Written by Cindy R. Wilson
Cindy R. Wilson is a YA speculative and contemporary author whose own struggles with anxiety disorder inspired her to write a story with a real-life topic readers can relate to. She lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and loves using Colorado towns and cities as settings for her stories. She’s the mother of three girls who provide plenty of fodder for her YA novels.
When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking some of Colorado’s tallest peaks, reading, or listening to playlists she’s created for her next story idea.
We had the pleasure of having Cindy write up a guest post piece ahead of the release of her new YA contemporary, Paper Girl.
To be honest, without music, without songs that inspire me, I could never write a book. I’ve had single songs inspire entire novels, so I’m not lying when I say music is important to me as a writer and during my plotting/writing process.
Writers, like all kinds of artists, need inspiration. Mine comes from a lot of places, but mostly music. I’m the kind of writer who makes her playlist before she even fully develops her characters. The kind of writer who already knows what songs would be on the soundtrack if her book was ever made into a movie.
So how does music inspire me exactly? First, it’s just the mood, the tone. I write in several genres, from contemporary YA to sci-fi, so having a well thought-out playlist gets me in the right mood for whatever kind of story I’m writing. I’ve included popular mainstream artists (like Taylor Swift and Twenty One Pilots) to lesser known ones (such as Caravan Palace and Doe Paoro). Finding music for a story is a part-time job in itself, but it’s completely worth it. Not only does the playlist help set the mood and tone, but it helps me learn more about my characters. I often have a song strictly for my main character (or main characters, if there’s more than one). And on top of that, I have songs for several scenes. My books play out like movies in my head, and many scenes get their own song.
It sounds like a lot of work, I know. But so it writing a book, which means, every bit of inspiration I have to get that creativity on the page is worth it. And then, years down the road after I’ve finished writing a book, I have memories. Every time I heard a song on one of books’ playlist, it reminds me of me of the story and makes me fall in love with it and the characters all over again.
Website: www.cindyrwilson.com
Twitter: @CindyRWilson
Facebook: @AuthorCindyRWilson
Instagram: @CindyRWilson
