The Soundtrack

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

One thing I discuss with my fellow writers is. Music is yet another form of inspiration, of course, but I find there’s another use for it – making soundtracks for your works.

There’s something about making an inspirational soundtrack to remind you of the mood, the characters, etc. You can turn it on, tune in, and have the music help carry your writing forward. I’ve seen these “inspiration tracks” used by writers and artists for most of my life – going back to a D&D game where the DM found his game a theme song.

But I’ve found a related exercise that helps me with my writing: imagining the “Soundtrack Band.”

Imagine your novel, or comic, and so on gets an adaption as a movie or TV show. The producers want you to pick a band that will do the opening and closing themes, and maybe even other music. You even get a chance to pick some of their past songs.

You just get to pick one band.

T.M. Revolution and Thunderbolt Fantasy inspired this exercise, and if you haven’t heard their songs for Thunderbolt Fantasy, do so. Actually, just watch all of Thunderbolt Fantasy.

Anyway, this got me thinking about my series, the Avenoth novels. What band would I choose if I got an anime or a Netflix adaption of my techno-fantasy series? That made me ask a lot of questions.

  • What band could “embody” the setting? What band “sounds right?”
  • What band had songs that fit the setting – and, of course, could easily be repurposed without them having to record something new?
  • What band would probably “get” the setting and be into doing a soundtrack for it?

In my case, the answer came quickly – Powerman 5000. Their techno-metal sound fits, though their latest novel isn’t quite to my tastes. Some of their songs also were inspirations for my novels anyway: “When Worlds Collide,” “Make Us Insane,” and “Supervillain.”

This let me imagine an audio feel for my novels, and that solidified their feel. It was a useful exercise.

So next time you’re playing with that soundtrack, ask what band you might want to do songs in an imaginary adaption.

(If Powerman 5000 is going a different direction, I’ll be talking to T.M. Revolution and Lenny Code Fiction.)

Steven Savage

Steve’s Update 5/23/2021

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Here’s a quick roundup of where I am.

Giveaways!  The self-help giveaway ends today so check that out. I’m still in the writer support giveaway and one giving away samples of adventure novels and whole books!

Speaking! The Prolific Writers’ conference went awesome! This upcoming weekend I’m speaking at Fanime!

For the Way With Worlds series, I’ve almost written the next book – I’m about a day behind. Fortunately I’ll catch up with that and finish editing as I’ve got some vacation time.

A School of Many Futures is in the hands of pre-readers! So I am trying to focus elsewhere.

The Seventh Sanctum rewrite looks good. I’m building non-generator pages, which really helps suss out problems in code and streamline design!

Steven Savage

It Was Always Your Story

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

My fellow writer Serdar is busy working on Unmortal, his next novel, but has just announced the work to follow. He’ll be writing “Charisma,” a story that started as a practice book cover with a Geisha and a dog. Our crowd latched onto the intriguing cover, and in time he evolved an actual story – of a woman and her pet in a world where coolness is power. 

Serdar went through several iterations to make the story his – as he notes, “This, whatever it is I have here, I’m the only one who can write it as far as I know.” Those are good words for any creative to live by – create the thing that only you can create.

Living by those words is the problem, as we face many challenges to do otherwise.

We want to make money and figure there’s no way “what I truly can do” will make money. We want to share but fear that what’s truly in our heart as an artist won’t reach others. We have many other fears – ridicule, misunderstanding, and more.

It can get to the point that we don’t even know what we want to create or make. It’s hard to know oneself at the best of times. It’s harder when you’re carrying the burden of fears and expectations.

I’ve come to think of the “what is the thing only I can make” is best answered by getting out there and doing it. I’m not saying you can snap your fingers and make your fears and questions vanish; I’m saying you might as well move forward anyway.

Write, draw, create, plot. Rewrite, redraw, replot.

You’re going to doubt yourself and your ideas. You’re going to question yourself and who you are. This doesn’t alienate you – it makes you like almost all of your fellow creatives.

But if you keep moving down the road, there’s a chance you’re going to meet yourself and figure out what’s the thing only you can do.

Your own super-cool Geisha with a dog is out there.

Steven Savage