Yesterday, I posted a video from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Check it out if you didn’t get a chance to see it. (They’re my fav!) Anyway, you may have been scratching your head and thinking, “Oh boy this is one of those kinds of blogs.” (You know the kind where folks blog for their own um…vanity or mental health purposes and don’t really offer any value.)
It’s not.
There’s a method to my madness.
When you listen to music it puts you in a mood, right? It evokes emotions, maybe makes you feel sad or rebellious or horny even.
Why not use this beautiful tool to help you work through your characters and your story?
I stumbled upon this tool quite accidentally. I found that when I’d sit down to write certain characters, they always seemed to have a theme song. For Frankie Carabello a race car driver her song was Restless by Allison Krauss. For Taggart his song was Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones. I didn’t plan it that way, it just seemed to happen. I’d sit down to write a scene with them and bam I’d be thinking or humming their theme song.
So I started using it. Each character naturally falls into their own theme song and when I sit down to write, I play the song to help me set the mood and to help the character stay consistent.
So, what about the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Do I have a character that fits one of their songs? Not yet but boy is she going to be fun when I meet her!
Are you currently working on a story either on paper or in your head? If so, what’s your protagonist’s theme song? Have fun!