All Hail the Oxford Comma

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Hearing a Novel: Creating a Novel Playlist

The book Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult has a line that simply reads, “Every life has a soundtrack.” In recent days, I’ve become a convert to the idea that every book has one, too.

I understand that this is by no means a new or original idea. I remember giving it some thought a while back when I wandered through Stephanie Meyer’s website. She actually posted a playlist for each novel, sort of a snapshot of the music she listened to while writing. At the time, I remember thinking that it was quite odd for her to post such a thing. Who would want to know what she listened to while she wrote? What difference did the music make since it wasn’t as if it was a movie (yes, I realize it would eventually become a movie, but this was way before that point). A novel is a visual experience rather than an auditory one, isn’t it?

I suppose I’ve betrayed myself as a reader in that last line. I am a visual person, so when I read, I don’t generally “hear” the book. I guess I’m a visual writer as well, focused on the words rather than the music that informs them. Maybe that’s why this soundtrack idea was really challenging for me to wrap my brain around. However, this playlist thing seems to be taking over the literary world. Erin Morgenstern and Jennifer Egan, both best-selling authors whose work I've enjoyed, even have playlists on Spotify to give context to their books.

In wandering some of my favorite writing blogs, I found out that the idea of a playlist, or soundtrack, for a novel has become fairly commonplace, but I was still a bit curious about why someone would go through the trouble to do this. After all, isn’t writing a novel about WORDS rather than music?!

After a good deal of research, I think I’m starting to get it. Young Adult writer Christina Farley says she creates a playlist to establish the mood of a piece and to maintain a consistent tone. I wasn’t conscious of this, but I have sort of accidentally done this in my first two novels. I am a devout Pandora listener, and I was rather perplexed when what I normally listened to—the songs that were the backdrop for Novel #1—were far from what I wanted to listen to as I wrote Novel #2. I’m not much of a country music fan, but somehow, I’m drawn to certain country artists as I write this time. I couldn’t have explained why if someone asked me… but I’m starting to understand now!

So, okay, maybe I have some background music in my head for my books, but a playlist? Really? Do I need to go that far? Rob Reid writes in Wired Magazine that he found each of his characters had a different playlist, which helped to define them—and some of this characters even have very different musical tastes than he does. Ink Out Loud has this incredible discussion of how to think about the playlist for a novel, including themes for specific scenes, characters, and even the places depicted in the book. When I really got thinking about it, one of my favorite novels from 2012, written by a former Miami University colleague of mine Jason Skipper, Hustle, was saturated with music references. I’m not sure if Jason has posted a playlist for the book somewhere, but I’m sure he easily could. I’ve even heard he’s been persuaded to sing during his readings to bring that playlist into the foreground.

Whoa...  my mind is reeling. Each character could have a song? Or maybe each scene? My book could be like a movie? This sounds a bit overwhelming—yet I’m really intrigued.

Suddenly I’m looking back at my first novel and hearing a solo piano playing behind Preston’s words, something feisty—and a bit sultry—blaring out of Tess’s radio as she drives to her photo shoot, and the strains of something a bit melancholy tinged with a bit of anger as Grace reads the letter from Jon’s lawyer. Suddenly, I’m HEARING my novel… and it sounds amazing!

The best resources I've found so far for creating a playlist for a novel include Pandora, Playlist, and Spotify. Do you include a playlist on your website or blog for your books? What has worked best for creating and sharing that playlist?

It’s Research, Mom, Really! Tips for Writing Sex Scenes

I’ve set before myself an interesting task for this week—an interesting and awkward and blush-inducing task. It’s actually something that I’m sure most writers have to consider at some point in their careers—of course there are some obvious exceptions, but I’ll let you explore those on your own.

This week I’m researching how to write sex scenes.

Yes, you read that correctly. I muddled through a few sex scenes in my first novel, but the writing was achingly slow because I agonized over every word. No, I didn’t break out the thesaurus to find that perfect word for each body part, but it felt impossibly difficult to figure out how to describe what characters are feeling and doing in that very intimate moment. That’s the moment when I just want to say “…And the door closed” or “…And they woke up beside each other the next day.” As a reader, though, I know what a cop-out that is (I’d still like to slap Stephanie Meyer!), so I’m doing my homework. Dear readers: I solemnly swear that I won’t skip the good stuff.

To aid me in my quest to become better at writing sex scenes, I turned to the experts: the writers of Harlequin Romance novels! I went to my local used book store and picked up a selection of novels to get a feel for (oh gag) (double gag) (ugh!) the fine art of writing about sex. So far, I haven’t been disappointed. Truthfully, though, I’m not sure that I could reproduce much of what they include in their scenes without laughing hysterically. (Just ask my husband who had to listen to me read the over-the-top descriptions aloud because I couldn’t keep the hilarity to myself.)

Okay, so if Harlequin won’t give me all the answers, where do I go? I decided to peruse the internet. These writers are the founts of knowledge, right? Honestly, there were really only about two things all these sources agreed upon in their discussions (although I certainly hope I already knew these beforehand):

1.      Use all five senses if possible. Sex includes more than just what we see or feel they tell me.

2.      Don’t use words like “penis” and “vagina.”  (Sorry, I guess now I’m making you blush, too!) As one writer said so well, writing a sex scene shouldn’t be like a trip to the gynecologist!

So, while I’m not sure I’ve accomplished all I set out to discover about this topic, I did pick up some useful tidbits in my research:

1.      Sex isn’t about the sex; it’s about advancing the story & understanding the characters.

2.      Sex is as much about what comes before and after as during.

3.      The best sex scenes don’t include clichés or euphemisms.

4.      Reading the sex scene aloud should result in heat—not laughter.

5.      #4 above notwithstanding, sex is humorous. If everything goes perfectly in a sex scene, it’s probably not very realistic!

Now, armed with my new-found knowledge, it’s time to get back to Book 2. I’ve got some hot sex to write—sorry, Mom!