Imagine a novel could guest on Desert Island Discs. For those of you receiving outside the UK, Desert Island Discs is an immensely popular and long-running show on BBC Radio 4, where guests are asked to choose pieces of music that form a soundtrack to their lives.
After my recent co-post with Porter Anderson about undercover soundtracks to our novels, I am excited to announce a series…
Starting today, the red blog will be hosting writers who use music in the creation of their novels. I’ve got scores of them lined up to talk about special pieces that have guided them to a deeper understanding of a character, or helped populate a mysterious place, or clarified a particular, pivotal moment.
First up is Dan Holloway, founder member of the literary fiction collective Year Zero Writers and the literary project eight cuts gallery. His novel The Company of Fellows was voted favourite Oxford novel by readers at Blackwell’s. He’s talking about Songs From The Other Side of the Wall, and the music that helped him develop his rather individual characters.
Nail Your Novel 
Oh wow – this sounds like a great series – can’t wait! Music played a huge role for me when working on my WIP. I created a specific itunes playlist to set the mood. And recently I contacted two of the bands who were in very heavy rotation during my writing and I am so excited because they BOTH agreed to let me use their music in the book trailers for my novel. Way cool and I am having a blast building those to their perfectly fitting tunes! Thanks Roz for a great series idea!
Thanks, Bill – and how terrific to have got ‘your’ music for the trailer! Stay tuned…
Ooh, with the number of times we’ve all talked about music as a writing aid, this is a great idea. 🙂
Thanks, Sally – I’ve had some fab chats with authors about this; should be great fun.
Music is definitely a big help when it comes to literary creation. I have a soft spot for unobtrusive music, or in the words of Brian Eno, music that “doesn’t demand attention, but rewards it”. I’ve found that it creates inner space that helps you develop thoughts as if they were outside your own brain, with more oxygen to breathe 🙂