playlists

the music of my stories.

Everything I write, I keep a playlist for. Every song tells a story. And all the songs in my playlists are part of my stories. They help me tell the most heartwrenching scenes of loss. They're playing in the background when I write the triumphant victories of my protagonists and, sometimes, their staggering defeats. No matter what happens, music is a part of my writing process. Here are just a few of the playlists I use (or used) when writing some of my absolute favorite projects.

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"Time Catchers"

There may be a lot of top 40 pop hits in here, but don't let what's on the surface fool you. This series also has plenty of room for songs from Broadway musicals, like The Last Five Years and Hamilton: An American Musical, as well as a few instrumental and acapella pieces. Plenty of repeat artists, such as Fall Out Boy and Jeremy Jordan, help create the perfect mood for the wide range of emotions I have to reach when writing the pilot and/or the bible for this show. The playlist also happens to be my go-to playlist when I'm writing a new series, until that baby series grows up and gets its own special playlist.

"aftermath"

Since AfterMath has a dual timeline with differing tones, managing a single playlist for the whole show is a bit of a chore. I need the playlist to be in line with the before scenes - i.e., romantic or high school angst-ridden - but I also need songs that are a bit more morose or depressing in order to really capture the "after" moments. For this playlist, I specifically focused on moments in the pilot episode and highlighting songs I could identify with at least one scene in the before or after. The songs that fit in both are a HUGE plus! After all, the after isn't all bad, and the before isn't all good. There are definitely songs that pull double duty. Sure, some are just there because I write better when I listen to them. But most of them have a specific purpose in the writing process for the pilot episode of this series!

"vampire academy: officially unofficial"

This is the playlist I listened to when writing Vampire Academy: The Officially Unofficial Fan Series, but I've also taken to curating it as a method of keeping up with cover artists, acapella artists, and indie artists I'd love to add into the series before the series finale. Vampire Academy may be really angsty on its surface, but there are also plenty of moments of sadness, loneliness, or heartbreak. When working within tonally sad or depressing moments, I love listening to acoustic covers of some of my favorite songs. Listening to fans transform an already amazing song into something just as, if not even more, amazing is exactly the inspiration I often need to get my scripts done.

"Out of the woods"

Out of the Woods may have been a short film, but that doesn't mean it took a short time to write. I developed the script over an entire semester in a screenwriting class, and that kind of writing dedication definitely required its own playlist. I knew going in that the entire film would have a very Bridge to Teribithia bittersweet vibe to it, so I tried to choose a lot of music from my already established Death & Suffering ​playlist (which I actually resort to very often). I used other high-intensity music, as well as music with a wonder-struck tone to help me write the story of the girl who got lost in the world of her favorite fictional tale - quite literally.

"Parker & Barrow"

In my first try outside the realm of both Young Adult and Fantasy, Parker & Barrow needed to have a different sound. A very normal, dark ambience to match the story being told about a modern day Bonnie & Clyde on the run from the world and their pasts. Due to the nature of the original Bonnie & Clyde story, as well as social setting of modern society, I realized that the show was going to be a clash of cultures. The playlist reflects that with its mix of southern gospel music, pop/non-traditional covers of southern gospel songs, as well as songs from Hamilton. Also super important in the hodgepodge for this story was the soundtrack for the Broadway musical version of Bonnie & Clyde, which served as a huge source of inspiration when I got stuck on my take on the real Parker & Barrow's next real-life incarnation. Also like Bonnie & Clyde's turmultuous lives, Parker & Barrow has both high points of sheer bliss and ultimate low points of total devestation. The songs here reflect that idea.