Plotting Through Music
By Marisca Pichette
Why Music?
Does music help you to write? I’d hope so, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. But when it comes to matching genre with genre, there’s a fine line between focus and distraction.
Every writer is different. Some of us use music during the drafting stage, matching tempo to typing as we hammer out new scenes. Others turn to music during revision, a handy background to keep the mind on the task at hand. Finally, there are the writers who seek inspiration in music, curating playlists as outlines of future or ongoing projects. This third type is the kind that interests me.
And yes, I am one of them.
The Score
When selecting music for brainstorming, there are a few details to consider. Since the primary goal is to stimulate the flow of ideas and activate the imagination, you want to choose a song that resonates with your creative drive. This might look different depending on your music taste and workflow.
Pick your player:
- Lyric songs are great wells of inspiration, but some might find the lyrics too distracting to get deep into thought. That said, I heartily recommend pulling together songs you know the words to, because in singing along, you get a deeper feel for the meaning and resonance behind the music. (More on this later.)
- Instrumental soundtracks are a great way to quickly access your associations with movies or shows you enjoy. Typically, orchestral soundtracks will lend a more epic feel, and might be appropriate for fantasy or science fiction stories. These scores don’t usually have words, so they work well for background music while drafting as well.
Both of these music types might open doors to feelings of nostalgia, excitement, even fear. Arranging them to fit your story outline can help you tap into the emotions you hope to capture at each plot point. When choosing lyric songs, think about your character’s voice and interiority. When choosing instrumentals, think about setting, atmosphere, and theme.
Tempo is also important! Fast songs might go well with action scenes, while slow songs could serve to fill more tender moments. When building tension, see how your music can lend a hand–incorporating minor notes and haunting strings, for example.
Cultivating a Vibe: The Art of the Playlist
There are as many ways to build a playlist as writers. You might throw together all your favorite songs, or work along a theme (introspective ocean novel, slasher horror story, cozy queer romance, etc). You can alternate instrumental and lyric tracks, or work on a crescendo of emotion before tying it together with a cunning reprise at the end. I encourage you to play around.
If you need a starting point, here are a few of my favorite types of writing playlists:
- Chapter summaries work like an outline of the story/novel. Each song is a stand-in for a scene or chapter, so if you have a 25-chapter outline, you have a 25-chapter playlist. Simple enough.
- Character studies are a series of individual playlists devoted to each character. You can choose to organize these as 20 songs tied to your protagonist as a whole, or plot them more deliberately along the character’s development arc, with the first song standing in for who they are at the start of the story, and the last for who they become by the end.
- Movie score playlists are similar to the chapter summary model, but not confined by the boundaries of the scene. You can begin with an “opening credits” song, have a medley all to do with your climax or favorite moment, and zero in on character interiority at emotionally-charged sections. This is my favorite type of playlist to make, and I find it immensely helpful for considering how all the pieces come together. I suggest listening to this while driving or on a walk and overlaying your story to see how the pacing works. You’ll likely rearrange these songs more than once.
- Mood board playlists are a hybrid between the movie score and character study, essentially operating as a musical Pinterest board for your story.
- Just vibes is a playlist you probably already have:one catch-all for writing, maybe heavy on ambient or instrumental songs to minimize distraction. If this works for you, go for it!
Song to Story
Once you’ve finished your playlist, it’s time to put it to work. As discussed before, try to match your writing flow to the music you chose. I suggest tossing the playlist on repeat, so abrupt silence doesn’t jerk you out of focus. And if the playlist you made isn’t working for you, there’s no shame in choosing a different one. Just be mindful not to squander all your writing time making playlists (something I may or may not be guilty of).
If you happen to get stuck on a plot point, take a moment to listen to your music. Are there clues of how to move forward hidden in the lyrics? What about something intuitive in the tune? Let your mind wander on musical wings, and by the time the song changes, you might have found a new way forward.
Coda
Just like a song, stories come to an end. Whether you’ve completed a detailed outline, first draft, or initial revision, always let your writing rest before diving back in. Here again, music can help.
To pass the time before revision, use your playlist to reflect on the piece you’ve made. You can play with song orders, swap out old tracks for new, and even make new offshoot playlists for deeper character development or potential sequels. As you listen–in the car, on a walk, or at home–meditate on arc and theme. Are you satisfied with the structure of this story? Could you add more here, or less there?
Tuning into your playlist is a great, low-stakes way to muse on your writing at any time of day. And it can produce some excellent results.
In Conclusion
Music and writing are natural partners. With them, you can deepen your world building, access emotional resonance, mine for ideas, develop characters, pace yourself, and ultimately motivate the muse.
So, crank up the volume and get to work.
AUTHOR BIO
Marisca Pichette is a queer author based in Massachusetts, on Pocumtuck and Abenaki land. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Vastarien, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, Asimov’s, Nightmare Magazine, and others. Her poetry collection, Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker and Elgin Awards. Her cli-fi novella, Every Dark Cloud, is out now from Ghost Orchid Press.
Read work by Marisca Pichette in This Exquisite Topology!
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