The Rhythm of a Scene

 

I am one of those writers that writes best to music. I started doing this during the writing of my first novel, Correction Line. Maybe because I'm such a film geek, but I heard soundtracks playing during the writing of certain scenes. Still, I think there's more to it... something to do with the rhythm of language. But more on that in a bit.

I remember writing a scene in CL where a character feels the full brunt of an explosion, is sent through the air, and is knocked unconscious. I wanted something dreamy in the scene, like he was existing in two different realms, one conscious, the other not.

From Correction Line:

Behind him windows blew out, wood blew apart like it was tissue paper, the entire top of the house engulfed in a green-red blaze. Roy floated over a fairytale bush and landed gently, somehow sinking into the ground. Above him Dean Martin's voice crooned, "Sway" and somewhere an ethereal congo band played him to sleep.

Now, here I actually named the piece of music that was in my head, but looking back on this scene, it works without it. Words like tissue, fairytale, ethereal, all evoke what I was going for.

But as I wrote this, Dean Martin was in fact crooning on a nearby CD Player.

For all of my books I have a soundtrack that I listen to repeatedly. Sometimes it is one artist, like Steely Dan, for Fall in One Day, and other times it is a genre of music. No surprise that Surf City Acid Drop had a long playlist of surf tunes – Dick Dale, the Ventures, the Sandals... lot of the "the" bands.

I certainly understand why directors like Tarantino used Dale's music to drive a film, to give it as the kids say, "A bop" — oh and also to make it super fucking cool.

It turns out that surf music is a great backdrop and provides energy for kick ass fight scenes.

From Surf City Acid Drop:

Another swing from Lloyd, and this time I pulled back, waited until he was fully extended and then grabbed his wrist and wrenched it. He winced at the crack, his mouth made an oh, which is when I popped him hard in the face. Then another fast rap as I broke his nose.

“Shit.” 

Harold swerved. I was already half over the seat, three more rabbit punches at Lloyd’s head. He winked out, blood streaming from his nose. The Ford screeched, clipped the mirror of a parked sedan. Harold tried to hit me with his non-driving hand. I rode the seat like a boogie board hitting a crest.

Now, turn on Dick Dale's Miserlou, and read that short scene again. I think you'll see (hear) what I mean.

What I'm trying to get at, is that scenes have rhythm to them. The music floats, or flies, alongside the language. There are crests, fades, and falls in a scene. Play just ahead of the beat, or just behind, it all creates a groove. A drummer hits a highhat and someone gets punched in the head. A set of brushes and a key-tar, key-tone (whatever that thing the Sandals play in Endless Summer) blows a soft note and a candle goes out, and a wave rolls in.

Each book finds its rhythm – and its style of music. For the new in-progress Luke novel, I've been listening to a lot of Beck, but also some country swing. I haven't found it quite yet. My other work in progress features a 12th Century Samurai (yeah, fuck genre - read my previous post.). And I listened to a lot of traditional Japanese music while writing that.

For Manistique, there were still those moments of surf rock, because it was Luke after all. But as I drew close to writing the final scene, I know I needed a playlist for that final showdown. (No spoilers).

I should also say that this music is for writing first drafts. For editing I need the silence of a monastery in Outer Mongolia (not INNER!!!). I've had talks with neighbourhood dogs to discuss terms while editing. Shushed nuns!

I digress. I like it quiet, ok.

But yes, for Luke's last big scene in Manistique, I created a playlist of 7 songs and played them on repeat as I wrote. Some of them might seem like odd choices — but if you have the book, after you read that scene, give them a listen and see if their rhythm matches the scene I created.

Here's the full list, and a link to Spotify if you want to listen.

 ... and yes, I was listening to a lot of Tommy James - why isn't his music in more movies?
 

Thanks for reading. Let me know over on the twitterbox if you write to music... or read? (That's something I can't do.)