How I make an Undercover Soundtrack – post at Writers & Artists

‘The more I wrote, the more my novel seemed to vibrate with meaning and questions. I found these fascinating but they could have drowned the book, whereas most of all I wanted to tell a mysterious story. It was music that kept me straight.’

Today I’m at Writers & Artists, talking about a subject that will be somewhat familiar to regulars here – writing with music. They were fascinated by the concept of Undercover Soundtracks, and asked me to explain to their readers.

So this is a post about how I started using music when I was ghostwriting – and how its influence enlarged drastically when I was working on My Memories of a Future Life. Do come over.

(And would it be gauche of me to do a happy dance because my creative salon is being featured on Bloomsbury’s writing blog… Look where you might end up if you start a series just because you want to. Have a great weekend. x)

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This entry was posted on July 26, 2013, 1:01 pm and is filed under My Memories of a Future Life, The writing business. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

#1 by Will Overby (@Will_Overby) on July 26, 2013 - 3:18 pm

I love these posts about soundtracks. Every one of my books has had a soundtrack all the way back to the ’80s. I thought I was unique until I discovered your blog! I have no idea how anyone writes without music; I think the silence would paralyze my creative process!

- #2 by rozmorris @NailYourNovel @ByRozMorris on July 26, 2013 - 6:51 pm
  
  Thanks, Will! I used to think it was just me as well. I thought I’d discovered a way to control what I thought of as my peculiar brain chemistry. But I’ve been running The Undercover Soundtrack for nearly two years now, with a post a week. And there’s no shortage of contributors – I’m booked up until December right now. But I love it. It’s a real creativity workshop. While one side of this blog – and the writing life – has to deal with technicalities, I can use The Undercover Soundtrack to re-centre around the more ephemeral, magical aspects of what we do – inspiration, emotion, humanity.
  
#3 by sharonhughson on July 26, 2013 - 4:52 pm

I have been inspired in the past to write short stories by songs, but while I’m writing my novel, I prefer the sound of silence. I wonder what that says about me?
Very interesting posts, by the way. Thanks for sharing. It’s made me wonder if I should try to turn the music on while I’m writing and see what happens.

- #4 by rozmorris @NailYourNovel @ByRozMorris on July 26, 2013 - 6:53 pm
  
  Ho ho, Sharon. You never know what you might start… have fun trying! And thanks for the comment!