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Allison Larkin

Internationally Best-Selling Author

You are here: Home / writing / I hide in my music, forget the day . . .

I hide in my music, forget the day . . .

August 14, 2008 Filed Under: writing

Picture from my bike trip.

I did a guest post over at Extra Ordinary today about my love of cheesy music, and it got me thinking of another writing habit I employ.

I make playlists for my main characters. Getting my butt in the chair and getting focused is another really important part of writing (obviously). Playing songs that my character would like or listen to, or songs that in some way trigger something for me about that character is a vital step in my the process. It gets me thinking in their head instead of my own, and makes it easier for me to stay true to my character, so I don’t feel like I’m manipulating their actions, just following them.

I’m not saying I’m channeling anything. No imaginary people speak to me, there’s no voice from the heavens, no deus ex machina action providing me with divine inspiration to solve all my writing problems. It’s more along the lines of what Anne LaMott says in Bird By Bird about listening to your characters so they’ll tell you how to write them. Listening to a character specific playlist helps me listen to my character.

One of my main characters was really into Boston, so I spent a lot of time listening to Boston, Journey, and bands of that ilk (from my post at Extra Ordinary, I’m sure you can tell that was horribly painful for me). It helped me get her on a different level.

When I started writing Bathtub Mary, I decided early on that the story needed to take place during the summer of 1982, and I started listening to a lot of music from that year. Rio by Duran Duran came out in May of ’82 and was a great fit for Margie’s story. It was a song that would have sounded so different and new to her, coming from a household where her mom worshipped Stevie Nicks. I also loved being able to play with the image of someone walking on water (“Oh Rio Rio, dance across the Rio Grande”), and the issues of religion in the story. I could have written the story without the music, but it would have been missing something.

My current project actually started with music. I was listening to a lot of Dar Williams, and started thinking about how hard it would be to actually be a folk singer – the travel, the dive bars and coffee shops, the people who want a piece of you. Then I heard This is the Sea by The Waterboys, and it really struck me. The first line “These things you keep, you better throw them away,” gave me a rush of ideas. I started a story about a girl named River (being very literal to the song lyrics, “That was the river, this is the sea”) who was a folk singer, and left something behind everywhere she went. The story was overly symbollic and heavyhanded and exactly the kind of dreck a first draft should be, but when I got to the end of it, I had a character who, with a name change, and a different focus, is one I’ve decided to keep, and not throw away (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Her song list is heavy on the folk – Jeffery Foucault, Dar Williams, Kris Delmhorst, Peter Mulvey, Josh Ritter, Ryan Adams (Call Me On Your Way Back Home feels like it was written just for my main character at this stage of the game) – but also heavy on The Cure, Counting Crows, REM, and The Lemonheads, because that music taps my teen angst and also puts me in the story’s mid-90’s time period.

I just downloaded a recording of Toad the Wet Sprocket playing live in Arlington yesterday, and I’ve got 20 songs worth of writing inspiration right there. Time to put my butt in my writing chair.

1 Comment

Comments

  1. Willow says

    August 15, 2008 at 3:15 am

    Hello Allie! Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting.

    My grandson is truly a sweet and happy baby. The smile I photographed is what we usally see all day long.

    I love my bike too. I haven’t ridden much this summer. I really do need to remedy that before school starts! Not much time now.

    I like to walk to clear my head and walking along the beach is the best place for me to do that.

    I’ll be back to read more!

    Reply

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Internationally bestselling author of STAY, WHY CAN'T I BE YOU and SWIMMING FOR SUNLIGHT. THE PEOPLE WE KEEP coming from @gallerybooks on 8/3/2021

Allison Larkin
A few days ago, I took this photo of turkeys while A few days ago, I took this photo of turkeys while I was out on a run, marveling at how wild animals do not seem to mind when they see me. Once, I almost bumped into a deer, the way a couple might meet-cute in a rom com. We just didn’t see each other. I’ve always thought it was a fun little quirk. Not even bunnies are afraid of me. But this afternoon on my run, I came up over a hill and was suddenly within fifteen feet of a wild boar. Thankfully, a year or two ago I got curious about the big traps that show up trailside around the bay, looked them up and learned about how fast, ruthlessly aggressive, and unpredictable a wild boar can be. Otherwise, I might have (stupidly) thought I was in the middle of another one of my Snow White moments and been all “Hello there, Mr. Pig! Look at you!” believing that I could quietly observe in wonder. Instead, I knew this was a bad situation. The boar grunted and moved to the center of the trail. It felt very ‘You shall not pass!’ But I did not want to pass. I wanted to get away. I backed slowly for a few moments and then turned and ran faster than I ever have in my whole life. I’ve since learned that there’s no way that boar chased me, because there’s no chance of outrunning a boar (climb a tree if you can). But I know that boar saw me and also wasn’t happy about the surprise, and I had a moment, racing back over the hills I’d just run — not daring to look behind me more than once or twice in fear I’d lose my footing — when I truly did not know what would happen. I’ve been in scary situations, but they were a different kind of scary. I don’t think I’ve ever flat out run for my life before, but that’s truly what I thought I was doing. Right now I am still full of adrenaline and also exhausted and so so thankful to be okay.
My lemon is a happy fox. #fruitfaces My lemon is a happy fox. #fruitfaces
I think there’s something about getting older an I think there’s something about getting older and reaching back to the core of who you are. I’ve always been at my happiest when I’m up in a tree.
Portrait of the bestest girl. Stella may be slowin Portrait of the bestest girl. Stella may be slowing down, but she’s still exceptionally curious. #dailystelladog #germanshepherd
Portrait of a woman who just wants a free moment t Portrait of a woman who just wants a free moment to paint over the poop brown bathroom walls that came with this house.
Working on a thing for a thing, but I ran out of d Working on a thing for a thing, but I ran out of daylight and dog patience. Back at it tomorrow. #authorsofinstagram
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