How Music Inspires My Writing

The Power of the Beat

What might surprise you coming from a fantasy author is that music has inspired me more than any other medium.

It's weird, right? Shouldn't it be other fantasy works like, Game of Thrones, Way of Kings, or heck, Harry Potter?

The answer is a resounding no, though I do use fantasy books, tv series, and other written and watchable media to pitch my books and stories to others, because that's what you're supposed to do!

And while that is something you should definitely try if you're on the same career path as me, I would encourage you to look elsewhere, into other artistic and creative places where words, sounds, and color can inspire you just as much if not more than other books in your genre.

NOTE: I don't expect you to like Sleep Token ( though I highly recommend them ), but for the sake of keeping this article succinct and within digestible means, I will only be using Sleep Token as an example for why I find music to be a powerful creative battery for my storytelling. Feel free to listen to them, or don't!

Finding the Vibes

"I've got a river running right into you . I've got a blood trail, red in the blue . Something you say or something you do , the taste of the divine..." - The Summoning by Sleep Token

I think it's safe to say that most if not all of my work strays into the dark, macabre, and emotionally torrential. So, when I stumbled upon Sleep Token, I was instantly hooked into their mesmerizing blend of moody musical genres.

Whenever I'm asked what genre Sleep Token is, I always have a hard time answering. Rock? R&B? Soul? Sexy metal? Truly, they have taken inspiration from so many corners of the musical world that their sound is uniquely their own. That sound is very much dark, emotional, and sometimes macabre in their lyrics!

Hey, that's me! THAT'S MY VIBE!!

And vibes, my friend, are very important if you are a writer.

If you are not sure what "vibes" are, you can think of it as atmosphere - the feeling a piece of media can give you. Reading a book set in a Victorian mansion surrounded by dense fog and dark woods? Already the atmosphere speaks of hauntings, horror, and mystery. If this were to be set at a sunny, beach-side resort, you might be setting your reader's up for some whiplash.

So how does this all tie back into music as an inspirational well for writers?

Music, maybe more than any other medium, can help you find those coveted "vibes" for your story.

Take for instance my novel draft, CASTLING, a young adult fantasy gothic horror story. When I was in the discovery phase, it was very important that beyond the themes, characters, and plot that I find and establish the atmosphere and setting which is crucial to gothic horror stories.

In gothic horror, the setting is a character. What story in this genre isn't complete without some fog, rain, and storms? You don't really picture Mary Shelly's Frankenstein taking place in a sunny villa.

So when I'm uncovering the foundations of my novels, I seek out music that gives me those same feelings and imagery to help me establish the desired "vibes" in my story. Lots of music out there can do this for you without lyrics, letting the musical instruments do most of the work ( as they should ).

However, sometimes music with powerful lyrics can take you even deeper into the foundations of your stories. Not only can they help you establish atmosphere, but they can inspire the emotional core in your works as well.

Bringing the Emotion

"And I don't know what's got its teeth in me , but I'm about to bite back in anger. No amount of self-sought fury will bring back the glory of innocence..." - Take me Back to Eden by Sleep Token

MY GOD CAN SLEEP TOKEN WRITE GORGEOUS LYRICS.

It's artists like Sleep Token that can really elevate a piece of music with top tier lyrics. Every song is like a poem with masterful metaphors and deep, emotional writing that will leave you breathless

If you find the right music and artists for your projects, I promise you can find endless wells of inspiration. Sleep Token helped me immensely when writing RE:SURGENCE, my poetry collection about battling mental health. That collection was packed with intense, emotional beats that had to be made digestible for poetic prose. But how was I supposed to condense such an emotional torrent into poetry? Well, I began studying Sleep Token's lyrics.

Let's do some examples of how I accomplished this, starting with "Atlantic" by Sleep Token. This song was the main inspirational drive for my poem "Chemical Experiment: Resurgence".

Both Atlantic and Resurgence speak of waking up in a hospital surrounded by doctors and loved ones.

"I woke up surrounded, eyes like frozen planets just orbiting the vacuum I am. They talk me through the damage, consequence and how it's a pain they know they don't understand." - Atlantic by Sleep Token

This line especially hit me in the gut upon first listening. That feeling of when you are in the midst of a mental crisis with doctors claiming to know what's best for you even though they themselves cannot share in your experiences...yeah, I wanted that for the opening of part III in my poetry collection.

But, what's important when you take inspiration, is that it must be all you take. Write in your own words. Make it your own.

This is how I went about it in my poem, Resurgence:

I slowly wake / Thoughts and dreams in a haze / Like a mirage upon a vast desert / For that is all that is left for me after this drought ...

...Shapes of faces I remember surround me / And I feel the warmth from their hands as they embrace me...

...But I know what they will not say / the pills are no cure / Just as the sun is not the cure for the rising moon / It is merely a repression of that darkness / I have walked next to all my life..." - Resurgence

Very different, right? More words for one ( I cut out some of the lines in the example as they weren't directly inspired by "Atlantic" ) and for another the metaphors take a different direction. While "Atlantic" uses planetary bodies and "vacuums", I allude specifically to the duality of sun and moon, and make comparisons to dreams and mirages upon a desert.

Same story, similar feelings, but written with different voices.

Let's look at another example, this time from Sleep Token's "Like That" and my stand alone poem, "Into My Grave".

"Trapped under the surface of your words, there is a new intention, new whispers that once could not be heard...Fall into your eyes like a grave, bury me to the sound of your name..." - Like That by Sleep Token

The main lyric from this song that grabbed me was the line, "Fall into your eyes like a grave", which gives striking imagery. I really wanted to explore that image in my own style. Here was my take:

"Like the quick descent of death / you sweep into my tomb with new intention / eyes widening upon the dim sparkle / of burial gifts long since rusted / to time's endless march...

Yet, even as you pull away / with the knowledge of your deceit, / you will still fall helplessly into my gaze / as I once fell into yours, / and into my grave." - Into My Grave

Both song and poem speak on a toxic relationship with the concepts of intentions, death, and falling playing large roles in establishing the imagery for the reader/listener. ( Again cut out spots that weren't 1:1 inspirations. ) But again there are vast differences despite similar metaphors and diction used.

With Sleep Token's song, the POV is of them falling into someone else, where I took that image and flipped it to where the POV is of me being fallen onto, with both leading to a grave.

And sometimes, that's all you really need to do if you are struggling to find ideas or inspiration in general: just flip the script!

Find Your Muse

"When you sit there acting like you know me, acting like you only brought me here to get below me. Never mind the death threats, parting at the door we'd rather be six feet under than be lonely." - Granite by Sleep Token ( arguably my favorite Sleep Token song ).

If you're not sure where to start on your musical inspiration finding journey, I would suggest places like Spotify, YouTube, or any radio station that you can tap into that plays music. Have a pen and paper ready, and put the music or music videos on shuffle and let yourself be free in the sea of music.

Something strikes you? Write down what that is, whether it's a lyric, feeling, or image. Just want the song in general? Most places online or on the radio will tell you the song and artist outright so you can look them up later.

And as far as putting together a collection of music that can help you establish the foundations of your work, I would suggest making your own playlists.

Don't go in expecting all your musical choices to be in perfect harmony. It's more about finding that "vibe" or atmosphere, lyrics be damned ( for now ). It's very much like writing a first draft: it will be messy and mostly experimental. You can make it pretty later!

One thing I LOVE to do is finding a "trailer song" to go at the top of my playlists, so that every time I dive back into my playlist I'm instantly transported into the story in a visual ( and epic ) way!

If you want a few examples, here are some of my playlists from Spotify!

*Lunar Rebirth is the most developed playlist if you want an example of a playlist that sounds a bit more unified!*

CASTLING; gothic horror, supernatural, medieval

EVERGEEN; epic fantasy, Celtic-inspired, heavily character-driven

LUNAR REBIRTH; high fantasy, astrology-inspired, journey of self-discovery

I hope these either help or inspire you to try new ways to write your own stories and poetry. While reading others in your genre is always going to be a good idea, it shouldn't be the end-all-be-all of your inspirations, and you shouldn't be shamed for avoiding the big successful stories either ( I've literally never read Game of Thrones or Fellowship of the Ring. COME AT ME ).

What's important is that you find YOUR best way through your writing journey. If it works for you, then that is all that matters!

Until next time when I decide to write another 2,000 word article about Sleep Token. c:

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Want to read more of my thoughts on writing and how I get through novels? You're crazy, but that's cool! Have at it: