Theme songs

One of the new things I found for developing characters this year is giving them theme songs, and I have found it quite enjoyable.  However, I found that it is very difficult to give my characters just one theme song.  Which, it just dawned on me, makes sense.  There's more than one side to every person, so they have more than one theme song.    For instance, Lizzie has three theme songs right now: Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum, Gimme That Girl by Joe Nichols, and Wildflower by the Jane Dear Girls.  None of them fit her perfectly, but they all fit some part of her.  I do not doubt that her list of theme songs will continue to grow.


Theme songs also work in reverse.  The right song can inspire a character.  This happened to me in July.  Or maybe it was August.  Whatever.   Anyway, sometime this summer Getaway Car by Thompson Square inspired one of the many characters running around in my head and her story line.  Her theme song fits her better than any of my other characters' theme songs fit them.  But that is only to be expected since it was that song that inspired her.

Finding theme songs for characters helps me to give them back story.  It doesn't help a lot, but it helps.  It's like I'm hearing them tell me how to write them and how they want to be.  Yeah, it sounds kinda lame and a bit crazy, but it is none the less true. And looking for theme songs means that I have all the more reason to hang out on YouTube or near a radio and listen to new music. Oh, poor me.