I'm going to pass on a great question from J. A. Bennet, What music inspires you the most? For me it's Lorena McKennit for NightChildren & Myths, Danny Elfman for Night Children and the LOTR soundtrack for Myths. How about you?
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2013
Question Time
I'm going to pass on a great question from J. A. Bennet, What music inspires you the most? For me it's Lorena McKennit for NightChildren & Myths, Danny Elfman for Night Children and the LOTR soundtrack for Myths. How about you?
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The Climb
Originally posted on 3/7/10 for the
Charge of the Write Brigade.
What is your anthem?
As writers we thirst for inspiration. We sail the ocean of procrastination and distraction. The far off shores of creative thought and completed manuscripts or at least chapters seem so far over the horizon that we wonder if we’ll ever get there.
Life gets in our way. Sometimes we need something to spark our juices. I’ve already written about how music can inspire a writer. I won’t go into length about it now.
I do want to share with you some of the songs that set my writer’s brain on fire. I’m not talking about what songs or music styles inspire certain ideas or stories. I’m speaking of those songs that remind me that this dream is reachable. That despite all the things I can never seem to learn and apply, all those rejections that pile up, these songs make me stand up and forge ahead with the dream.
At least three songs come to mind.
Go the Distance by Michael Bolton
Created for the Disney movie Hercules, this song represented young Herc’s longing to be something more. He sensed within himself the ability to take his talents and do something important with them.
Whenever I hear this I feel it too. I don’t think of glory or fame. I don’t give a crap for those. Instead I think of the joy my stories bring to others. I think of how they can make kids dream and wish for things in life. I think that maybe one day, beyond this mountain of rejections, one day there will be a line of kids and adults wanted to discover Ann and Roland’s latest adventure. That one day I can get these stories out there into the world.
Someone’s Watching Over Me by Hilary Duff
In the movie Raise Your Voice, Duff plays a girl who wants so bad to sing. The problem is her father won’t let her spread her wings. Well, her older brother (played by John Ritter’s son) always believes in her. Without her knowledge, he sends out her application to the music school she wanted to attend. He dies shortly afterward and she discovers what he did later on.
The ballad is soft and reaches out. It reminds me of the doubts and fears that always cloud my mind. It also makes me think of my dream. It causes me to reach for the impossible. I think of how important this dream is. How the fears and impossibilities aren’t important. I refocus my mind and sit up straight. I can do this. I can achieve my dreams.
The Climb by Miley Cyrus
This is the new kid on the block for my personal anthems. It’s currently my favorite. Created for her movie to represent the character’s feelings about failure and hope, I resisted it at first. I have four children who practically live on Disney Channel so I tend to get sick of their TV offerings.
I couldn’t resist it though. I hear the quiet beginning and soft words and my mind travels to the same doubts I mentioned before. I think of the hard reviews and tough decisions I’ve made. Stephen King said you have to kill your babies and I’ve got so much blood on my hands. But it’s not the end of the journey I should focus on. It’s the actual path I’m taking. Each rung of this latter is important. Am I scared of what my editor is going to say? Yes! But I need those bad reviews. I have to fall again and again if necessary to learn how to walk. I can’t become a author unless I learn how to write.
So there you go. Three anthems that make me believe in my abilities. What are yours and what effect do they have on you?
Charge of the Write Brigade.
What is your anthem?
As writers we thirst for inspiration. We sail the ocean of procrastination and distraction. The far off shores of creative thought and completed manuscripts or at least chapters seem so far over the horizon that we wonder if we’ll ever get there.
Life gets in our way. Sometimes we need something to spark our juices. I’ve already written about how music can inspire a writer. I won’t go into length about it now.
I do want to share with you some of the songs that set my writer’s brain on fire. I’m not talking about what songs or music styles inspire certain ideas or stories. I’m speaking of those songs that remind me that this dream is reachable. That despite all the things I can never seem to learn and apply, all those rejections that pile up, these songs make me stand up and forge ahead with the dream.
At least three songs come to mind.
Go the Distance by Michael Bolton
Created for the Disney movie Hercules, this song represented young Herc’s longing to be something more. He sensed within himself the ability to take his talents and do something important with them.
Whenever I hear this I feel it too. I don’t think of glory or fame. I don’t give a crap for those. Instead I think of the joy my stories bring to others. I think of how they can make kids dream and wish for things in life. I think that maybe one day, beyond this mountain of rejections, one day there will be a line of kids and adults wanted to discover Ann and Roland’s latest adventure. That one day I can get these stories out there into the world.
Someone’s Watching Over Me by Hilary Duff
In the movie Raise Your Voice, Duff plays a girl who wants so bad to sing. The problem is her father won’t let her spread her wings. Well, her older brother (played by John Ritter’s son) always believes in her. Without her knowledge, he sends out her application to the music school she wanted to attend. He dies shortly afterward and she discovers what he did later on.
The ballad is soft and reaches out. It reminds me of the doubts and fears that always cloud my mind. It also makes me think of my dream. It causes me to reach for the impossible. I think of how important this dream is. How the fears and impossibilities aren’t important. I refocus my mind and sit up straight. I can do this. I can achieve my dreams.
The Climb by Miley Cyrus
This is the new kid on the block for my personal anthems. It’s currently my favorite. Created for her movie to represent the character’s feelings about failure and hope, I resisted it at first. I have four children who practically live on Disney Channel so I tend to get sick of their TV offerings.
I couldn’t resist it though. I hear the quiet beginning and soft words and my mind travels to the same doubts I mentioned before. I think of the hard reviews and tough decisions I’ve made. Stephen King said you have to kill your babies and I’ve got so much blood on my hands. But it’s not the end of the journey I should focus on. It’s the actual path I’m taking. Each rung of this latter is important. Am I scared of what my editor is going to say? Yes! But I need those bad reviews. I have to fall again and again if necessary to learn how to walk. I can’t become a author unless I learn how to write.
So there you go. Three anthems that make me believe in my abilities. What are yours and what effect do they have on you?
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Play That Funky Music
Originally posted on 8/16/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.
The theme to “Edward Scissorhands” by Danny Elfman begins. My mind instantly travels to a dark Fall night. Eliza Pratchet walks purposefully with two children in red cloaks following behind. She’s taking them through the small colonial settlement for another lesson. Annabelle’s undead pulse quickens with excitement. Will they finally learn how to become bats?
At the point of the song marked 02:08 the soft eerie tempo starts to wave, like small bat wings. Ann and her brother flutter under the moonlight. Then around 02:59 the quirky march slows off to become a gentle ballad and I see her. I can’t help it. Her flowing red curls, the gleam of happiness in her crimson eyes, the gentle billowing of her blue dress and red cloak in the wind as she floats ten feet in the air. Annabelle’s inner peace, joy and love all moves through my soul.
That is what I see every time that song is played. Heck, even if we’re watching the movie, I see it. That theme will forever be linked in my mind as “Annabelle’s Theme”. If I could choose a composer for a Night Children movie it would be Danny Elfman, hands down.
Music inspires me. I can’t help it. Heck, I wouldn’t want to. It doesn’t matter if there are lyrics, or what style the music is. Certain songs send me off to other worlds.
My main antagonist, Dominic, commands attention as I listen to “The Kraken” from the “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest” soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.
“Love Song For A Vampire” by Annie Lennox puts me straight into Eliza’s mind as she cares for the dying children, ready to change them forever rather than let them die so young.
The list goes on and on. Some songs provide me with actual scenes from my series, like “Carpe Noctem” from the Dance of the Vampires soundtrack, “Journey to Transylvania” from the Van Helsing soundtrack by Alan Silvestri, the “Poltergeist” theme, “Libra Me” and the “Davy Jones” theme from that same Pirates movie.
Other songs create characters. “Original Sin” from the Dance of the Vampires soundtrack, “Moon Over Bourbon Street” by Sting, “Taste of Blood” by Mazzy Star, “Lucretia My Reflection” by Sisters of Mercy and “Transylvanian Concubine” by Rasputina have all created very interesting cast members.
Then there are those songs that simply put me in a vampire mood. “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMann, “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse, “Go All The Way (Into The Twilight)” by Perry Farrell, “Bela Lugosi's Dead” by Bauhaus, “Bloodletting” by Concrete Blonde and of course the mack daddy of all vampire songs, “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach .
I’ve used enough quotation marks to allow this post to fly but I think I’ve made my point. Music can be a powerful tool for writers. Ever watch a movie and catch yourself leaning forward in your chair, not because of what’s going on, but because the music is telling you something bad is about to happen? Once again, the power of music.
It can show you the gentle parts of your story or the fast paced action sequence. Characters, settings and entire plots and subplots form in your mind as the songs continue. If you haven’t tried to use music before, give it a chance.
Think of the kinds of music you would expect to hear if your story was a movie. What songs really cover your theme? Then while listening to them, close your eyes and picture the scenes in your novel.
Not everyone is inspired by the same things, but if this works for you I’d suggest creating folder of music for your music player of choice. A soundtrack if you will. Then when you’re feeling writers block, play it and watch the scenes grow.
Sometimes when I need to be inspired, I’ll play the Vampire Folder on my media player.
I feel sorry for my coworkers. I have no clue why they haven’t yelled at me. Maybe because I turn it down? At home I have no fear. My wife and children support my dreams. My children are easily warped. I put on Scissorhands and they shout “It’s the Annabelle theme!
Happy writing.
The theme to “Edward Scissorhands” by Danny Elfman begins. My mind instantly travels to a dark Fall night. Eliza Pratchet walks purposefully with two children in red cloaks following behind. She’s taking them through the small colonial settlement for another lesson. Annabelle’s undead pulse quickens with excitement. Will they finally learn how to become bats?
At the point of the song marked 02:08 the soft eerie tempo starts to wave, like small bat wings. Ann and her brother flutter under the moonlight. Then around 02:59 the quirky march slows off to become a gentle ballad and I see her. I can’t help it. Her flowing red curls, the gleam of happiness in her crimson eyes, the gentle billowing of her blue dress and red cloak in the wind as she floats ten feet in the air. Annabelle’s inner peace, joy and love all moves through my soul.
That is what I see every time that song is played. Heck, even if we’re watching the movie, I see it. That theme will forever be linked in my mind as “Annabelle’s Theme”. If I could choose a composer for a Night Children movie it would be Danny Elfman, hands down.
Music inspires me. I can’t help it. Heck, I wouldn’t want to. It doesn’t matter if there are lyrics, or what style the music is. Certain songs send me off to other worlds.
My main antagonist, Dominic, commands attention as I listen to “The Kraken” from the “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest” soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.
“Love Song For A Vampire” by Annie Lennox puts me straight into Eliza’s mind as she cares for the dying children, ready to change them forever rather than let them die so young.
The list goes on and on. Some songs provide me with actual scenes from my series, like “Carpe Noctem” from the Dance of the Vampires soundtrack, “Journey to Transylvania” from the Van Helsing soundtrack by Alan Silvestri, the “Poltergeist” theme, “Libra Me” and the “Davy Jones” theme from that same Pirates movie.
Other songs create characters. “Original Sin” from the Dance of the Vampires soundtrack, “Moon Over Bourbon Street” by Sting, “Taste of Blood” by Mazzy Star, “Lucretia My Reflection” by Sisters of Mercy and “Transylvanian Concubine” by Rasputina have all created very interesting cast members.
Then there are those songs that simply put me in a vampire mood. “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMann, “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse, “Go All The Way (Into The Twilight)” by Perry Farrell, “Bela Lugosi's Dead” by Bauhaus, “Bloodletting” by Concrete Blonde and of course the mack daddy of all vampire songs, “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach .
I’ve used enough quotation marks to allow this post to fly but I think I’ve made my point. Music can be a powerful tool for writers. Ever watch a movie and catch yourself leaning forward in your chair, not because of what’s going on, but because the music is telling you something bad is about to happen? Once again, the power of music.
It can show you the gentle parts of your story or the fast paced action sequence. Characters, settings and entire plots and subplots form in your mind as the songs continue. If you haven’t tried to use music before, give it a chance.
Think of the kinds of music you would expect to hear if your story was a movie. What songs really cover your theme? Then while listening to them, close your eyes and picture the scenes in your novel.
Not everyone is inspired by the same things, but if this works for you I’d suggest creating folder of music for your music player of choice. A soundtrack if you will. Then when you’re feeling writers block, play it and watch the scenes grow.
Sometimes when I need to be inspired, I’ll play the Vampire Folder on my media player.
I feel sorry for my coworkers. I have no clue why they haven’t yelled at me. Maybe because I turn it down? At home I have no fear. My wife and children support my dreams. My children are easily warped. I put on Scissorhands and they shout “It’s the Annabelle theme!
Happy writing.
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