It’s funny how writing always manages to challenge me.
It’s funnier how I always manage to challenge myself.
The main character in my novel “Stranded in Paradise” just happens to be a rock star.
Being a creative person myself– knowing the passion of creativity and the rush one gets during the whole creative process– it’s easy to describe his élan and gusto as he’s composing and playing his music…
…What’s not so easy is describing the music.
Think about that for a moment. How do you describe sound without it actually being present?
It’s like that scene from “Mask” where the blind girl is telling Eric Stoltz that she correlates color to flavor. It’s inconceivable. One of those, “You have to be there” sort of things.
Of course– unless one is audibly-challenged– one knows what music sounds like. A heavy metal guitar riff is easily discernible from a Hip-Hop bass line boom or the nasal strains of an accordion playing a polka.
I’ve had a blast writing lyrics for this character who is the front man for his band that has enjoyed a 20-year stint in the limelight. I’ve had to liken his style to several existent bands (i.e.; well, he’s a little of this group, but his singing style is mostly this artist, but he wails on the guitar like that guy…)
So, it seems, while writing a book based on the trials and tribulations attributed to “selling one’s soul to Rock and Roll”, I’ve stumbled upon the literary equivalent of the quintessential philosophical question, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
How do you describe music?
I’m wondering what literary challenges are out there, plaguing writers like myself. I want to know if you’ve overcome them, and if so, how…
Fellow writers, let’s discuss!