Writing Prompt Monday: Music Has Charms to Soothe the Savage Block

A couple of years ago, at the conclusion of my BA, I put together a collection of four short stories as my Senior Project. These four stories were tied together by a common source of inspiration: they were all written because of an idea I got from a song.

(That short story collection, by the way, is available on Amazon, and free to read if you're a Prime member.)

Since then, I've written a sad little handful of other short stories. I'm not generally big on the short story genre, for some reason. I prefer meatier works-- the kind of projects I can get well and truly overwhelmed by. When I do get the short story bug, it's almost always for the same reason: I was listening to a song and a vivid image or emotion appeared in my brain. Music really switches my brain on.

This is my brain on music.

Most recently, I wrote a short story for a contest. That short story was inspired by this song, a song I'd probably listened to 50 times before I was seized by the inspirational feeling.

The great thing about a short story is (obvious statement ahead:) that it's short. The medium lends itself well to conveying strong, clear images, little vignettes drenched in imagery and emotion. You can play around with a short story. You can write it in dialect. You can write from the perspective of a toaster. You can write it backwards. It's freeing, because you don't have to sustain tone and direction for 300+ pages. You just write until the picture in your head has been captured. 

This week, I want to challenge you to find a song that inspires you, and then write a story based on that inspiration. I don't mean listen to a lot of songs that have stories of their own in the lyrics and write that story-- that's really closer to plagiarism than inspiration. I mean listen to some songs and wait for something to be sparked inside you-- an image, a feeling, a situation-- and turn that into a page or two of story. At the very least, you will have spent some time listening to good music and looking for inspiration.

Inspiration, in my experience, is like a woman: she wants to be looked for, sought after, even fought for. If you go out looking for her, even if she evades you at first, you will eventually find her. She plays hard to get, that devilish little minx. But it's only because she doesn't want to waste her time on anyone but the truly committed. 

If you do write a short story, let me know in the comments!