Have you ever had a song inspire you into writing a story? Or base the story of a song? or base a character on a song?
Yup, several times. The most direct examples are two fanfictions I wrote for a video game mod a while ago. I chose Angel and Fallen, from Sarah McLachlan, and I had the lyrics intertwine with the actual story. Inspirational examples would be "Me Against The World" by Simple Plan (Inspired the entire personality of a main character), "Niech mowia ze to nie jest milosc" by Piotr Rubik (The music, not the lyrics, inspired the back story and vision-quest of another main character), "Liberi Fatali" from the FFVIII soundtrack, "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow will actually be sung by the main cast at one point (long story), and several pieces of classical music (of which "Moonlight Sonata" is the best example) have inspired certain dramatic moments. So, in one word, yes.
Awesome. When I'm writing epic stories i tend to listen to celtic music, puts me in the scene lol But I was asking, cause I just heard P!nk's 'Sober' song. Right away I thought of a new character and a posible new story! lol Ofcourse i'd twist it with supernatural/fantasy fun
Ah, moonlight sonata, yes! How could that not be inspirational?! One of my life long favorites. Sometimes I use stuff like this to set the mood for brainstorming. And the lyrics of "Shall Never Surrender" from Devil May Cry 3 directly inspired a certain character personality.
One of my story's was inspired by Epica's "Linger," though the story that came out of it ended up being almost opposite to the song in its theme. Beyond that, listening to music always helps me think and so for each of my stories has its own set of songs or bands I listen to- my current one includes an odd assortment of power metal, death metal, french pop, and Bach's harpsichord concertos.
Everything I write is inspired by music. I don't think I've had a single project that wasn't influenced by a song in some way. I find it's the perfect way to place myself in the world of the story. I'm writing a horror novel right now which is directly inspired by "Pharaohs Dance" off of "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis. That song puts me right there. The only thing is, I can't listen to music when I'm writing or I get too distracted. I go back to the song for inspiration if I've got writers block, but rarely am I able to focus on my work with music in the background (especially when there are lyrics in the song)
Music is a big inspiration for me. Don't Stop Believin' by Journey inspired me to write a short story with the same name. To Build A Home by The Cinematic Orchestra inspired me to write a novel which I'm currently working on. CJ
These are called songfics. And no, I've never done them. To me it just seems tacky to base a work of mine on a song somebody else wrote. Granted, this might be because 1. I've never yet heard a song which made me think, "I have to write a story based on this!"--I get my story ideas elsewhere; and 2. the great bulk of songfics I've read online are really, really lame--thus jading me to pulling it off successfully myself. This isn't to say that music doesn't inspire me--I often envision scenes of my stories taking place to certain music, like a soundtrack--it just doesn't inspire me to write songs based on it. Note that these are merely my opinions on what *I* think of songfics (since the OP did ask), and they don't reflect an opinion of anyone else or their opinions.
I know this is a little off topic, but I too get distracted by music with lyrics like Mr. Here up there. I was wondering if anyone could refer me to some instrumental and or classical music. I usually find my inspiration for scenes or mood in my story from music, and something new and dynamic might help inspire me on the new novel I'm developing. Thanks, and again sorry for getting a but off track.
Well, there's a motherlode of it. At the risk of sounding redundant, you should try the classics, like Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Beethoven's Symphonies (any one of them) or his Moonlight Sonata (my favourite), Chopin, etc. Just browse the internet and you'll find a huge ton of it. Instrumental isn't really my forte (nor is most of classical either, I just know a tiny little bit). Perhaps another writer will be more informative.
My first full novel/novella was based on the characters from Rush's Middletown Dreams. Other than that, I'm often influenced by music but I haven't written a story based on any of it before or since the one I just mentioned.
Go to the library and get some Richard Wagner. Anything of his is kick ass but "The Flying Dutchman" and "The Valkyrie" is primo stuff for inspiration. He uses Leitmotifs; musical theme's that represent certain characters in the story. Basically, Wagner is one of the largest influences on film soundtracks. Another inspirational composer is Richard Strauss. John Williams ripped him off for pretty much all of the Star Wars soundtrack. For softer more ambient stuff, go with Erik Satie or Johann Strauss PS: Try not to get too sidetracked by the fact that the majority of these composers were also big-time inspiration for the rise of the Third Reich!
