Morning everyone! I am loving this fall weather. Crisp mornings and warm, but pleasant afternoons. Ah! I’m trying to ignore the fact that winter comes next. I’m not a fan of the cold. Since the weather has been glorious, I’ve been doing a lot of writing in my sunroom. Breeze. Sunshine. It’s motivating.
But what’s really motivating these romantic scenes I’ve been crafting is the following songs. They evoke such emotion. The lyrics. The musical score. Genius!
What do you think? Can you feel the romantic emotions? The angst? Do you like any of them? Have you heard any of these before? Can I ask any more questions? 🙂
Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and I am again grateful for those who sacrifice for my freedom. The following music selections and video footage are my way of honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice that day so many years ago.
Pearl Harbor Musical Selections:
Video footage of Pearl Harbor Attack:
Virtual Tour of the USS Arizona Memorial:
What stands out to you most in the memory of that day?
Now that December is only a day away, we can go full throttle with Christmas music! Of course, some of you go full throttle much earlier–which I applaud–but I tend to wait until after Thanksgiving. Probably because I’m too lazy to unearth my CD’s. Anyway…
Years ago, I bought a compilation Christmas CD and first heard “Mary’s Song” by Kelly Price and Wynona Judd. I bawl every time I listen to it! The song really drives home the reason we celebrate this time of year. Jesus was a baby–Mary’s baby–a child to cuddle and protect. And He willingly took on human form from birth to adulthood, all the while knowing He would die to save us from our sins.
Honestly, I have a son, and I can’t imagine looking at him as a baby and knowing he would die to save the world. Powerful stuff. Songs like this help me dig deeper into why we’re celebrating and force me to take the decorations and cookies at face value–they’re fun, but not all that important.
Do you have a Christmas song that really speaks to you this time of year? I’d love to hear it!
As we head into the last week of NaNoWriMo it is time to surge ahead. Claim victory for this leg of the journey!
Today’s Music is a variety of victory music. Maybe your character is headed to victory over a villain or dark moment this week. Maybe you are headed for the end goal.
You can do this! Here are a few songs to help you as write, read, and conquer.
What are some of your favorite victory songs? Share the youtube link in the comments below so we can all enjoy them this week.
It’s NaNoWrMo, and even if you aren’t furiously writing 1,667 words a day, you are probably stressed by evening. Music is a great way to relax.
Not only does certain music relax me, I also like to play themes from romantic movies when I write the romance in my romantic suspense and romance novels. And if you know me, you know I need all the help I can get to write romance. 🙂 Here’s one of my favorites.
And this one…
What’s your favorite music to listen to when you write romance or read romance?
I love Broadway shows. From Phantom of the Opera (the dark and melancholy) to Aida (Elton John and Tim Rice’s AMAZING show!) to Beauty and the Beast (so gorgeous and fun), I love watching them live. And I love listening to their soundtracks while I’m writing.
My recent favorite is Newsies. Are you familiar? The Broadway show is based on the 1992 movie of the same name–which stared a young Christian Bale. Yep. Before he was the Dark Knight, Christian Bale was Jack Kelly, the leader of a ragtag group of newsboys fighting Pulitzer and Hearst, the biggest newspapermen of the day. The movie and the Broadway show are set in 1899, at a time when the rich rose to power on the backs of the poor and innocent. Children worked absurd hours in terrible conditions to help their families survive, while the wealthy exploited them.
So when Jack and the other newsies discover that Pulitzer has raised their costs, they fight back and start a revolution. Of course, they do it all to song and dance.
I grew up on the movie version–in fact, the soundtrack was my very first CD. So when Disney created the Broadway show, I knew I had to see it. But I had to wait. It took several years for the show to hit the road on a national tour, which it finally did earlier this year. And I saw it twice!
It was so good. But it wasn’t the same as the movie. In the movie, a reporter played by Bill Pullman, brings the Newsies strike to the attention of some important people. In the stage show, there’s a new character–a female reporter and love interest for Jack. Katherine Plumber, as a woman, has been consigned to writing about vaudeville shows and society pieces. Now she sees the importance of writing something that could changes many lives. Here’s her song:
Here are a couple of my favorite lines:
“Write what you know” so they say,
all I know is I don’t know what to write or the right way to write it. This is big, lady, don’t screw it up, This is not some little vaudeville I’m reviewing.
Poor little kids versus rich greedy sour pusses
Ha! It’s a cinch! It could practically write itself–
And let’s pray it does,
cause as I may have mentioned,
I have no clue what I’m doing.
This song speaks to me as a writer. I often feel a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of the story I’m writing. I’m called to write stories of love and hope and redemption and grace. These are not small potatoes. These are themes that can change lives. They can free prisoners and restore relationships.
And my mantra through much of my writing is “Don’t screw it up.”
And then I remember that God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. When I’m called to write a new project, I’m called to do my very best and leave the rest and the results to God.
Do you ever get nervous or feel unprepared to write the project you’ve been given? How do you deal with it? How does music help you?
Writing can be wearisome, can’t it? We need to write faster. Revise smarter. We need to erase those overused phrases and weasel words. Our to-do list piles and after all the revisions and red ink, we still find typos and issues. It’s enough to make us hang our head and wonder why we’re still at this.
But what do we really need when we’re feeling the pressure?
All we need is Jesus. The lifter of our heads, the lifter of burdens and weights that hinder us. We need Jesus to refresh us, renew our strength, and remind us once again why we really write.
So take a minute on this Monday morning before you slog through your to-do list and open up that WIP. Let Jesus remind you, what you really need and I promise, you’ll be looking at that manuscript with fresh eyes and renewed spirit and all of a sudden….it won’t seem so daunting.
What song has lifted your head when you’re feeling the stress of writing?
Can we talk about rejection for a minute? I mean, really talk about it?
As writers we often refer to rejection as a badge of honor. That first rejection letter should be a source of pride, we tell each other. It’s a symbol that you’ve become a real writer–one brave enough to send your baby into the great big world. You’re brave enough to let someone tell you they love it. Or worse, hate it. The rejection letter toughens your skin and helps you grow, every pass moving you toward the writer you want so desperately to become.
We all know the stories. How Kathryn Stockett’s The Help was rejected 60 times before it became a national phenomenon. How Max Lucado received no less than 17 rejections before a publisher took a chance, and now he’s sold more than 90 million copies of his books. J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book received 12 such letters. Louis L’Amour received 200.
I’d like to say that this is a post about persistence and working toward your calling. And honestly, I believe those to be good things. I’ve seen them in my own life, my own writing.
But today I want to say with complete candor, rejection stings. It hurts. It gnaws at your insides, and just when you think you’ve dealt with it, it comes back to take another bite. It tears you down, and just when you think you’ve made it one ladder wrung closer to the top, it grabs your ankle and gives you another solid tug.
I’m not sure what to call the pit it pulls you back into. At best, I can describe it in my own life as sorrow. It’s so much deeper than sadness. It’s not merely being upset at the situation or feeling inferior. It’s a true and honest heartache.
We all face this. No matter where we’re at on our writing journey (starting our first book, finishing our last, or never planning to write a single one), we all feel this pain. Whether it’s from a publishing house or a friend turning her back or a lost loved one.
I’ve been thinking about rejection lately. About a friend whose husband walked out on her after six years of marriage. About a friend I’ve lost touch with because neither of us tried hard enough to reach out. About a young man who was thrown in a pit and sold into slavery by his own brothers.
I know some would say that rejection can be dealt with by simply thinking positive thoughts or working harder or focusing on stories of ones who survived similar experiences. And while it’s good to keep working and to think positively and to let others’ stories encourage us, this week on the radio, I heard the words I most needed to hear.
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can’t heal.
It’s from a song by David Crowder called “Come As You Are.” And it’s so honest. So true for the hurting and the rejected.
Here’s the first verse and chorus:
Come out of sadness from wherever you’ve been
Come broken hearted let rescue begin
Come find your mercy
Oh sinner, come kneel
Earth has no sorrow That Heaven can’t heal
So, lay down your burdens Lay down your shame All who are broken Lift up your face Oh wanderer, come home You’re not too far So, lay down your hurt Lay down your heart Come as you are
If you’re feeling the sting of rejection rather acutely right now, could I encourage you to come as you are to the feet of Jesus? There is no sorrow that His love can’t heal. If you’re feeling broken, lay down your hurt and lift up your face. Jesus doesn’t promise an instant fix, but rather that He’ll never reject us.
Do you have a song that reminds you of God’s presence in your life?
Driving down the road with my kids who are not yet drivers is often surprising. When my way too cute eight-year old tells me how to drive, I have to smile. He seems to have all of the knowledge necessary to drive by the way he talks, but has spent no time behind the wheel.
It reminds me so much of how I try to backseat drive my way through my writing career. I have no expertise compared to God and yet here I am giving Him directions.
I make copious schedules, tell Him which Publishing House is mine, determine the desirable timeline for each step of the journey, and argue with Him when I feel He took a wrong turn.
I hate to admit it, but sometimes I backseat drive my life. This new song by Toby Mac helps me to keep perspective when I think I need to take the wheel.
Going into the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Conference I am playing this song often to keep perspective. Regardless of how many appointments are in my schedule, who I want to meet with, what I hope to learn, or the career path I have laid out for myself, I am better off with God driving the car.
Do you ever struggle with backseat driving?
What is the hardest thing for you to let God drive in your life?
Hi everyone! Hope y’all had a wonderful weekend. I made my honey a from-scratch (including icing) strawberry cake and his favorite meal: roast and potatoes for Father’s Day/birthday. I’m stuffed.
But writing must go on even when you want to hibernate. 🙂 I’m gearing up to write a new novella, the last one in my Seasons of Hope Series. Something I like to do (I’m sure I’ve said it before) is make a playlist on Spotify. As I’m searching music, scenes start to take shape. Like flashes. I may not have a clue about their back story or their struggles, but the romance is there. Always. One of my favorite things in a romance movie or TV show is when the music is playing and you see several scenes (sometimes flashbacks) of the couple falling in love or dealing with romantic pain. The music, lyrics, and actions bring all the feelings!
That’s what happens inside my head as I’m thinking about my story. Here are a song I’ve been seeing flashes of romantic scenes to: (Play the song while you read the next paragraph. You can see how I’m arriving at my thoughts!)
I can see my heroine hurt and struggling with her past mistakes, sitting on the edge of the dock gathering strength to go on while the hero isn’t too far away, painting furiously (he’s an artist), completely shredded and unsure of what to do, so he does the only thing that comes naturally. He paints his pain. Then at the end of the song, she stumbles upon him, their eyes connect. He lowers his paint brush…she lowers her head and fade to black. Oh how music can make the imagination soar! Wanna know what happens next? Me too!
Writers: Do you listen to music to help you in the brainstorming stage? Readers: Do you like the romantic scenes in movies set to music? Have a favorite scene? Share it with me! Or just a favorite song. I always need new inspiration!
Thoughts On Plot 