AW Musical Blog Chain

What does your story/character(s) sound like?

This is the question for the AW May Blog Chain. It’s an enormous umbrella of a question, with room to write about many different aspects of music and writing and how they intertwine. Previous bloggers have shared their playlists, book trailers, theme songs, musical inspirations, etc. But at the risk of being denied my Fantabulousness from Aheila, I am going to avoid these avenues and take you someplace incredibly uncomfortable for me. I am going to take you into my personal world of writing. Be nice, kids.

My work in progress began with the idea of a song. Oh, I had been working on something of a story for about two years already. I had developed characters and cultures, maps and history. And then I stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:

“Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.”

Psalm 57:8, NIV

I carried it for several days, not sure what it meant or how one could “awaken the dawn.” It led me to finally waking early one day and driving to the Lake to watch the sunrise. As I sat in the cold sand that morning, watching the sun peek up over the Lake, I had this growing sense that I was witnessing something sacred. Part of me wanted to shrink into oblivion, but a greater part of me wanted to find some way to honor the moment. As soon as the sun was free of the horizon’s grasp, I rushed back to my truck and penned the words that became the song. It has a hymnic rhythm and sound, as seemed appropriate to me, and it praises the god of my main character (the Ukyr—pronounced OO-car, and not to be confused with the card game Euchre [you-kerr] ). Here it is, in its first draft. No nitpicking at my lyric-writing abilities (or lack thereof). The Song of the Morning:

From the dawning of the day

To the setting of the night

You have given to us breath

You have given to us life

We will bless You, Great Ukyr

And give praise for who You are

From the waking of the streams

To the slumber of the fields

You have given all we need

You have been our strength and shield

We will bless You, Great Ukyr

And give praise for who You are

From the trees that shout Your name

To the dara’s morning song

Let our hearts be filled with praise

And adore Thee all day long

We will bless You, Great Ukyr

And give praise for who You are

From this scribbling on a bank envelope in my truck, sprang several other songs and musical traditions. As it turns out, my cultures are largely musical—as seems right to me. Of the four different cultures I’ve introduced in this story, only one of them has no music, and this is quite intentional. At present, I have written seven songs for them, though admittedly, most of them are shorter than this one.

Each culture, of course, renders a different musical style. The song above is simple, both lyrically and musically. It allows a large number of characters to sing and remember it, which is what I wanted for Komae. These are simple people who rely on oral (and musical) tradition.

Other cultures have more musical songs, or more lyrical. The Elves of Ganahar, for instance, have a fluid sense of music. The one song I’ve written for them—though incredibly short and unimpressive to read on the page—was honestly painful to write. It runs musically like a river, turning and flowing about every pebble, repeating the same lyrics. You would honestly mock me if you read the lyrics. Without the music, it is frustratingly boring. The Ilonies, on the other hand, may sing only two distinct notes, but fill it with a thousand words (no, I haven’t written a thousand-worded song…but I am suddenly tempted to try…).

It’s not the first time I’ve written songs for a piece of fiction. It’s not even the second or third time I’ve done so. It will, however, be the first piece with songs that I finish.

So. What does my story/character(s) sound like? I hope I’ve at least somewhat answered the question. My writing and my music, at least in the case of this story, have melded into one.

Please stop by the other Links in the AW May Blog Chain. For regular viewers of my blog, I’ll extend the Magic SemBlog Points to any of the following blogs you comment on. Just shoot me an email or a comment and let me know that you’ve commented.

AW May Blog Chain Links:

Aheïla
Stefanie Gaither
AuburnAssassin
xcomplex
Proach
8thSamurai
vfury
CScottMorris
Hayley E. Lavik
FreshHell
LadyMage
DavidZahir
Aimée Laine

egoodlett (before me)

Semmie (that’s me–and if you’re reading this, you shouldn’t need the link)

Sbclark (after me)

Razibahmed
ArcticFox
Lilain
Truelyana
CowgirlPoet
defyalllogic
circlexranch
IrishAnnie
Anarchicq
Harri3tspy
Alpha Echo