The Magic of Soundtracks

It's always struck me as a little odd that the success of a film - whether critical or financial - always seems to rest solely on the actors and director. For me, a truly great soundtrack is the key to everything. Get that right and you can build worlds and establish emotional connections with the audience regardless of what is actually happening on-screen.

I think this applies to writing as well. Of course, we can't provide soundtracks with our books (yet - I'm sure Amazon are working on it), but we can infuse our writing with the same magic that a truly great soundtrack offers. Music opens portals to other universes we can barely even imagine. Allows us to feel the story we want to tell, as we pull the words from our head and put them down on paper.

As most writers of fiction will tell you, a good playlist is almost a necessity when writing.

Sadly, a couple of weeks ago we lost one of those genius portal-openers. James Horner was a legend, a magic-making giant of the industry. Even if you don't know his name, you'll have heard his music - Aliens, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, Titanic, Field of Dreams, Braveheart, Apollo 13, Avatar, Willow... the list goes on and on.

But my absolute favourite (and one of the best soundtracks ever) is The Rocketeer. A dream score that I find myself searching out whenever I want to write pretty much anything.

So I wanted to say a belated thank you, Mr Horner. For allowing us to travel beyond this world and bring back some of the magic that we so badly need. You'll be truly missed.

And to anybody who hasn't yet heard The Rocketeer soundtrack, click below and enjoy the ride...