Adding music to your novel?

[John_Owl]

I don't mean including an MP3 or anything, but when it comes to a character singing, do you leave it vague (i.e. "He sang.") Or do you write the lyrics being sung, despite a lack of means to convey tempo, pitch, etc?

Personally, I do a bit of both, depending on the situation. Right now, I'm setting up a character to become a ship captain later. So the focus is on the song being sung, so I'm writing the lyrics. But if the focus is on anything else, I just mention it as part of the atmosphere being created.

 

[LilRora]

I think trying to write complete lyrics is generally a very bad idea. It can turn out well, obviously, but writing songs and stories are two separate skillsets that don't have all that much in common, on top of the fact that lyrics by themselves are difficult to directly insert into a story. Unless someone is already confident in their lyrics or they specifically want to include them, I would heavily recommend focusing not on the lyrics, but on the emotions and expression.

Personally, I prefer to describe just that and add some specific lyrics in narration or dialogue, not some special format, with heavy emphasis on how they are sung. I don't like to leave it vague either, because it's a huge missed opportunity (unless it's the background, then it's fine because it's not supposed to be in focus, but even then I usually provide additional details to make the scene more complete).

 

[MajorKerina]

I say go for it I do it a lot I've written about 100 songs for stories. Most of them are separate and performed separately but a lot of recent chapters have characters singing because that's part of their personality and they're just little ditties mostly songs do not have to be perfect especially if the character is coming up with them as they go they can be rough and works in progress

 

[John_Owl]

I think trying to write complete lyrics is generally a very bad idea. It can turn out well, obviously, but writing songs and stories are two separate skillsets that don't have all that much in common, on top of the fact that lyrics by themselves are difficult to directly insert into a story. Unless someone is already confident in their lyrics or they specifically want to include them, I would heavily recommend focusing not on the lyrics, but on the emotions and expression.

I wasn't so much asking for permission lol. More just asking other's thoughts on it. I've already included it. But I only did a short verse and a short chorus. Basically enough to give a feel for the song. Just as much as the character (a ship captain) sang, before his crew took over the song, then continued on with the story surrounding it. As for formatting, I just indented it to set it apart from the rest, for ease of recognition for where the lyrics started and ended.

I say go for it I do it a lot I've written about 100 songs for stories. Most of them are separate and performed separately but a lot of recent chapters have characters singing because that's part of their personality and they're just little ditties mostly songs do not have to be perfect especially if the character is coming up with them as they go they can be rough and works in progress

I was most just curious about others including lyrics in their chapters. I rarely do it, but this one was special. It's intentionally setting up for an ending payoff, and the character singing is the captain of a ship, setting a rhythm for the crew to follow.

 

[Daydreamers]

I wasn't so much asking for permission lol. More just asking other's thoughts on it.

I think they shared their thoughts on the situation, whether or not they said, "I recommend it" or "go for it."
Personally, I wouldn’t do it unless it had some meaning, like foreshadowing, or to be honest simply because I lack the skill to pull it off.
In short it is up to the author, no different from adding a dialogue or skipping it, a person must ask themselves does it improve my story? Am I doing it to show off or for the reader's experience? will the reader be engaged interested ... etc

ps : I'm not granting permission just offering my low tier thoughts on the situation

 

[LilRora]

I wasn't so much asking for permission lol. More just asking other's thoughts on it. I've already included it. But I only did a short verse and a short chorus. Basically enough to give a feel for the song. Just as much as the character (a ship captain) sang, before his crew took over the song, then continued on with the story surrounding it. As for formatting, I just indented it to set it apart from the rest, for ease of recognition for where the lyrics started and ended.

Those were exactly my thoughts on it.

I approve of your method.

 

[John_Owl]

I think they shared their thoughts on the situation, whether or not they said, "I recommend it" or "go for it."
Personally, I wouldn’t do it unless it had some meaning, like foreshadowing, or to be honest simply because I lack the skill to pull it off.
In short it is up to the author, no different from adding a dialogue or skipping it, a person must ask themselves does it improve my story? Am I doing it to show off or for the reader's experience? will the reader be engaged interested ... etc

ps : I'm not granting permission just offering my low tier thoughts on the situation

lol sorry, working on the chapter, another story, reading/typing here, and working on the scene images to go with it. I didn't mean to come off short like that. Just that asking permission or recommendation wasn't my intent. Just everyone else's thoughts on it. That why I posted it to discussions. And yes, it is a different skillset than writing. But in essence, it's just poetry.

 

[Empress_Omnii]

I like it in concept, but unless it gets used for a significant aspect of the story or themes, I do not think it is worth the effort.
Most popular example is probably Bink's Sake from One Piece. Not only does the song have lines that represent the entire arc it is used in, it also introduces Brook's backstory. Even more, it seemes also to be about Joyboy, the character which most resembles Luffy and his journey, which is lost to time.
Finally, sake, like in the song. Is a often used symbol in the story, with many major character partnerships revolving around.

Of course I don't expect every song to be as all encompassing as that, it should have some aspects to make it worth the effort.

 

[John_Owl]

I like it in concept, but unless it gets used for a significant aspect of the story or themes, I do not think it is worth the effort.
Most popular example is probably Bink's Sake from One Piece. Not only does the song have lines that represent the entire arc it is used in, it also introduces Brook's backstory. Even more, it seemes also to be about Joyboy, the character which most resembles Luffy and his journey, has been lost to time.
Finally, sake, like in the song. Is a often used symbol in the story, with many major character partnerships revolving around.

Of course I don't expect every song to be as all encompassing as that, it should have some aspects to make it worth the effort.

Well, I think the song I included works well for the characters singing it. And they are on a ship, heading into port under oar, so it's at least semi accurate to have a shanty to keep all sailers on rhythm. but the whole section is on a ship, and kinda teases the characters ending.

 

[Valmond]

Well, I think the song I included works well for the characters singing it. And they are on a ship, heading into port under oar, so it's at least semi accurate to have a shanty to keep all sailers on rhythm. but the whole section is on a ship, and kinda teases the characters ending.

They going down like the Titanic?

 

[John_Owl]

They going down like the Titanic?

not quite. The characters got isekai'd. so now, they're trying to learn about the world and decide what they want to do, because they weren't given a grand "slay the demon lord quest." The ball of light (affectionately known as God-Not-God) that welcomed them just said "welcome to the world. get lost."

So they (might) end up as a sailing crew. Buy a ship, crew it with MC's harem and MC as the captain, etc. Or they might just make that a sort of weekend getaway thing.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I've considered it myself, but was never happy with the results and scrapped it every time. But that's just my experience. We can't all be Tolkien (or even Weiss-Hickman, I suppose)

 

[John_Owl]

I've considered it myself, but was never happy with the results and scrapped it every time. But that's just my experience. We can't all be Tolkien (or even Weiss-Hickman, I suppose)

lol I certainly don't want to be Tolkien. I just want to be the best "me" I can be as an author. But I don't begrudge those that can't or don't. I took poetry three times in high school (different focuses, but all were poetry at their core), so I've got a lot of experience writing poems. Music is just a specific type of poetry.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

lol I certainly don't want to be Tolkien. I just want to be the best "me" I can be as an author. But I don't begrudge those that can't or don't. I took poetry three times in high school (different focuses, but all were poetry at their core), so I've got a lot of experience writing poems. Music is just a specific type of poetry.

I know - I've always been told I was good at writing poetry, but I usually hated whatever I came up with; either it's too personal or too basic, if that makes any sense.

 

[John_Owl]

I know - I've always been told I was good at writing poetry, but I usually hated whatever I came up with; either it's too personal or too basic, if that makes any sense.

You are the worst critic of your own works. You either only see the flaws or you can't see the flaws. That said, if you're not proud of what you've created, then no one else can enjoy it properly either.

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Instesd of music, writing poem works better.

With poem, you can give the tone without worrying about the music. Its all in the poem.

Simplistic poem helps much more.
One or two line works best,
four five line is max.

It goes complicated once you go six and above,

Avoid complicated poem, your readers are already immersed in the story, and their processing power to digest complex different suclbject is reduced

Give them a simple very short poem that's easy to digest and could be understood.

Like a very simple poem with low difficulty, or an explained poem, so they can easily absorb.

 

[John_Owl]

Instesd of music, writing poem works better.

With poem, you can give the tone without worrying about the music. Its all in the poem.

Simplistic poem helps much more.
One or two line works best,
four five line is max.

It goes complicated once you go six and above,

Avoid complicated poem, your readers are already immersed in the story, and their processing power to digest complex different suclbject is reduced

Give them a simple very short poem that's easy to digest and could be understood.

Like a very simple poem with low difficulty, or an explained poem, so they can easily absorb.

Oh sailin' down to Bristol town
Met Maggie with hair of gold
She whispered soft and pulled me close
Her embrace was fierce and bold

Yo ho ho from port to port
I kissed the girls and laughed
Each one left a mark on me
A love etched from the past

^^ That's the one I put in the chapter before moving on with it. Enough to give a sense of the song, but not so much as to detract from the pace of the story.

 

[Valmond]

Oh sailin' down to Bristol town
Met Maggie with hair of gold
She whispered soft and pulled me close
Her embrace was fierce and bold

Yo ho ho from port to port
I kissed the girls and laughed
Each one left a mark on me
A love etched from the past

^^ That's the one I put in the chapter before moving on with it. Enough to give a sense of the song, but not so much as to detract from the pace of the story.

And then the divorce happened.