Music is a significant part of my emotional life. As an author, I use music to evoke the emotional theme and tone I'm trying to capture in a piece of writing. Music gets me in the mood of the story and I imagine that it pours in my ears, draining down into my subconscious, gets churned back up through my brain, and trickles down into my fingertips to infiltrate the story I am telling.
I strongly prefer instrumental soundtracks for writing music. Readers of mine will know the soundtrack to the game "Hyper Light Drifter" composed by Disasterpeace was a major source of thematic inspiration for my previous novel, "Gods of Sky and Dust."
My current work in progress, "The Radiant and the Corrupt," is a science fantasy epic incorporating themes of innocence, corruption, and redemption set against the backdrop of a world of demigods and otherworldy powers. Like with "Gods of Sky and Dust," for this project I have leaned heavily on video game soundtracks. In this case, I sought out music that felt epic in scale but contained the drama and intimacy of the personal. The soundtracks to "Elden Ring" and "Dark Souls III" have been absolutely perfect.
That's it for this week's post. It was really just an excuse to share some amazingly rich, dramatic, haunting, and sweeping music with you. I hope you enjoy them!
Do you have any favorite soundtracks or playlists that you listen to for creative inspiration? Share them in the comments below! If you liked this post, please share it.
If you haven't already, please sign up for my newsletter and follow me on social media to learn more about my writing and to hear more about my novels.
Comments