Telling Your Story Without Words

On the Playlist: United State of Pop 2009 (Blame it on the Pop) - DJ Earworm

Since I’ve had no reason to wake up before noon for about a month (out of school for the summer and looking for a job. I finally got a job the other day :)), I haven’t. This also means that it became rare for me to go to bed before three in the morning. Last night, however, I tried to go to bed at eleven because I had to be up at seven this morning to go to first-aid training. I changed my sleep schedule every day in university, so I thought I could do it again, but it’s hard to break a habit once you’ve created one. So, I needed something to help me to fall asleep.

I put on the playlist for Building Forts, which may not have been the best idea, as of course it just sent my mind intro overdrive with thoughts about the story. But, that’s pretty much how my mind is all the time anyway. Confession time, Building Forts is actually a SUPER reworked version of a fanfic I started to write (it was an AU fic, and the characters in BF are original. I just kind of reused the plot. I say kind of because a lot has changed.) So, I already had a playlist, and I never deleted the songs that fit the fic well but didn’t really fit BF.

Fix You by Coldplay was one of the songs that I always associated with the fic, and not so much BF. I mean, I knew there could be a connection, but it just wasn’t a song I heard in BF (does that make sense?) Before it came on, I’d been choreographing dances for Callie and Chase in my head, while conveniently ignoring the fact that Chase is in a wheelchair for most of the story (because that obviously helped me sleep.) Then, I choreographed to Fix You, and it was perfect. Not from a dance standpoint, because I’m certainly not a choreographer or even a trained dancer, but for the story. Callie danced like she would: absolutely no technique, and with an equal amount of heart and hesitance. Chase danced like he would: in a wheelchair, and with an equal amount of passion and frustration. And, the dance told their story. Before Fix You, all the dances I choreographed in my head told one story, either Callie’s or Chase’s. Fix You told both; it told their story.

And it was really, really cool to see their story told without words. It helped me understand it.

Of course, we’re writers, and words are how we want to tell our stories. But, I’m wondering if you ever try to tell your stories without words? Do you draw characters or scenes? Do you make book trailers? Do you compose music for your story? Let me know in the comments!