A few weeks ago, I talked about inspiration; and while that post wasn't a post about finding inspiration, this one--is. My never-fail, espresso-like jolt of inspiration always comes from music. I don't think I've ever heard a song I haven't day dreamed to, and that means I have lots of story lines that bubble up the minute a familiar beat starts blaring.
Now I'm the first to admit that I never like anything when its popular: I'm almost always the first to scoff and the last the know. Which means, my songs choices, really, aren't current. But these are songs that seem to infect my soul, and certainly have set the tone for key moments in my storyline writing. And when that writing is ready to be read dear reader, you'll be the first one to know just where these songs fit.
Florence & the Machine - Howl
Not listening to Florence when she was spammed across my tumblr 2 months before I "discovered" her is one of the biggest mistakes of my year. On her CD Lungs, I've yet to get sick of a song. I've listened to the whole thing continually for at least a month, and the entire discography has reached, and far surpassed, my top played on itunes. Drumming Song is my personal anthem for Cesare and Lucrezia; My Boy Builds Coffins is my favorite; Raise it Up: my King Midas-centered song; and Blinding is the song that's really grown on me. But Howl--Howl has a very special place in my literary heart. Now I don't connect Howl with werewolves--monsters yes, but not werewolves. No, this song single-handily fed me the inspiration to pick my pen back up and start writing Wickeds (working title) again. I was driving my car and the song was playing and before I knew it, I had the scene I could never get past playing in my head.
Rihanna - Disturbia
If Howl got me writing Wickeds again, Disturbia was the story's conception. I can't say much about it since it would give, well, a lot away, but lets just say Mood Board 1 connects to it all. At first, I was in this whole Repo!The Genetic Opera phase, but as the words began to flow, Disturbia started making more and more sense for my main character: in her world, light does come from a city of wonder, and darkness is light...
Lady Gaga - Monster
Lady Gaga tells a fantastic story, despite how you feel about her. With Monster, I didn't have to make up so much the story, as follow the outline set by her. What if the man you loved was, in fact, a monster? Not one who changes with the moon, or burns (or glitters) in the sunlight, but just as terrifying. What if he turned you against your "smarter friend". The story that goes with this song is my guilty pleasure, and every time I hear it, I get that irresistible urge to open up the word doc and click the keys.
Follow the link to 8tracks to listen to all my inspiration songs.