Music and writing…
I’m a music addict. Like my reading, I dabble in many genres—a lot of classical (wasn’t that nineteen-year-old cellist Sheku Kannah-Mason great in the Meghan-Harry wedding?), folk, jazz, some rock, some C&W, and other pop. I even have a short-story collection where the stories are all inspired by musical pieces (see “Mayhem, Murder, and Music” in my list of free PDFs on the “Free Stuff & Contests” webpage—just follow the directions for downloading).
I was reading and storytelling a bit before I also became a music addict, but they have all accompanied me for a long time on my journey through life. My parents couldn’t afford a piano so I started on the trombone, working up to some Dixieland band participation (my favorite jazz subgenre). When I learned the piano at age 40+, it was difficult: my teacher fought with me to make both my hands independent instruments. I almost got it, but I’ve regressed to melody in the right hand and chords in the left—I call it “noodling” (don’t know what other people would call it).
Music is more mathematical than storytelling. Sure, writers must put logical structure into their novels, but that structure is a lot more flexible than in pop songs, and even modern symphony and chamber music often adheres to structures set up in the 18th century (it’s getting a bit out of control now because a lot of it is written by academics to “impress” other academics and not for the general population like Beethoven and Mozart pieces were).
There’s some crossover now too. Dylan received the Nobel Prize in literature for his lyrics (modern poetry, really). Kendrick Lamar received a Pulitzer for his rap. I don’t have an example for a writer receiving a music prize (comment if you know of one), but I’m sure that other writers, like me, have been inspired by music.
Stories and musical compositions have one thing in common: they are (or should be) entertaining. That’s where the crossover lies. I guess I’m old-fashioned: my ideal entertaining evening is to plop into my recliner in front of the fire, read a good book, and have light classical music playing. Guess what? There’s rarely anything to watch on TV (I won’t do streaming video or video games, the competing entertainment sources for millions), so I often flip to the cable channel that continuously runs light classical. (I have tons of CDs, and still many treasured LPs, all for serious listening, but the TV remote is right beside that recliner.) Our cable also has jazz, C&W, and pop, but I’m very selective about that, so their programming choices are often annoying and distracting. (No folk that I can tell either.)
Here’s a question I sometimes receive in book events: Do I write with music? Sometimes, but not usually. That harks back to the logical structure a novel needs. I make that happen with self-criticism and by content editing as I go, all requiring analytic thought. I even do a bit of copy editing, but most of that occurs after the manuscript is complete, and at that point I’ll put some nice music on. I’ll also do that when I proofread. Just something relaxing to mimic how I read for R&R. (All my storytelling goes through multiple editing steps, so I can’t figure out how some errors escape us—but there always are a few that remain.)
Every story in that free PDF was inspired by music, but has a complete novel been inspired by a piece of music? Not one that I can remember reading. My novel Rembrandt’s Angel was inspired by a missing Rembrandt, though. But that’s another story, if you’ll pardon the pun.
***
Did you miss Rembrandt’s Angel? Bastiann van Coevorden, an Interpol agent, has to manage Scotland Yard Inspector Esther Brookstone’s obsession with recovering a Rembrandt, “An Angel with Titus’ Features,” stolen by the Nazis in World War Two. Esther’s mission becomes deadlier and different from her usual cases in the Art and Antiques Division of the Yard. The duo takes readers on a wild tour of Europe and South America before the story reaches its climax, as they find out what the stolen paintings are used to finance. In the process, the couple’s romantic interludes become a full-blown romance. Available on Amazon, Smashwords and its affiliates (Apple, B&N, Kobo, etc), and in most bookstores (if they don’t have it, ask for it).
In libris libertas!
