Character Immersion: What Your Protagonist’s Spotify Playlist Might Reveal
By Kim Bullock | April 26, 2021 |
Flickr Creative Commons: Michela Mongardi
Growing up, I scoffed at anything playing on 92 Moose FM in favor of music by Depeche Mode, Erasure, O.M.D. and The Cure. Yes, that was a real radio station and, no, I did not fit in with my Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Mötley Crue, and Metallica loving peers in the backwoods of Maine.
My appreciation for Def Leppard came at 16, perhaps because the grass was even less green in the backwoods of Finland, where my family had moved for my father’s job. The “Hysteria” album allowed me to mentally return to a time when my evening’s entertainment did not consist of a Russian documentary about women giving birth underwater, helpfully subtitled in Finnish for our viewing pleasure.
I could and did scream along with every word of my Nine Inch Nails “Pretty Hate Machine” CD at age 17. No, I was not even remotely okay.
A hand-painted-by-me remnant of my dark year
Toad the Wet Sprocket was a college favorite until the moment when everyone else liked them, too. Latin beats sustained me through grad school, a time I affectionately refer to as Grey Skies and Allergies: The Iowa Years.
My current playlists feature a menagerie of indie, pop, rock, contemporary folk, global, and selective hip-hop, all released within the last decade. Many current favorites overlap with those of my teen daughters; they have excellent taste. Compare my Spotify account with my 19-year-old’s, though, and you might mistake her for the Gen Xer. The last time I saw her, she sported a Guns N Roses T-shirt.
Though I compose in silence, music plays an integral part in my writing process. Songs often remind me of one of my characters or strike the right emotional chord for an upcoming scene. I go so far as to create playlists for major characters; the process has been so illuminating that I’d argue it is a worthwhile task for any author. Here’s why.
Music preferences reveal inner truths that aren’t often apparent through someone’s behavior
The examples above both demonstrate my mental state at any given time and show a pattern that speaks to my core personality, something that doesn’t always mesh with how I’m perceived by others. From them, you might infer that I prefer new experiences to a constant rehash of my younger years. That I embrace other cultures. That popularity negatively influences what I like. That I feel the emotions of others deeply. That I am a sucker for a good story, for a beautiful turn of phrase.
What song would your character play while alone in their car? When they fall in love? Have a broken heart? Got into that dream college? Got fired? Would their choices change in the company of other people? If so, how and why? Knowing your cardio-thoracic surgeon main protagonist secretly unwinds to Disney soundtracks on the commute home would inevitably lead to subtle changes in the way you portray them, even if you never reveal this tidbit to readers.
Listening to songs your POV character would enjoy before writing helps you enter their world
Our characters are not us, and their preferences may be far removed from our own. I’m not now and never have been a seventeen-year-old girl burdened with crippling loss I may have caused, but I can put myself there by listening to tortured-soul hip-hop (NF) or the raw emotion in a James Arthur ballad or one of Spotify’s curated compilation playlists with apt titles like “Crying Alone in Your Room” or “Life Sucks.” I’m not a young aspiring singer/songwriter hiding his talent from his small-town peers, but listening to artists who might inspire him like Noah Kahan, Anson Seabra, Alec Benjamin, and Ruel can help flesh out such a character.
What if I write historical fiction, fantasy, etc…?
Who watched the Netflix series “Bridgerton?” Listen closely to the melodies played by that string quartet. Yes, Simon and Daphne danced to a Shawn Mendes song. Yes, they later lived out all their (ahem) ‘wildest dreams’ to a Taylor Swift tune of the same title.
Don’t even get me started on “Hamilton.”
Obviously, this wouldn’t work in a novel, and unless character playlists include all music from the appropriate era, a writer would never bring such details into a manuscript. This doesn’t mean that the author (living in 2021) can’t imagine what someone from 1900 or 1650 would listen to IF they were living today and what that would say about them.
Alternately, they could compile a list of songs that simply invoke the right mood. For example, while writing my last manuscript, I was stuck on a scene for more months than I like to admit when I happened upon a song called “Beneath the Brine” by The Family Crest. It’s an orchestral tempest of raw emotion sung by a man whose voice soars to highs few humans can master. It’s unsettling, to say the least, much like the scene I kept trying and failing to compose. With lines like “all of my love, and all of my life, given to you, sacrificed” I could easily imagine my female protagonist confronting her husband. It didn’t matter that the scene took place in 1909 and the song was written in 2014. The tone and the message were spot-on, clearing the log-jam on the page.
How important is music in your writing process? Have you ever created or imagined a playlist for your WIP? What artists/genres would your characters listen to?
[coffee]
Kim (she/her) has an M.A. in English from Iowa State University. She writes mainly historical fiction, though has also contributed non-fiction articles to historical and Arts and Crafts publications in both the United States and Canada. She has just finished The Oak Lovers, a novel based on the rather colorful life of her great-grandfather, landscape painter Carl Ahrens.
What a fascinating idea! I’m brought back to Prokofiev’s iconic Peter and the Wolf, where each character is depicted by a different instrument. You take the idea even further, and I love it! Certainly, music plays an integral role in my current novel, and I have the protagonist play different classical pieces in different moods, to express different feelings and struggles. But I never thought of expanding that to other characters—for example, her husband, who is very analytical, or her teenage son—as you say, not to have them listen or play “on the page” but for me to gain access to them through a different modality that’s not based on words or images. Now, of course, I have to try it!
Hi Barbara,
For my last novel, I didn’t have an official playlist, though I did have a bunch of songs I would find myself playing over and over and did mentally connect them with what I was working on. The Family Crest song mentioned above was the strongest example. I had that on repeat for weeks.
For my current one, it made sense, since two of the three main characters are music obsessed. I got a real sense of both of them from paying attention to the listening choices of my now 19 year old, since those characters are close to her age. (I love having teenagers! Both of them gravitate away from top 40, most of which is kind of meh for me. Can’t wait to be able to go to concerts with them again!) Find one group you like and Spotify is great for introducing you to other music with similar vibes.
It’s been very helpful for me!
Music is a part of my world, so yes, it’s a part of my character’s world, too. My current hero thinks and often talks in snippets of lyrics – his own and from real world, as he’s a songwriter. I know his playlist, but I hadn’t thought about my other character’s music taste in detail. Thanks for that idea.
I definitely have a playlist for each story I write, although it’s not always an actual playlist. It is usually a small collection of albums that I can’t get enough of during the writing timeline. Always it’s a collection that shares the mood and feeling that I’m trying to capture. The magic part is I don’t do this consciously. It just happens. The story will get what it needs.
Another way I use music with writing is as a springboard – a prompt. Some songs, especially old ballads for me, are so haunting and moody, they beg for a new story. Not necessarily with the same narrative, but just in the same world, maybe the same narrator.
Thanks for the focus on music today. It is the original storytelling form.
Ada,
With my last novel I didn’t have an actual playlist as well, though informally I associated certain songs with certain characters or scenarios.
I never thought of using a song as a prompt, though that makes perfect sense!
Hi Kim, *Raises and waves hand like Arnold Horshak* I’m a historical fantasy writer who loves picking music for characters and making writing playlists. I just went and looked, and I currently have six playlists for my WIP on my iTunes library.
I did notice that the songs in Bridgerton were re-imagined current pop songs, though I couldn’t always name the song. I also stumbled across the 90’s hit Surrounded, by Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. Hadn’t heard it in several years. It so perfectly conveys the angst and mournfulness of one of my protagonists through a period of her life that hearing it can still make my eyes itch on any given day.
Very fun topic and useful post. And awesome artwork! You headbanger, you. ;)
I’m not at all surprised that you would do this, Vaughn. I know music is important to you.
I know who Chantal Kreviazuk is, though I didn’t know that song – listening to it now!
Thanks for the compliment! Friends used to pay me to paint album covers onto T-shirts for them back in high school. Wish I had a photo of the one I did of the cover for Duran Duran’s Rio. I was especially proud of that one.
I was only a headbanger in my angry phases. I shocked my oldest when she played me a parody song that was on the TV show Black Mirrors and I immediately recognized the tune as Nine Inch Nails “Head Like A Hole.” She had not known the song and cracked up when she heard the original lyrics. Want a laugh? Look up Ashley O and listen to “On A Roll” and then compare it to “Head Like A Hole.” And, yes, the voice will likely be familiar. It’s really Miley Cyrus. :-)
Ha! That On A Roll v. Head Like A Hole is a hoot! :)
Surrounded was Chantal’s first charting hit, and I once saw her on The Songwriter’s Circle explaining how it was about a dear friend’s (sounds like boyfriend) death. She said it provided a lifelong affirmation that good can come of bad or painful things. Very talented artist and very cool person.
Yeah, I thought you’d like that comparison. Sasha played the On a Roll song for me because she said it was kind of a joke in the show about writing the worst pop song ever and having it sell a ton. (Or something like that.) It sounded strangely familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it until I reached the chorus when I started cracking up while saying the real lyrics out loud.
Have you listened to Jann Arden? She’s another Canadian singer/songwriter popular around the same time. Her most popular song was “Insensitive.” Good stuff!
Hey Kim! Love this post and your musical taste. (And I share an appreciation for the way teenagers can widen our musical world. I’m constantly being introduced to new artists or new versions or old favorites through my kids.) I do a playlist for each of my books, and I find myself listening to certain songs on constant repeat when I’m writing particular scenes. Music definitely serves as a shortcut to get in the right mood for a character or moment. But when I edit, it’s either silence or classical, usually just the same song on a loop!
Hi Liz,
I’m always shocked when people my age say there is no good music being released now! You just need to look beyond the top 40. My kids have introduced me to so many good bands. (Some later became popular.) We saw Noah Kahan, BANNERS, The Brook and the Bluff, and Dean Lewis in concert together. We were supposed to see James Arthur, EDEN and Keshi but COVID hit. Other ones I found through them include James TW, JP Saxe, Novo Amor, Jeremy Zucker, Mokita, Bazzi, NF, Luz, Jonah Kagen, Alexander 23, Clinton Kane, Blake Rose, COIN, Vacation Manor, Forest Blakk…the list goes on.
I also laugh that Sasha is starting to listen to groups like Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Journey, Def Leppard, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters…her boyfriend knows a lot of those songs on guitar and she’s gained an appreciation.
I find all this very interesting, because although I like music of all sorts, silence is what I need to keep all those balls in the air when I’m working. When I started writing seriously, I did listen to instrumental music—smooth jazz or light classical—and then, like Liz Michalski, ended up listening to the same track on a loop. Finally, I noticed that silence was golden. I will admit that when others are in the house, music is useful white noise.
Michael,
Interesting that you should say that because while I’m actually composing I can’t have music playing at all. The most I can do is listen to a brain waves app with a light thunderstorm background. I listen to the playlists when I am doing anything but working!
Thanks for this fun piece today, Kim! I’ve been pondering it all day, and while I haven’t hit on what my current slate of characters might listen to (yet), I can confirm the inspiring power of music to get into the mood of my story. For my debut, it was almost anything written by Italian composer Roberto Cacciapaglia. For my second novel, it was a duo of pieces by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. My favorite piece of music to put me into the mood of my third story is something written by my daughter. I love the way you’ve described how even private knowledge of what your characters might listen to can help you tap into a character’s spirit/center/true self. I’ll keep thinking. Seems like a worthy exercise! Thanks again, Kim!
T,
I knew your daughter played music; didn’t know she composed as well. Is there no end to the talent in your family?
It’s a fun exercise, especially when it leads to expanding your own tastes. For example, rap will never be my favorite, and I still don’t care for hard core stuff, but I can appreciate the poetry in it for certain artists and the skill it would take to perform. The entire Hamilton soundtrack is a work of artistic genius. I also don’t mind songs where it is mixed in anymore. I like a lot of Post Malone now, though he’s more what my character would listen to typically.
Thanks for this fun and informative piece, Kim! (Sounds like our early tastes in music overlapped heavily. ;) )
I completely agree about how helpful character playlists can be. For my novel WIP, I not only have character playlists but a scene playlist as well, with whatever song ultimately helped me harness the mood I was reaching for in the scene best, added to the list as I go. My story is set in 2004 with some flashbacks to the late 90’s, and it helps so much as I try to remember afresh what those years felt like, to put on some tracks contemporary to the time. The character playlists feature some era-appropriate tunes, but also just anything that makes me think of a character and their arc immediately when I start listening to it. If I can say “This sounds like the inside of [character’s] head when they’re feeling [affect], then I’ll throw it on in a loop while I’m doing stuff right before I sit down to write.
Sometimes, not always, I can write while listening to music, and one scene of the WIP has a stark and strange rhythm borrowed from a Franz Ferdinand song I was listening to that felt just right for the character’s interiority in that moment. I find myself thinking about musical cues a lot for scenes, perhaps because most of my background is in screen medias.
Marianna,
I’m not surprised our tastes overlapped back then. I was a real oddball where I lived. Had to buy blindly and special order everything. None of my friends had heard of anything I listened to!
Sounds like you pick your playlists much like I pick mine. :-)
I put the name of the song I’m listening to in critical scenes in brackets so that it’s easy to search and delete. The title doesn’t stay, but it lets me get back to the same emotions when I’m editing.
Only in one novel did music play an important role, but I never thought about curating a playlist as part of character development. I will now.
Thanks for expanding my creative mind.
Betsy,
That’s a great idea about inserting the song title temporarily. I will have to adopt that practice, since I can’t always remember later!
Odd coincidence, my writing buddy and I were talking about sound tracks for my WIP this week. The story starts with the song Warren Zevon wrote about finding out that he was dying. The female lead enters a few chapters later with Beth Hart’s “One Eyed Chicken.” Her estranged adult daughter shows up two chapters later to Samantha Fish’s “Daughters.” We went through a half dozen of the major scenes trying to map them to songs that had the same emotional takeaway.
Bill,
I love that. So much fun to find musical connections.
Kim, most interesting post. I’m looking forward to reading your new book. 50s music is throughout my historical fiction WIP. The songs were picks of the protagonist. The songs are played in the band, she sings & plays the guitar with. The protagonist & her love, who she marries, talk in song words. He’s a doctor and gets right into her music world. But, while writing I’m an 80s band fan. And anything with guitars & strings. Editing, sometimes silence is golden. 📚🎶 Christine