Music, as we all know, can be an incredibly powerful aid to creating the perfect atmosphere. Finding the emotion of a scene and associating yourself into that emotion can really affect the power of your writing and you can use music, if you don’t already, to get into that mindset before you create. It may sound a bit ‘method’ and you’ll want to be careful if you’re writing about anything too horrendous, but every tool you can use to enhance the emotional clout of a scene is worth trying. Lets face it, if you’re not moved by what you’re writing it’s unlikely that your reader will be either.
Over the next week I want to suggest some music that you might find helpful as a soundtrack to your writing, so to today’s offering:
Source: mymodernmet.com via pretty rebellious on Pinterest
Explosions’ are a little known instrumental band from Texas, America, delivering slow builds and huge, glorious walls of sound. I haven’t chosen a particular song here, because they can be great for all sorts of occasions. Being a musician, I cannot help but listen to what’s going on in the music so when I’m in the process of writing, I can’t listen to music with words, and the more minimalist the better. Explosions’ are a band that creates really powerful imagery without distracting from the words in my head. They do this by using repetitive loops and very gradual changes, similar to the nature of minimalist classical from the 1960s. Below are a few song suggestions for particular scenes, but I’d recommend checking out all of their albums.
If your character is experiencing a real change of heart, or epiphany, go for ‘First breath after coma’. For the thoughtful, soul searching scene, try ‘Human Qualities, and for the tragedy, put on ‘Memorial’.
