BooksChatter: ✉♫ An Eye for a Lie: Inspector Richter [1]

Today author Cy Wyss takes over our blog to tell us about "An Ear for Inspiration" - music and writing. Cy's latest novel is An Eye for a Lie (23 May 2019, Nighttime Dog Press, LLC, 282 pages), a Mystery, book one of Inspector Richter series.

"In prose so smooth and descriptive you’ll be lost in this devious mystery from the beginning, An Eye for a Lie delivers on the promise of unforgettable characters, unexpected technologic twists, and unstoppable action.

Intrigue abounds in this police procedural with a hint of cyberpunk. Pick up your copy today!"

|| Synopsis || Teaser: KCR Preview || The Series || Author Guest Post || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

An Ear for Inspiration

by Cy Wyss

It is said that music is the food of love, but I think it is also the sustenance of mood and inspiration. What would those grand epic battle scenes in movies be without music? Visually impressive, yes, but they wouldn’t make your chest swell with anticipation. Music sets the mood, but it can also create the mood all by itself. Try listening to sad music when you’re in a great mood – it’s difficult and antithetical.

It seems to me that music is particularly appropriate during the creative process. I find when I’m writing that something like 60% of the time I don’t listen to music, preferring the rhythms of prose in my own head. But then there’s that other 40%. That’s when I get into a piece or pieces of music and they create a mood perfect for what I’m writing. My battle scenes are rawer, my love scenes are sexier – all because of the music I’m listening to.

I first ran into this concept with Veronica Roth’s Divergent. At the back of the version of the book that I purchased was the playlist she listened to while writing the book. (You can find it here.) I thought, what a great idea! A playlist for every book. Something to give fans insight into what moods you’re in while writing which, naturally, get translated onto the page. I was particularly struck by Canvas by Imogen Heap. I love it when I discover new songs that go into my favorites list.

I was also struck by the difference between the official soundtrack and Roth’s writing playlist. (I love the official soundtrack too, by the way.) The soundtrack must have fit well with the movie because I loved the movie and was very emotional over it, but I didn’t explicitly notice the music – the hallmark of a great soundtrack.

Since then, I’ve basically created a soundtrack for each manuscript I write. Sometimes it starts with an existing playlist, sometimes it originates entirely within the story. For An Eye for a Lie, I seemed to gravitate to brooding, sentimental songs such as Coldplay’s Midnight, or Kennedi’s Last Cigarette. All of the songs either remind me of Richter in some way or the situation he was in at the time I was listening to that particular song. Rag ’n’ Bone Man’s Lay My Body Down was definitely a love song for me, which might not be how he intended it, but it spoke of Richter’s aching body to me.

Here’s my Eye for a Lie playlist [on Spotify and on YouTube below]:

I had a friend who did NaNoWriMo with me in 2018 who listened to one song over and over on repeat the entire month. It soothed his brain and freed him to write 50K words in 30 days. Why not? Everyone has headphones, so if we find something that speaks to us right then, we can play it ad nauseum without offending anyone.

What do you like to listen to? Does it change based on your mood or what activity you’re engaged in? I think there are very few of us who aren’t into driving beats while working out or calm instrumentals while relaxing. I love classical music and am kind of a “snob” about it, but there are times when nothing will do but good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll.

You can run but you can't lie.