I missed the first few days of this but decided to go ahead and give this a go, starting with Day 8: BRAINStorming.
Music is extremely important to me. I’ve always been a lyric girl. During my teen years when I’d buy a CD the first thing I did when I got home was plop down on my floor and open up the jacket. I’d listen to the album from start to finish, reading each lyric as the album played in my bedroom, just soaking it all in.
So, how do I brainstorm? Mostly ideas come to me when I’m in my car driving, usually listening to a song. The lyrics will speak to me and I feel that they fit with a certain character, or they inspire a certain scene. I have an entire Spotify playlist full of songs that inspire chapters and scenes in my novels.
Sometimes a song describes only a scene, sometimes a song captures the entire essence of my novel. When I write, I see the story vividly in my head like a movie. I can hear the music playing in the background of a scene.
I decided to have each chapter of my book start with a song title. I’ve seen other authors to this and I love listening to what inspired them in that moment. I feel that it sets a tone for the scene, and adds to the artistic flow of the work.
Music can transport us to another place or time. So many times I’ve heard a song on the radio that I haven’t heard since high school and suddenly I’m flooded with all the emotions I felt in that exact time and space.
Music can move, music can motivate, music can inspire.
Music is life.
