The influence of music in my writing
One of the unexpected things I've enjoyed since I started writing fiction a few years ago, has been exploring a
character’s unique voice and personality. It's a magical thing as a writer,
when the ordinary words you're tapping into a keyboard suddenly start coming
out in character. When a distinct voice or turn of phrase emerges that's not
really my author-self speaking.
Something that's helped me find that character
voice has been music. It may be a cliché to talk about a song being part of the
soundtrack to your life, but I think there's truth to the idea. Everyone
reading this blog can probably think of a particular song or album that can
send them hurtling back to a moment in the past, complete with emotional
reactions attached to that memory.
I’ve found a similar thing when hanging out with
my characters. I know I'm on the right track with a story when I'm writing and
out of the blue (or the murky recesses of my mind) I can picture my heroine
walking down the street or sitting in her apartment...and there's a song in the
background. A real song that I know is the type of music she’d listen to.
This is exactly what happened when I began
writing my debut novel, Girl on a Plane. The story centres on the character of
Sinead, an Irish flight attendant. She's quite a bubbly, hopeful person with a
strong backbone underneath the glamorous surface, as she's tackled difficult
personal issues in the past.
A few songs that popped into my mind reflected
Sinead’s character:
- It's Beautiful by Spiderbait,
with an ethereal, floaty sounding female vocal and pop beat which I could
imagine her listening to on a plane.
- Nothing Compares 2U by Sinead
O’Connor, about woman who has loved and lost, who may eat her dinner in a
fancy restaurant or do whatever she chooses, but she's still blue.
- My Angel Gabriel by Lamb, the
perfect song for evoking Sinead’s feelings when she finally falls in love
with our hero, Gabriel.
I ended up keeping an open file of songs that I
thought suited the character, and started building a playlist in Spotify to
listen to when writing specific scenes. In the end, I had playlists for both
main characters. Sinead’s has a pop rhythm. Gabriel, the gruff but gorgeous
Aussie CEO who she meets in First Class, has quite a different emotional feel.
Gabriel was a tough character to write, because
he hides his emotions. He even hid them from me, the author of his story! By
finding music I thought Gabriel would be drawn to, I actually found a window
into his character. He’s also had a difficult path in life, but being a man,
perhaps is angrier and more determined to succeed career-wise than Sinead. His
songs come from artists including Nirvana, Hilltop Hoods (Aussie hip hop group)
and the moody Nick Cave.
Excerpt from Girl on a Plane
Music was an important element in this scene from Girl on a Plane:
“Not bloody Kylie,” he whispered. The singing budgie wasn’t
his favourite Aussie export. He rubbed his temples with both hands.
Sinead was centre stage with a microphone in one hand, doing
the weird dance from the music video. Even though he wasn’t a fan, it was the
type of song your brain absorbed by osmosis. She wasn’t wearing the famous
white jumpsuit with the plunging neckline, but he pictured it anyway. She
already looked damn fine up there, shimmying and shaking, even sexier than when
she’d danced to the Macarena song back on the plane. The Kylie outfit would be
the icing on the cake though.
“La,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la… ”
She launched into the song and as she started on the lyrics,
he had to admit she wasn’t half bad. At least she was giving it everything she
had.
Gabriel’s ears pricked up at the words of the song. Could the
lyrics be meant especially for him? She couldn’t get some guy out of her
head, and his loving was all she could think about.
This song wasn’t so bad after all. Sinead strutted across the
stage like a real rock chick. Her tight jeans gave him a fine view of her
assets, along with every other bloke in the bar.
One guy yelled out. “Hey Kylie! Wanna do the locomotion with
me?”
Laughs broke out from the punters near the stage. A jolt of
jealousy struck him like a punch in the gut. He couldn’t stand the idea of
these guys looking at her, let alone laying their hands on her. Weird, seeing
as he’d never experienced anything like it. Ever.
Sinead
seemed to be oblivious to the effect she had on the guys in the crowd. She was
in the zone. Now Sinead sang about wanting the guy every day and every night.
Asking him to stay.
*
Christmas music in Heart Note
When writing my romantic comedy Christmas novella, Heart Note, seasonal music was a big influence on the story, setting and mood. From Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You, to the new Gwen Stefani Christmas album, Christmas music was on my Spotify playlist while writing the draft.
I even incorporated a crazy but fun flash mob scene into the book, based in a department store perfume counter just before the holidays. The fast-paced beat of the music also influenced the rhythm of the scene.
I’m interested to hear from other writers about
whether music plays an important role in your writing. And readers, do you ever
imagine a soundtrack to go with your favourite book? Comment on this blog and
let me know!
P.S. You can check out my complete music playlist for
Girl on a Plane on my website - cassandraolearyauthor.com/extras
and click through to listen on Spotify.
About Cassandra O'Leary
**Winner of the global We Heart New Talent contest. Nominated for Best New Author in the 2016 AusRomToday Reader's Choice Awards for excellence in Australian romance fiction.**
Cassandra O'Leary is a romance and women's fiction author from Melbourne, Australia, drinking coffee, dreaming of Italy and Spain, and raising two mini ninjas with her superhero husband.
In 2015, Cassandra won the global We Heart New Talent contest run by Avon Books/HarperCollins UK and her debut romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane, was released in July 2016. She was also a 2015 finalist in the Lone Star contest, Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America, and a 2014 finalist, First Kiss contest, Romance Writers of Australia.
Read more at cassandraolearyauthor.com
