I use several of Danna’s albums when I write, The Sweet Hereafter especially when I need an atmosphere of unsettlement. There is no orchestra here; often only a few string or woodwind instruments play at a time. Percussion is limited. Harmonies come and go like sunlight beneath a breaking cloudbank.
My protagonist flees an abusive home. She finally is in control of her fate…until a bizarre accident wrecks her bus. No one questions the circumstances, nor does anyone think it strange when another bus, empty of passengers but filled with everything the stranded travelers need, just so happens to come along on an otherwise abandoned stretch of interstate. Only the protagonist feels the wrongness of it all, from the ground beneath her to the sudden stillness of the trees.
I could not have closed my eyes and worked this through if not for Mychael Danna’s The Sweet Hereafter. I visualized the empty road easily enough, but I enjoy the quiet of Wisconsin’s empty places. I could not make myself uncomfortable.
And then I put the tracks “Bus,” “Bus Stop,” and “Why I Lied” together, and found myself shivering inside my protagonist’s skin.
Danna’s music also makes a writer’s point: use only what you need, and use it well. It’s all too easy to dive into sweeping descriptions of the world’s logistics. Background, right? Context? Readers need it!
No, no they don’t. Keep it simple. Share just enough to catch the reader’s eye. Keep him a few steps behind. Then, you may broaden the reader’s vision as the story advances. Danna’s “A Huge Wave” is the perfect track to reflect this idea, for the instruments build slowly from strings, to percussion, to wind instruments, to crest in volume and slink slowly away into the mists once more.
If ever you need your characters to feel unsure of the world about them, lose them in Danna.
Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!
Jean Lee's World 
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Reblogged this on Jean Lee's World and commented:
This is one of the first posts I wrote three years ago. It feels fitting to share a post about music that inspired Fallen Princeborn: Stolen in the week before my novel’s ARC giveaway. I hope you find the music as inspiring as I did!
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I felt like I was strolling through the brush of a forest with that second tune.
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Yes, this score has a very…it’s a tense quiet. You may feel and look alone, but there’s a part of you that knows you’re not, not by a long shot.
Thanks for reading!
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Reblogged this on The Naptime Author and commented:
I’m always fascinated by other’s writing processes. Author Jean Lee often shares music that inspires her writing. Today’s post caught my eye, as it shares songs that inspired her soon-to-be- released novel. I hope you enjoy! -Anne
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Wait, I’m confused. I thought Fallen was in a different time period so the bus is throwing me. Is The Sweet Hereafter a title of some sort in your story or is it part of Tales of the Rivervine (which I am loving, BTDubs)? This music is from the movie, “The Sweet Hereafter,” right? That movie was one of the most gut-wrenching things I’ve ever watched and now I guess I need to buy the music. It’s captivating. Thanks for always throwing me a musical bone, Jean!
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Hi! No, I can understand being thrown. the novel Stolen is contemporary, but the short fiction Tales of the River Vine stuff I’ve been writing so far has all been historical to some degree–the 80s for two of them, the 1800s for some more. Prequel stuff, if you will. 🙂
And yes, the score is just…oh, it’s shiver-inducing. Glad you like it!
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Ah, you’re my idol!
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Oh goodness. Thank you so much! But I ain’t THAT awesome.
Workin’ on it, though. 😉
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Being a newby missed your early blogs, Sipo starting the journey if that’s alright. Never come across these cds before. Found some on Prime, I can see why you use them. I’m going to try them as a unwinder thing. Thank you
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Most welcome. 🙂 I love using the library to discover composers, and Mychael Danna was one of them. Granted, some are real flops, but that’s the joy of using a library–no money lost! Yay!
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