A while back I noticed a trend among novelists -- those publicizing their recent work via social channels anyway -- of publishing a "soundtrack" or playlist of songs to accompany their book. My first reactions included adjectives like quirky, frivolous, desperate. But then, I have to admit that it got me thinking.
I realized that I did have a soundtrack of sorts during the writing of the first draft of my current novel-in-endless-progress. The book in question focuses on a group of (mostly gay) friends on Fire Island over the course of a summer. And the music I listened to while writing was mostly Pet Shop Boys -- specifically a playlist I'd compiled in my iTunes and called "Pet Shop Boys MELLOW." It helped me out immensely during the writing, a lot of which was done at the local branch of the public library (to get away from the need for constant attention by my rather demanding French bulldog, Rocky, but that's another post). Plugging in the earbuds helped to shut out distractions and immersed me into the world of my story. But that was a tool to help me focus and get it done. Would it work, or even be relevant for a reader?
I have to say, authorial suggestions of that kind generally strike me as a bit facile. I always resist (and sometimes roll my eyes at) using real life / pop culture comparisons to a character's appearance in fiction. It just seems too easy to say something like, "She had an ass like Kim Kardashian," unless of course it's really relevant in some way to the story.* (I recently read a new novel by an author I rather admire that was full of this kind of celebrity comparison that I found hugely disappointing and distracting, and it made me wonder if his work had always been filled with that kind of junk and I'd just never noticed. But again, I digress.)
Fast forward to my current draft, and the endless rewrite.
I came to the awful realization that the opening of the book needed to be thrown out and completely rewritten. And that has further implications for the rest of the novel. I sigh. But it's going well. If I can pull it all together, the book will be in a better place -- I know it. But I guess my point here is that my playlist no longer works for me. And I haven't found a replacement. Even if I do ... would it really matter to anyone who happens to read my work?
What do you think? Is publishing a companion playlist to a work of fiction fun? Helpful? Distracting? Or annoying?
* Doesn't mean I haven't done it myself.
I realized that I did have a soundtrack of sorts during the writing of the first draft of my current novel-in-endless-progress. The book in question focuses on a group of (mostly gay) friends on Fire Island over the course of a summer. And the music I listened to while writing was mostly Pet Shop Boys -- specifically a playlist I'd compiled in my iTunes and called "Pet Shop Boys MELLOW." It helped me out immensely during the writing, a lot of which was done at the local branch of the public library (to get away from the need for constant attention by my rather demanding French bulldog, Rocky, but that's another post). Plugging in the earbuds helped to shut out distractions and immersed me into the world of my story. But that was a tool to help me focus and get it done. Would it work, or even be relevant for a reader?
I have to say, authorial suggestions of that kind generally strike me as a bit facile. I always resist (and sometimes roll my eyes at) using real life / pop culture comparisons to a character's appearance in fiction. It just seems too easy to say something like, "She had an ass like Kim Kardashian," unless of course it's really relevant in some way to the story.* (I recently read a new novel by an author I rather admire that was full of this kind of celebrity comparison that I found hugely disappointing and distracting, and it made me wonder if his work had always been filled with that kind of junk and I'd just never noticed. But again, I digress.)
Fast forward to my current draft, and the endless rewrite.
I came to the awful realization that the opening of the book needed to be thrown out and completely rewritten. And that has further implications for the rest of the novel. I sigh. But it's going well. If I can pull it all together, the book will be in a better place -- I know it. But I guess my point here is that my playlist no longer works for me. And I haven't found a replacement. Even if I do ... would it really matter to anyone who happens to read my work?
What do you think? Is publishing a companion playlist to a work of fiction fun? Helpful? Distracting? Or annoying?
* Doesn't mean I haven't done it myself.
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