Why to Make a Playlist for Your Story

I have been making playlists for my novellas for about a year now. I had been hearing tales of authors, both published and not, doing so and decided to try it myself - and I'm so glad I did! It can be a lot of fun to create music playlists for your stories, but there are a few smart reasons for doing it as well.

It can pay off if your readers happen to have personal connections to the songs. I know that when I hear of authors having the same music tastes as me, I instantly like them more. It doesn't matter if Stephanie Mayer wrote a series of books that degrades women and slanders one of my favorite supernatural creatures (well, okay, it kind of matters) - she likes Coldplay, and I like Coldplay! And I did make it through the first Twilight novel...

Back to the point, it's those little things that gain personal connections with your readers that can really give you a leg up as far as reads and votes are concerned.

It's a convenient way to get in the mood for writing. If you associate certain songs with your book, whenever you hear those songs, you'll want to write! I promise, this works. It's more ideal if the songs aren't on your usual playlists, because then the association will be way stronger. Don't despair if it's one of your usual songs, though - those can work, too!

It helps establish themes and overarching moods. A story that revolved around the ideas perpetuated in an Imagine Dragons song would be very different than ideas from Nicki Minaj. In creating a playlist for your story, each song carefully crafts the mood of the piece, as well as contributes to overarching themes, if their lyrics relate to the storyline.

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Even if you don't agree with any of this, I would still reccomend trying this process out - it's so much fun! Now plug in your earbuds and get writing :)