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Music for My Characters

Liz Phair, Madonna, and Britney help me form badass female characters.

By Edward AndersonPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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I'm sitting at Shut Up and Write, I finished the screenplay I had been working on and started a short story I plan on submitting for publication. In preparation for this, I have a playlist on Apple Music to help my writing flow much easier. It works, and as I'm writing in a genre that I rarely get a chance to write in, I notice the female lead is badass.

Now, this is not a surprise. Most of my characters are sassy and witty, one of the things that comes with mostly romance stories. But this time I am digging the character, she's badass and making her male counterpart look like a fool. And since I made the romance confession, I have to be honest and say I did plan a romance between these characters, but now that the story is developing it makes no sense. She would not be interested in him, and while he begrudgingly respects her, there is no attraction.

There also needs to be an honest moment about me wanting to explore more with these characters. This started as a one-off. A means to an end. A way for me to get published and start the process of leaving my full-time gig. Now, I'm wondering if there is more adventures that can be had by these two characters, particularly Briggs. She is a character that could be used in almost setting and would spice it up. A DnD character that others would depend on to get the kill shot, a romance where she would be forced to admit that she can love, but only after finding her way on her own.

The character started to develop with the help of Madonna's "Unapologetic Bitch." With that song, Briggs basically announces that she is not a woman who can easily be bullied and wants what she wants. It is also within that song that she tells her male counterpart she is a trained killer, she is a soldier that wants to spill as much blood as possible. While he wants to do the bookish things like solve crimes and not be anywhere near a war zone.

Liz Phair helped shaped the way Briggs talks to people by letting everyone know she's an everyday sane psycho ("Extraordinary"). While the groundwork was there, this is where Briggs started to come out fully formed and ready to tackle the world. It's also where I determined she was trying to impress her father, who had risen through the ranks, and viewed his only child as less than. Sometimes a love song isn't about romance.

And then the softer side came out with Britney. In case there was anyone who didn't know, I love Miss Spears. Any song she sings is instantly on my rotation. For Briggs, "Just Like Me," helped me to realize her mother not being around for much of her childhood made the way she views authority figures. She follows orders because she was taught to, she doesn't question them because no one ever told her that she should. Don't ask how that happened through a song about a woman finding her man cheating on her, it just did. Like most of my writing, things just snap into place thanks to music.

Will there be more adventures with Briggs? I hope so. If the publisher I'm sending the short story too doesn't buy it, there is all but a guarantee Briggs will see another fight. If they do, I will have to see what the contract allows me to do with this fantastic creation. Especially with Britney, Madonna, and Liz Phair on the playlist, there's a limitless amount of stories to be told with her.

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About the Creator

Edward Anderson

Edward has written hundreds of acclaimed true crime articles and has won numerous awards for his short stories.

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