How to Make a Playlist for your Book
This is a follow-up article to last week's. That article was entitled "Why to Make a Playlist for your Book."
If you read that article, you're probably now asking yourself: "How?" How do you build the perfect playlist for your book? It's a skill that comes naturally to some, but if you're not one of those lucky writers, then read on - I'll be giving you a few pointers to get started.
A few different things can be considered when judging songs for your story's playlist. The songs don't need to meet all of this criteria - just one bullet point checked off, and they're allowed on the list!
The first thing that you need to understand is that there are two types of playlists. The first is insanely easy to create while the second is exponentially more difficult.
#1: Unrelated songs playlist
This playlist is compiled solely of songs you listened to while writing. They don't have to relate to the characters or storyline in any way - the only criteria they have to meet is that they helped inspire you or that you enjoyed them while writing this particular story.
#2: Related songs playlist
This is the tricky one. This playlist is comprised of songs that directly relate to one of several different aspects of your novel. This article will be exploring this second playlist.
So, without further ado, here is the criteria for creating an in-depth, thoughtful playlist for your story!
Mood. Mood is very important because it shapes how a reader is feeling. You wouldn't want to pair an Adele song with a comedy novel or a Justin Beiber song with an epic fantasy. This would destroy whatever mood the readers had been beginning to feel. Instead, keep an ear out for songs that reflect the mood of your piece. For example, love songs go wonderfully with romance novels - that one's pretty obvious - fast-paced songs go well with action-packed stories, and songs about troubled pasts or relationships go well with darker stories.
Lyrics. It's rare, but sometimes songs perfectly capture your story. For example, my most successful story on Wattpad is a science fiction novel about an insane girl trapped with aliens (it's strange, I know). Well, I just happened along a song that, along with other connecting lyrics, went, "And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me"/I can't help this awful energy/God damn right, you should be scared of me/Who is in control?" In my story, the main character cannot control the voice in her head even though it terrifies everyone she has ever loved, and she is often unsure of whether or not her actions are a result of her or the Voice. As you can see, I was lucky enough to find a song that perfectly matched my character!
Overarching summary. Some songs include bits and pieces of everything - mood, plot, and characters. These songs could be the "theme songs" to your story, to give readers a good idea of what it's about without giving anything away or tying into one element of the story too closely.
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As I said last week, I would genuinely encourage anyone who hasn't already to attempt to build a playlist for their book. It's so much fun! I wish you the best of luck in your literary and musical ventures. :)
