I'm sure it's been done before but for my current WIP instead of writing a traditional outline I wrote a playlist. I've been wanting to do that for a long time but usually I have so many characters to manage that it gets hard to keep a playlist on track and even harder to follow it from plot point to plot point. Snow Roses turned out to be the perfect book for this kind of outline because:
1) It's written in *gasp* first person so I have a limited viewpoint for the songs (Meaning I can't say "This song works for the villain and this one works for the main character's little brother and this one works for the stable hand and . . . " it gets hard to focus on plot once that I start doing that)
2) It's a romance. Whatever the external events the main focus needs to be on inner emotions. Songs are good for outlining the progression of inner emotions.
I have a basic list of things that need to happen in the order they need to happen in too, of course, but I'm hoping the playlist will help me with the pacing. One chapter per song. No exceptions. (Well we'll see. Sticking to outlines has never been my strong point)
Here are a couple of the songs from the list:
Do you ever use music to inspire or guide your writing?
It's a good idea to have a playlist for your novel. I think it helps stay in the mood.
ReplyDeleteI like your choices too.
Absolutely. Thanks for sharing your choices.
ReplyDeleteI have Pandora channels set up for different scenes, but sometimes I'm much more specific with a line from a song inspiring a conversation or even a character.
I don't do a formal playlist, but when I hear a song that reminds me of a scene in my story or an emotion my character is feeling, I'll latch onto it and play it over and over, almost like I'm filling myself up with it, if that makes sense. Songs, like you said, are really good for expressing those complicated inner emotions.
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