Soundtrack

I guess I've been inspired by other bloggers' posts recently, but this post about writing to music by Amanda the Aspiring TV Writer really stuck out to me tonight. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should. It's really great.

I've gone through a good number of playlists for my feature. The first was songs I thought told the story of the script. That didn't work very well for me, though, because the playlist moved faster than my writing. And, once I had finished the draft of the beginning, the playlist still had those appropriate songs. Very frustrating. I spent way to much time fast forwarding and far too little time writing.

So I made a shorter playlist once I neared the ending of draft 3. That one worked a lot better, but still the pace was off. Then, another idea dawned on me.

I'd been imagining Zac Efron as one of the main characters, so I decided to see if listening to him would inspire me. I popped in my Hairspray CD and listened to all of his tracks on repeat. Eventually the music just faded away, and I was writing like a machine, propelled by the hope that someday the voice I was listening to would speak the dialogue I was writing. Sure, it's unlikely, but the hope is what keeps us going.

Then, I had to work on a final touch up. I decided to make a playlist for my read-through. So I thought, hey, why I don't choose songs my protagonist would like? This way I can work on character development! I decided that my protagonist would listen to mostly indie stuff, but with a poppy tonality.

So there I was, pounding away at the keys, bopping along to some Moldy Peaches and Rilo Kiley (though at this point are Rilo Kiley so indie? Beside the point). But I realized something. My character's whole point was that she had never really rebelled. She was more go-with-the-flow don't wanna stir the waters. So it was unfathomable to me that she would seek out unique music. It was so completely out of character. And I'd actually written her taste for indie music into the script (though not specific songs! never!). That needed to be changed. So I changed all the instances of indie to "Top 40" and breathed a sigh of relief that my character development hadn't been an epic fail.

Moral of the story? Make a playlist your character would listen to, and see if it's true. Once you're listening you'll notice if the words you're writing fit with the songs you're listening to.

Oh, and if you want a musical actor to be in your movie, get out the soundtracks!