@MaryHerself Aw, thanks! And yes, playlists 🎧
What usually happens with me is I'm driving along, minding my own business, and a song comes on the radio and suddenly my characters start moving, playing out a scene in my mind, like they're in a music video (stupid #writer subconscious)
So I grab that song and add it to the playlist, and if I'm lucky, every time I play it I get a bit more of that scene. Or at least a bit more of that character.
Hero in current #wip seems to like James Arthur...
@SusannaKearsley I totally relate! Also, there used to be a web site where you could assemble your own "perfect cast" for anything - and I'd done that for my story, because I absolutely get a whole "mind movie" going along with writing (and reading!). It went offline a few years ago and I really miss it - was loads of fun. 😊 ☺️
@MaryHerself That does sound like fun. Maybe someone will revive it.
@SusannaKearsley Well, I'll be darned! I can't remember the name of the original site, but I just found this: https://www.mycast.io/
I shall have to play around with it!
@SusannaKearsley @MaryHerself My playlist is so important for fleshing out my characters, especially with my WIP, which is set in present-day New Jersey. The setting's music is all New Brunswick basement scene (Smithereens, Screaming Females, etc.), punctuated with the occasional burst of Springsteen. A secondary character from Texas didn't pop for me until I tried to figure out what country music she'd grown up with (The Chicks, early Taylor Swift, etc.).
@SarahAvery @MaryHerself I love it when a song gives you an insight into character. In the book Mary mentioned, The Vanished Days, my hero walked onto the page as a fairly quiet, reserved dude, but then one day I was in the car and THIS song came on the radio and he started moving around and I thought: Huh. 🤔 Guess I don't know him as well as I thought I did. Obviously a few more layers there I need to peel back...
@MaryHerself ...and I totally know what it's like to get derailed. Life will do that to you, sometimes. Just try to always remember to breathe. Every story takes the time it takes. Be gentle with yourself.