The Sound of the Story
Aug112009
Every time I begin a novel, I make a collage and build a soundtrack for it. Then I get caught up in structure and pattern and all of that, and I forget I have them. Then I hit the wall and start to panic. Then I dig out the collage and find the soundtrack, add more things to both, and there’s the story, just waiting for me to walk into it. Tonight I found the collage and the soundtrack for Always Kiss Me Goodnight, added more to both, and fell in love with the book again. If I don’t blow this, it’s going to be wonderful. Here’s the updated soundtrack so far:
“I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love,” Rita Coolidge
“Spooky,” Imogen Heap
“Remains of the Day,” Danny Elfman
“Just My Imagination,” The Cranberries
“Nine Million Bicycles,” Katie Melua
“Goodnight and Go,” Imogen Heap
“Baby Mine,” Bonnie Raitt
“Things Have Changed,” Bob Dylan
“Too Lost in You,” Sugababes
“You and I, Pt. 2,” Fleetwood Mac
“Baby Mine,” Paula Jarvis
“Nine Million Bicycles,” 5 Down
Of course, it’s not done. These are just the songs for the Emme/North relationship and the Emme/Alice relationship. But they’ll do nicely for awhile. Very, very happy now.
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16 Comments to 'The Sound of the Story'
On August 12, 2009 at 3:34 am Briana said...
Yay! I’m SO excited for this one. And glad it’s making you happy right now.
On August 12, 2009 at 8:38 am Lori J. said...
I can’t wait to read the scene that was inspired by Remains of the Day by Danny Elfman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1qgmdVgN70
On August 12, 2009 at 10:44 am Diane (TT) said...
Lori J – thanks for the link, I enjoyed it. I finally got around to requesting the movie from the library, as a result!
On August 12, 2009 at 2:22 pm Beki said...
Thanks for the reminder. Chelle kind of forced me to try a collage for my latest mss and it came out so well I hung it on the wall. I love it. I’m still unsure about the whole idea of a soundtrack just because once I get into the groove, I don’t hear anything around me anyway. Or is it supposed to PUT you into the groove?
On August 12, 2009 at 5:49 pm Lori J. said...
Jenny, are you using one song per scene or are all the songs a sort of collage, giving you a feel for the story and representing the whole book in music instead of pictures? I’m curious about how the songs fit into the story.
Diane, I’m going to watch the movie this weekend.
On August 12, 2009 at 8:35 pm Moth said...
Don’t know if you’ve heard of playlist.com but you can put together a playable playlist and then embed it on your blog, website, whatever.
They didn’t have every song on this list but they had most of them so I made you a playlist. I hope the embed code works…
On August 12, 2009 at 8:37 pm Moth said...
Argh. Imbed code worked in the “preview” function.
One more try:
On August 12, 2009 at 8:42 pm Moth said...
Sigh. I gave up and just posted it on my blog instead of taking up this whole thread trying to get it to work.
Here’s a link for any interested parties:
http://moth-insertwittytitlehere.blogspot.com/2009/08/playlist-for-jennifer-crusie-book.html
On August 12, 2009 at 9:03 pm Ericka said...
huh. cool. this should be an interesting ride. glad you’re happy!
On August 12, 2009 at 9:22 pm Jenny said...
Moth, I will look into that, I promise.
Lori, they’re really themes. The Coolidge was the old love theme for Emme and North, the Melua is the theme for Emme and Alice, the Dylan is North’s theme. They’re like the collage, they help me go back into the story after I’ve spent a day doing galleys for a different book. For example.
On August 14, 2009 at 6:22 pm CrankyOtter said...
Re: how cool Katie Melua is, check out this Ted talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things.html
and drag the cursor over to about 11:20 and listen to the last 90 seconds. Includes a clip of “9 million bicycles in beijing”
Is iTunes set up so you could share your playlist and we can just go search on it and download without looking for them all automatically? I love when you share your collages too. But you have to explain to me what they mean to you because they’re a little impermeable to me until you tell me.
On August 14, 2009 at 6:24 pm CrankyOtter said...
Nuts. Go to either
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/
plus this, cut and pasted
michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/mk5e8u
On August 14, 2009 at 10:19 pm Kate said...
This is so interesting; I do the same thing and music can really make or break the way I get into a story. Do you have playlists for your other books? I’d love to see them!
On August 15, 2009 at 3:05 pm Marta said...
When this subject comes up, I’m always fascinated that anyone can write with all that noise in the background. Well, not noise, really. I can tune out noise in general. It’s all those extraneous words floating around that drive me crazy. They’re so distracting, pushing their way into my head the way they do, mingling and getting in the way.
I love finding songs that match the mood I want, I just can’t listen to them while I’m writing. Is it just me?
On August 20, 2009 at 9:57 am Katie Redhead said...
I really don’t know enough about the story of AKMG to even be suggesting anything, and I never had the chutzpah to post on your blog before…(I’m not really a writer, just a fan)
But I read your post about the sound of it and the group huggy-ness of it…and I had a thought that I can’t resist sharing, because possibly helping one of my favorite authors…even if it’s to help her cross off what she doesn’t want to use…would make my day. And also help you to finish the book sooner so I’m that much closer to devouring it. =)
What about either
Never let you go
or
Never let me go?
Creepy and/or loving.
On August 21, 2009 at 3:22 pm Wendy said...
I love your books – they are a great mix of humor, romance, and so human.
I read your book “Anyone but you” and wanted a sequel with his brother Max. Do you already do one?