I have a confession...I hate writing love/romance/kissing scenes. Well, let me rephrase, it's not that I hate them, it's just that I'm not really any good at them.
Believe me, I wish it wasn't this way. I read Rachel Harris, Simone Elkeles and Katie McGarry all with total awe, and wonder why can't I do that? Why can't I just create heat in the blink of an eye without struggling with where the guy should place his hand? Or where the girl should move her lips?
This is all a big problem for me because right now I'm editing my YA Historical...wait for it...Romance.
Yes, I am a glutton for punishment. When I wrote this book, I skipped over much of the romance by just putting in "write something smexy here." And when I finished the book (except for those scenes) I worried that I wouldn't be able to pull the romance part off.
But then I was driving in the car one day and Ed Sheeran's "Kiss Me" came on the radio. In an instant, I was in the scene with my characters. The lyrics to the song had me actually visualizing how my characters' first kiss would be. I stopped what I was doing, turned around, and drove home. I raced in the door, downloaded the song, and played it full blast, over and over, while I wrote a love scene I never knew I had in me.
Music is a crazy thing. It gets us pumped up or makes us melancholy. A single note can force us to remember heartbreak or pure unadulterated love. Above all things, it makes us FEEL.
As a writer, I've found many things give me inspiration, but nothing is as powerful as music.
What about you? Does music make you a better writer? Is there a song that has inspired a scene in your manuscript or even helped you come up with a new idea? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.
