Soundtrack for an untitled book

I’ve got this great idea for a novel, with a rough plot outline, an awesome ending, setting and characters all worked out, even the soundtrack–but no title.

I enjoy making soundtracks for my novels, but this is the first time I’ve made one before writing the first draft.  Usually, my first drafts are so all over the place that I end up hating whatever music I try to associate with my work–that, or the feel of the book ends up being so different from the feel of the soundtrack that I just have to abandon it.

In spite of all this, I couldn’t really help myself from putting together a playlist for my next big project, a Gaia Nova novel combining characters from Bringing Stella Home and Desert Stars.  Here it is:

• The Ones We Left Behind (Original Mix) — Tenishia
• Mega Man 8: Above the Clouds (ocremix) — Jewbei
• You’re Not Alone — katethegreat19
• Castle Rock (Chronotorious) — Bad Dudes
• Streets of Rage: Bare Knuckle Blitz (ocremix) — Willrock
• Connected — Hoobastank
• Nocturne — Daft Punk
• Planet Red Alert (Precursors) — Jouni Airaksinen
• Rockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Chronotorious) — Bad Dudes
• The Ones We Left Behind (Tenishia Burnout Mix) — Tenishia
• Parasomnia feat. Clandestine (Initiate Dream Sequence) — Phrakture
• Anumati — E.S. Posthumus
• Flynn Lives — Daft Punk
• Sunrise — Daft Punk

For me, soundtracks are all about the emotion that a story evokes.  I’m going for a tense and gritty feel, with heart-rending losses and soul-crushing defeats interspersed with poignant moments of personal triumph.

The really cool thing is that the soundtrack has helped me out a ton with the outlining process.  I’ve spent a lot of time in the past month hiking in the mountains around Provo, just listening to music and thinking about this story.  Whenever I put on the soundtrack, something would click and I’d see exactly what the story needed.  I kid you not, all of the plot twists and big reveals came to me while listening to this music.

Now if only I could come up with a title…