Music In Writing

[CharleyH]

I realise that some authors here hate music added to their stories and to any story. I also realise that some people love to add a music reference and I get why - timely or dated - I get the why's and why not's ... Recently, I have been thinking of music in both short stories and novels.

I believe music is important to character, like it is in reality. I believe listening to music can fill a character out. I have a character who listens (as we all do) to a song over and over and over and then over again. My character has her own reasons for doing so. My question to you as authors, though, is:

When and why might you add a specific piece of music to your writing? Would it be specific? Would you add a whole chapter devoted to one song if writing a novel? Why or why not?

 

[kendo1]

.....

 

[CharleyH]

Bagpipes.

Great, Kendo. I hope we can at least get a view under your kilt.

 

[Guest]

i might be tempted to add music to poetry because im simple like that but to a short story? no. i don't believe i could make it work.

 

[S-Des]

I love adding musical references to my stories (of course, being a musician, I'm pretty biased). It is a great way to flesh out the characters and add details that makes the audience identify with them. Sometimes it will be general references to composers, genres, or bands. Other times it is specific songs. In my Christmas story, I was describing a scene in a strip club. My editor suggested getting more specific with the songs, and I found that it made describing the action much easier (and readers told me it made it more erotic). It helped me to feel like I was there, so I described the scene better.

I'm not a fan of audio stories or anything that interferes with my reading (like a soundtrack). Not sure if that's what you meant.

 

[CharleyH]

i might be tempted to add music to poetry because im simple like that but to a short story? no. i don't believe i could make it work.

Oh, you know you listen to a good song over and over, v - why not (reasons) do you believe it would not work for you - in your opinion.

 

[Guest]

Oh, you know you listen to a good song over and over, v - why not (reasons) do you believe it would not work for you - in your opinion.

well, im not sure what the limitations are for such work. i do know that my feelings are that i couldnt limit the types of music to match any of my stories. they vary too much for that...i would have to try to write to match the music first.

and i am far too lazy.

however, for me, poetry is flowing and easier to synch.

 

[CharleyH]

I love adding musical references to my stories (of course, being a musician, I'm pretty biased). It is a great way to flesh out the characters and add details that makes the audience identify with them. Sometimes it will be general references to composers, genres, or bands. Other times it is specific songs.

Beautiful. Would you write a whole chapter devoted to one song? Why or why not and what song?

 

[SimonBrooke]

Yes...

I realise that some authors here hate music added to their stories and to any story. I also realise that some people love to add a music reference and I get why - timely or dated - I get the why's and why not's ... Recently, I have been thinking of music in both short stories and novels.

I believe music is important to character, like it is in reality. I believe listening to music can fill a character out. I have a character who listens (as we all do) to a song over and over and over and then over again. My character has her own reasons for doing so. My question to you as authors, though, is:

When and why might you add a specific piece of music to your writing? Would it be specific? Would you add a whole chapter devoted to one song if writing a novel? Why or why not?

Whoo....

Gosh that brings things back. I spent a year and a half of my adolescence in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, or, to put it less politely, the loonie bin. There was a girl in the ward with me for all that time who played Harry Nilsson's Without You over and over and over again, obsessively. Everyone in there was in one way or another a sad, desperate case, but she was in many ways the saddest. She was only 14. I don't know what happened to anyone who was in there with me - it's not the sort of institution which has reunions - but I'm sure she's dead. I'm sure most of the girls who were in there with me are dead, but I'm most certain of it of her. I still can't hear that song without being profoundly upset and sad.

The answer is yes. I have written stories based on particular songs. Dammit, I've written a report of a bike race based on Bob Dylan's Highway 61, because that was what was going around in my head while I was racing...

In Catriona the protagonists connect mostly through shared knowledge of songs, and the tune to the last scene is definitely 'Lay Lady, Lay'.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

I use music in my stories a lot. I think they add insight to the characters and also say plenty of things I'd rather not attempt to be original with.

Etta James, for instance, said quite a lot about finding love in the song 'At Last'. By having one of my characters get on a home karaoke machine and sing that, the message is pretty clear. *shrug*

 

[CharleyH]

well, im not sure what the limitations are for such work. i do know that my feelings are that i couldnt limit the types of music to match any of my stories. they vary too much for that...i would have to try to write to match the music first.

and i am far too lazy.

however, for me, poetry is flowing and easier to synch.

Which poet? and what makes a poet different than say... a lyricist with a piece of music?

 

[CharleyH]

Whoo....

Gosh that brings things back. I spent a year and a half of my adolescence in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, or, to put it less politely, the loonie bin. There was a girl in the ward with me for all that time who played Harry Nilsson's Without You over and over and over again, obsessively. Everyone in there was in one way or another a sad, desperate case, but she was in many ways the saddest. She was only 14. I don't know what happened to anyone who was in there with me - it's not the sort of institution which has reunions - but I'm sure she's dead. I'm sure most of the girls who were in there with me are dead, but I'm most certain of it of her. I still can't hear that song without being profoundly upset and sad.

The answer is yes. I have written stories based on particular songs. Dammit, I've written a report of a bike race based on Bob Dylan's Highway 61, because that was what was going around in my head while I was racing...

In Catriona the protagonists connect mostly through shared knowledge of songs, and the tune to the last scene is definitely 'Lay Lady, Lay'.

Indeed.

 

[S-Des]

Beautiful. Would you write a whole chapter devoted to one song? Why or why not and what song?

There was a writing challenge I was asked to participate in around the Christmas contest time. It was several writers taking a song and writing a story around it (although the stories varied wildly, so they used it as a general muse). There were some very good efforts (Joesephus, Dynamite Jack, etc...). Unfortunately, I was too busy to join in, but it sounded like a lot of fun. I'm still a newbie (barely 12 months of writing), so haven't done it yet. I think it would be a blast and want to give it a shot at some point.

Faith was a story that was based on a real person (an exotic dancer I met). I look at that sort of the same way; taking an idea from real life, then turning it into something else. Maybe when contest mania dies down, we should do something similar. Instead of everyone writing from the same song, we could all choose a song and write a story loosely based on the lyrics. It would be interesting both to see what songs touched the writers, and how they interpereted them. I've always been partial to Lyin' Eyes by the Eagles. Every time I hear it, I can't help but be touched by the depth of the storytelling.

 

[CharleyH]

I use music in my stories a lot. I think they add insight to the characters and also say plenty of things I'd rather not attempt to be original with.

Etta James, for instance, said quite a lot about finding love in the song 'At Last'. By having one of my characters get on a home karaoke machine and sing that, the message is pretty clear. *shrug*

And would you devout a whole chapter to Etta's (LOVE HER BTW!) 'At Last'?

And edited to add, Lucky: that was a cover tune by her. I had that CD at one point. A cover of Billie ... Etta has a frigging way about her, though ... kinda in the vain of Alberta Hunter. Smarmy, in your face and sexy!

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

From what is probably my fave of my stories:

Joyce had been the passive recipient of the sensual kissing and touching, but she was anything but passive now. Those melodious moans had become a full throated aria, interjected by sibilant gasps and plaintive whimpers.

. . . And all the while the tempo of these attentions increased imperceptibly, but in perfect time with Joyce's state of arousal. One who is musically inclined would describe this as advancing from lento or "slow" at the beginning, to andante or a "walking beat" somewhat further on. The tempo now approached allegro or "fast" as the crescendo of the movement drew near.

Joyce's thrashing on the bed rose to such intensity that Susan feared she might pull a muscle or something – but the risk was worth the reward! The "aria" had risen through mezzo piano or "medium soft" to mezzo forte or "medium loud" and now approached fortissimo or "very loud." The conductor of this opera determined that the moment to bring the production to its tumultuous conclusion had arrived.

Joyce was right on the precipice, and Susan knew it would take only the slightest extra push to drive her over . . .

. . . At just the right moment, for just a few strokes, Susan also increased the pace of the fingers driving into Joyce's tunnel to a prestissimo tempo, or "very, very fast."

And that's all I'm going to post, because I wouldn't want to give away what happens next or anything . . .

 

[CharleyH]

From what is probably my fave of my stories:


And that's all I'm going to post, because I wouldn't want to give away what happens next or anything . . .

Cool write.

But, I mean a chapter devoted to a song, or as Bret Easton Ellis did in 'American Psycho', a singer.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

And would you devout a whole chapter to Etta's (LOVE HER BTW!) 'At Last'?

And edited to add, Lucky: that was a cover tune by her. I had that CD at one point. A cover of Billie ... Etta has a frigging way about her, though ... kinda in the vain of Alberta Hunter. Smarmy, in your face and sexy!

Unless it was a crucial element to the plot or the character, I can't imagine ever doing it. I suppose it could be done, but I'm having trouble thinking of an instance where I'd find it necessary or prudent.

 

[CharleyH]

Unless it was a crucial element to the plot or the character, I can't imagine ever doing it. I suppose it could be done, but I'm having trouble thinking of an instance where I'd find it necessary or prudent.

Yet? IN RL? We listen, almost hauntingly to songs, and we also listen over and over to learn the lyrics. Why would it not be prudent when people do it every day and all the time? Why would NOT a piece of music work in a story, then?

 

[cloudy]

The last story I submitted here was written specifically around the song I Alone, by Live. I've always loved the song, and on the way to the store one day I was listening to it, and the story just sort of happened in my mind while I was driving.

First time that's ever happened, but I won't say that it won't happen again. Music is an integral part of my life - always playing in the background...in the car, while I'm wasting time here, etc.

I opened my chapter of the Superstitions chain story with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, by Iron Maiden, and in "Possession" I used a Creole funeral song.

I'd never really thought about it, but I suppose I use music fairly often in my writing.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Yet? IN RL? We listen, almost hauntingly to songs, and we also listen over and over to learn the lyrics. Why would it not be prudent when people do it every day and all the time? Why would NOT a piece of music work in a story, then?

I didn't say it wasn't prudent to add one. I said I couldn't see the use in devoting an entire chapter to one. Just because I listen to music religiously, perhaps even the same song over and over again, doesn't mean that the people around me want to hear it all the time. Same goes for readers, in my opinion. I can read that a character is listening to a certain song repeatedly, or even hauntingly, and be satisfied with that. I might be interested in the lyrics once, or even who the song is originally sung by, but I'm much more interested in why the character is obsessed with the song, whether it's the music or the lyrics that drives them, if the music sways the character's mood/actions. So, for me, the written should be more about the story/character than it is about the song.

The song, if it's real, has the chance to tell its own story just as soon as I press 'PLAY'.

 

[CharleyH]

I might be interested in the lyrics once, or even who the song is originally sung by, but I'm much more interested in why the character is obsessed with the song, whether it's the music or the lyrics that drives them, if the music sways the character's mood/actions. So, for me, the written should be more about the story/character than it is about the song.

The song, if it's real, has the chance to tell its own story just as soon as I press 'PLAY'.

Indeed. When 'might' you write a chapter about a song - hypothetically? After THAT answer? I am definitely smiling and wondering.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I write about musicians and, therefore, music, pretty often. My unfinished-novel-that-really-should-be-rewritten is posted here, and it's called "Sarabande" I mention the band, the instruments, the processes of making music, but I rarely quote songs and when I do- they are just a bit generic, and here's why; It can be difficult to include music in a story, IMO, without making it seem very self-indulgent. The readers don't care nearly as much as the writer does, and by naming a musical genre, you stifle the reader's imagination.
.
Popular music lyrics are pretty banal when you see them written down. The emotive capabilities of the singer are far more important, more important even, than the melody. And the most successful songs have sing-along melodies anyway.

I can't imagine caring an iota about the actual lyrics to some Norwegian Death Metal band's hit- although the protagonist's reaction to those lyrics might be very interesting and crucial to the story, and what the writer really needs to get across.

I can copy and paste my best (I think) attempt at integrating the actual music into the story, if you want, Charlie? I do better with examples sometimes...

 

[CharleyH]

I write about musicians and, therefore, music, pretty often. My unfinished-novel-that-really-should-be-rewritten is posted here, and it's called "Sarabande" I mention the band, the instruments, the processes of making music, but I rarely quote songs and when I do- they are just a bit generic, and here's why; It can be difficult to include music in a story, IMO, without making it seem very self-indulgent. The readers don't care nearly as much as the writer does, and by naming a musical genre, you stifle the reader's imagination.
.
Popular music lyrics are pretty banal when you see them written down. The emotive capabilities of the singer are far more important, more important even, than the melody. And the most successful songs have sing-along melodies anyway.

I can't imagine caring an iota about the actual lyrics to some Norwegian Death Metal band's hit- although the protagonist's reaction to those lyrics might be very interesting and crucial to the story, and what the writer really needs to get across.

I can copy and paste my best (I think) attempt at integrating the actual music into the story, if you want, Charlie? I do better with examples sometimes...

Its. okay Stell. Just a question. I thought Bret Easton Ellis did a fab job of adding it into "American Psycho" and also music into his other stories. I guess I mean (in context) writing about a song that plays over and over and over. Copy and paste, Stell, I would enjoy to read.

 

[FallingToFly]

I have an entire anthology of short stories based specifically on songs.

Alabama Motel Room by Matthew Good is probably one of the strongest I used in my Playlists series, although Fearless (same author) and Dreams in Digital (based on an Orgy song) as well as a few others were very well-recieved by the audiences.

My Playlists series are my baby, and I am very fond of them, but then again, I live and breathe music on a daily basis- I have the headphones on right now. It strongly influences my life and my moods, so it's kind of a natural assumption that it would also come through in my writing.

 

[CharleyH]

I have an entire anthology of short stories based specifically on songs.

Alabama Motel Room by Matthew Good is probably one of the strongest I used in my Playlists series, although Fearless (same author) and Dreams in Digital (based on an Orgy song) as well as a few others were very well-recieved by the audiences.

My Playlists series are my baby, and I am very fond of them, but then again, I live and breathe music on a daily basis- I have the headphones on right now. It strongly influences my life and my moods, so it's kind of a natural assumption that it would also come through in my writing.

Forgetting about directing us to your stories - How do you use music in them?