Editing my own work isn’t quite as fun, mainly because it’s a lot tougher to remain objective.

If you haven’t joined a crit group or snagged a couple crit partners, I highly recommend it. Don’t be shy and don’t just do it to get free feedback on your story. Critting the work of others should not be a chore. Why? First, if you’re a writer–I’d hope you also love reading. Also, helping people out of a sticky spot in their manuscript is awesome. AND the biggest thing. You will probably learn more from critting the work of others than you will from the feedback you get on your own manuscript.

At least that was true for me. Sometimes it took noticing pacing issues in someone else’s work to finally understand the feedback I’d received.

Some of us feel protective of our babies, particularly our first one. Having a bunch of strangers mark up your hard work can be rather intimidating. Usually the scenario/dialogue goes a little like this:

Critter: So, you know your first three chapters?

Writer (nervous smile): Yes?

Critter: Cut them

Writer: Huh? Wait, what?

Critter: Did I stutter? You story begins in Chapter 4.

Writer: Um, no. How can readers get to know Mary if they don’t know what she eats for breakfast or what toothpaste she uses? Plus, I had to tell everyone what she looks like–I mean–

Critter: Which you devoted two pages to. Do we really need to know the color and brand of every pair of shoes in her closet?

Writer: Well, she’s into fashion. That’s part of her character.

Critter: Right, and you have four pages of back story in Chapter 2 covering that. You list every outfit Mary made her dolls between the ages of 5 and 10.

Writer: It just shows how driven she is. I mean, how many little kids MAKE their own dolls clothes?

Critter (bangs head against desk a few times): Okay, what’s your story about? Sum it up in one sentence.

Writer: Mary is an international spy and assassin trying to keep Big Bird and his army of one-eyed raccoons from taking over the world.

Critter: What does that have to do with fashion?

Writer: International spies need a good wardrobe. Haven’t you ever seen Alias?

Critter: Yeah, and I can’t recall an episode where we had to watch Sydney get dressed for the first 15 minutes.

Writer: Fine, I’ll cut out the eyeliner application lesson.

Critter: Let me try this again. Chapter 4 begins with Mary explaining how an eyelash curler can be used as a weapon. Chapter 1 begins with a page long description of her bed sheets. What’s more interesting?

Writer: Um…well, the eyelash curler but–

Critter: But we can learn about her fondness for pouring chocolate milk in her Cheerios later, like you know, after the story starts.

Writer: What about the part where I talk about her relationship with her nasty step-mom?

Critter: Will the step-mom end up being Big Bird’s mistress and accomplice to world domination?

Writer: No, but–

Critter: Then I don’t care. I want to know how Mary takes Big Bird down with a pair of pantyhose. Does her step-mom play a role in that?

Writer: Actually, the step-mom isn’t in the story after the first chapter. I just thought–

Critter: Your book would look good in my fireplace?

Writer: You don’t have to get snarky.

Critter (takes deep breath): One more time. What’s your story about?

Writer: An internat–

Critter (holds hand up): And where are any of those elements mentioned or addressed in your first three chapters?

Writer: Um…

Critter: I rest my case.

Many of us have been that writer. The hardest part is admitting to it