Giving Each Story a Soundtrack

Creatively, I use a pretty well rounded collection of mediums to help fuel each novel as I am writing it. I write each scene as if it is a movie playing inside my head. In addition to choosing actors who I would cast for each of my main characters, I also create a soundtrack for when I need that extra boost of inspiration. Collectively, this practice allows me to enjoy my novels in a really robust way, and not just in the writing process. Even after I've finished with each novel, all I have to do to revisit my characters, and the story I've created for them, is to press shuffle on my soundtrack.

For "The Wanderer" songs like "Colder Weather" by Zac Brown Band and "The Wanderer" by Dion helped provide inspiration and motivation during the writing process. When I sat down to write my latest novel, putting together a soundtrack was one of the first things I did. I can't remember all of the soundtracks for all of my novels, and for some books I didn't have very many songs that clicked for the story I was writing. For my latest novel, however, my "soundtrack" played a big role in the whole process.

Here is the soundtrack for my latest novel, maybe it can help you get some early insight into what my next novel is about before it is officially revealed to the world.

The Bones by Maren Morris

Hard to Love by Lee Brice

Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi

Surrender by Natalie Taylor

When you're writing do you listen to music to help provide motivation? Do you listen to music while you write or in the spaces of your day when you're not writing but just looking for an extra burst of inspiration?