Behind the (Writing) Scenes with…

Christina Britton Conroy, Manhattan-New York City Branch

 

Writing to Music

From The Pen Woman, Fall 2021

Whether I am writing fiction or nonfiction, I tell the truth. Readers tell me the emotions of my fictional characters feel so real, I must have experienced their exact situations. Like method acting, I am able to remember real-life events and transpose those emotions onto my characters.

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Christina Britton Conroy

My nonfiction book, “How to Have Fun with Your Aging Parents” (NLAPW 2020 first-prize winner for nonfiction), relates my journey from a 27-year-old singer/actress to a mature music therapy gerontologist. The story centers on my becoming the primary caregiver for my once-brilliant father, who sank into self-destructive dementia. While writing the book, I was often in tears. I considered omitting sections I felt were personally painful, but knew this was wrong.

Sharing my honest pain was the only way to reach my readers. I wrote the book 20 years after my father’s passing, when I had become a respected music therapist. I saw colleagues and family caregivers struggling with aging patients and family members and knew I could help. Caregivers have no time to read long books, so I worked hard to keep mine short, entertaining, and concise. The book became an Amazon bestseller in its class.

Like many fiction authors, I see a story in my mind, observe the characters, then write what they do and say. When I start a story, I have no idea how it will end. I usually write to music, and film composers are my gods.

Music therapy is all about emotion in music, and film composers are geniuses at eliciting specific emotions on cue. I choose music that fits the scene I am about to write, observe the characters in my mind, and the story happens. If I am ever stuck with a plot point, I lie down and sink into an altered state. Left alone, the characters take over my mind, and their story continues. When I wake up, I easily write down what they showed me. When my books are finished, I enjoy endless editing, smoothing out the story edges, and making them fit like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.

Some authors preconceive their plot points, adding location descriptions after the fact. I see objects and places through the emotional eyes of my characters, so my descriptions, narrative, and dialogue always go on the page at the same time.

Award-winning novelist, screenwriter, classically trained singer, actor, Irish harpist, certified music therapist, and licensed creative arts therapist Christina Britton Conroy has many passions. She performed musical theater around the globe before becoming a music therapist and writing her first novel. Her fiction and nonfiction books are published in the United States and the United Kingdom.