Do you have a musical theme? A song that inspires you to move forward when you’re stuck or feeling unmotivated?
Movie soundtracks have been informing my development since I was in the cradle. One of the songs my parents would play to help soothe my wild spirit on sleepless nights was the theme from “Chariots of Fire.”
These days, if you look at my music library, you’ll predominately find more composers for film, tv, and video games than anything else. And it’s probably no surprise that one of my weekend highlights is listening to Edmund Stone’s radio program “The Score” on All Classical Portland.
How fitting that the week I chose to focus on music and art’s role in writing, The Score would air a program titled “The Transformative Power of Music.” (If you’re looking for an hour of incredible scores that have impacted millions throughout the years, you can listen to it online via thescore.org).
I’ve mentioned before that I can’t write or edit to anything with words, but Michael Giacchino’s “Enterprising Young Men” or Murray Gold’s “I am the Doctor” are for me what Rocky’s theme has been to many a trainee. I can’t not feel inspired to start pounding at my keyboard after playing those pieces back to back…even on days when the only thing I want to do is curl up under the covers.
Musical themes can help bring our story worlds to life
I’ve also discovered that certain songs end up becoming a theme for whatever project I’m working on. For example, I listen to “A Window to the Past” from The Prisoner of Azkaban in order to slip into the WIP I’m currently plotting. This song resonates with my writing not because of any similarities to the two stories—they are in fact, very different—but because of the visual images and emotions the music evokes when I listen to it.
As writers, we’re often encouraged to engage as many of the senses as possible in our writing; music can be an amazing tool to help us do just that. Just as soundtracks help elevate a film, having a musical theme of our own can play an important role in how we build our story worlds and interact with the people and beings who live there.
—Jen