Writing prompt #27: SOUNDTRACKING YOUR STORY

Hi Everyone,

Happy Summer! I’m glad to be back and look forward to more exchanges, prompts, literary news, and so on.

Today, I spent the morning listening to as many ‘outsider perspective’ songs as I could about Berlin in the 1970s-90s for a novel I’m working on. Among them: Lou Reed’s “Berlin” (1973), David Bowie’s “Heroes” (1977), U2’s “Zoo Station” (1991), and The Ramones’ “Born to Die in Berlin” (1995), which was the last song on their very last album.

What are your characters listening to? Or, what’s playing in the background of their lives whether they’re paying attention or not? How can music help your story conjure an era, a longing, a love affair, a specific tragedy? What lyrics have gotten stuck in your characters’ heads?

YOUR PROMPT: Create a soundtrack for one or more of your characters. Play the songs over and over until you and your character(s) metabolize them. Then work in a bit of the songs’ magic into your future drafts.

Enjoy! And please feel free to post playlists and how they’re linked to your work-in-progress.

Abrazos,

Cristina

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