Music helps guide me through emotional arcs, scenes of conflict, and horrific battles. And then there are those times where, well, not much is going on. Exposition has to come sometime, be it in dialogue or somewhere else. Silence may help some writers in their plots’ quiet moments, but I still need something. Breaking and Entering by Gabriel Yared and Underworld provides this. The score itself is a unique mix of layered synthesized sounds and strings, but I would like to fixate on the opening track, before Underworld’s influence.
(This is not to say Yared’s only good for filler. Far from it: the tracks of solo piano for Cold Mountain are elegant, timeless, and totally worth a separate entry.)
“A Thing Happens” is a song for realization. It moves slowly, but does not drag. The harmonies are sweet, but also a touch off—a fine fit for protagonists as they learn something from new characters. Everyone, fictional and real, needs a moment to absorb what they’ve learned, be it painful or important or both. As writers, it can be quite tempting to brush through our characters’ thought processes. Who wants to read about someone thinking? That’s almost as bad as watching someone on television watch television. Nothing’s happening. Why bother?
Because our characters, human or not, must still have carry some degree of human traits in order for readers to relate. We are rarely quick with our comprehensions, especially when the world as we know it has been turned inside out. Allow your characters a chance to breathe before the chaos you’ve prepared to unleash upon them. Give them a moment in stillness. Yared will help you find it.
Jean Lee's World 