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 Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:32 pm
Many people listen to music for inspiration or while they write and because of this their stories earn impromptu soundtracks. Discuss.
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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:02 am
Music is a great source of inspiration, no doubt. In more ways than one.
I once had this plot bunny for an Escaflowne movie fic, but it was very vague and relatively uninteresting. I had only one scene in mind, with no idea of how to get there, or where to take it further. So I picked up my soundtrack CD and pressed play.
I used the names of the songs as guidelines and tried to imagine the story behind the music, from the first track to the last. For instance, one of the songs was rather militaristic, but in an old school kind of way. So I took my main characters, who were indeed in the army, and got them out of it. They became mercenaries who subconsciously (or not) clung to their former military ways. They were loyal and dedicated to their leader like the threat of martial court was still over them, and they all but saluted everytime they saw him, even though it wasn't necessary and even dangerous to do so, given the circumstances of the story.
Anyway, pretty soon, I had a place for my scene and a whole story to go with it with lots of details that I probably would have never thought of on my own. I also had a guide for the general tone I wanted each chapter to have in the form of the music tracks that had inspired them. I didn't always follow them strictly, but they were nice as guidelines.
I am still very proud of how that particular fic turned out. (Can you tell? XD)
How do you guys use music as a writing aid?
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Lady Sedia Auvryarn Vice Captain
Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:32 am
lol that sounds almost the same as my tale of musical inspiration Pads! Except mine is more from an RPG so I didn't necessarily need the inspiration. I would just be playing the game (Ultima Online) and songs would come on. At the time Disturbed's second cd had just come out so it was all on my playlist and ever since then I can related every song on that cd to part of the storyline created in the RP... subconscious I guess whee
But yes music is a wonderful tool, I often don't write any story at all without a soundtrack behind it. Whether it be the song inspired it or I listened to the song after it was finished and it worked well so I linked them together. I feel its another way for the reader to interact with what's going on too. Like they can not understand something and maybe the music will help or maybe they know the song so they want to read the story.
Either way, winamp is always running on my computer hehe
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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:39 am
Most of the time my ideas sprout after listening to music. Bon Jovi seems to really inspire me (and not just because they're my favorite band), as does Guns N' Roses and my two Wolf's Rain CDs. And because of that, I'm always listening to music when I'm in the mood to write. :3
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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:24 pm
Hehe, great minds think alike? ^^
While I like to have music playing when I'm writing, I hate it when I'm reading. I always ignore it when authors say that the fic was written to go along with this or that song. I don't know... it might be part laziness, but I also rather to leave those things to the imagination. I don't like it when the mood is imposed by anything other than what's written. Does that make sense?
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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:34 pm
When I come across a song fic or something like that I will read the story first and then listen to the song and imagine them together, you know, trying to see how the author was inspired and what not. If I can't do it myself then the story generally won't make much sense to me lol
But yes I don't think the song should do anything but be an "added bonus." It shouldn't set the tone, the emotions, etc.
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Lady Sedia Auvryarn Vice Captain
Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:30 am
If you want a soundtrack to get into the mindset of a character who has been confronted with their own mortality or who is dealing with the loss of a loved one, I recommend (the last movement of) Mahler's 9th symphony. It's amazing.
At the time of its composition, Mahler was aware that he wouldn't have much longer to live on account of a heart condition. On top of that, he'd lost his daughter recently. This whole symphony is truly haunted by death.
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