I'll be honest, I can't remember how the specific music I listened to became a part of the writing, but Taken was written under the
strong influence of Evanescence. I listened to Evanescence's albums "Fallen" and "The Open Door" repeatedly. I, of course, had my own playlist of music that I mixed in as well, but it was nothing compared to Evanescence. (I often wish I had written down the titles in the playlist I had listened to, but I did not. Who knew that one day I would want to give credit to each song. 😊 )
In "Marks of the Satrii", the music helped me see the story... clearer? I guess clearer is the right word. I'm not really sure how to explain it. I definitely did not sit down and write up an outline. I couldn't have if I wanted to. I had no idea what the details were until I wrote it (But I'll get into that more later). With that being said, the music really influenced, or perhaps encouraged my mind to see more details is a better way to say it. I say music because even though almost all the music I listened to had words, I didn't always hear what was actually being sung. In my head the vocals became another instrument which created an even more beautiful peace of music, and allowed the imagery in my mind to flow. For me, writing "Taken" was like watching a movie (as it is with every book I've written). I wasn't creating a story, I was sharing it. I'd be staring at the computer screen, listening to music. But really, the world around me fell away, and instead of seeing a screen full of words and hearing the vocals of a song, I saw images and felt the emotions of the people in it. (Which is why I tend to refer to the "characters" as voices in my head.) Do I always listen to music when I write? For "Taken", yes. Looking back I can't remember not having music playing while I was writing. (Now, that isn't true for all my stories - most, but not all. Sometimes I prefer the silence.) Even when my kids were sleeping, I'd have one of my earphones in.
There are two songs in particular that actually influenced a scene in the story, but they both happened in book two "Blades of the Ytinu Srebas". And I will share those scenes next month when I get more into the second book. Although, I'm quite confident that I've talked about it before, because whenever I hear the song, I can remember the scene perfectly: what was happening, the emotions, the scenery... And well that's something I love sharing, because to me it's real.
It's kind of strange how the first book "Marks of the Satrii" was written in a general flow of music, but the second book "Blades of the Ytinu Srebas" has scenes where the music became so much more. 😄
