Soundtrack Sunday – “War”

The deeper first person that I’m writing, the more I have to actively work at following the other points of view in a story–usually that ends up in the later revision passes, particularly with Waverly’s books. She’s so entirely focused not only on her own perspective but on the way she characterizes others (which may or may not always be accurate) that usually the first draft is all her, and subsequent drafts involves fleshing out everything else and understanding other perspectives.

I had some trouble with the fourth book during the revision process–there were some early scenes not sitting right (that I still need to go back and work on) and I realized I was missing my understanding the POV of that crucial other lead series character. Music is often how I crack those kinds of problems (a big part of A Dark and Distant Home ended up hinging on me clicking with”I Don’t Want to Change You“) and for this book, I landed on “War” by Poets of the Fall–or more specifically, this acoustic version.

When I thought that I fought this war alone
You were there by my side on the frontline

I’ve long looked at his point of view as “Out of Sand” and use that as a guide. But by the time we’re here in the upcoming fourth book, he’s now seen the files Waverly has accumulated over the past decade. She has never let this go. She has never stopped seeking answers. And for someone who was in many ways forgotten, this was about realizing all that time without knowing it, there was someone else fighting the same “war”, so to speak.

When I thought that I fought this war alone
We were one with our destinies entwined
When I thought that I fought without a cause
You gave me the reason why

Whether it’s not letting the past itself go, or the case, or the people involved in it, she was also there on the front lines. (And maybe their destines, for whatever value of fate you want to apply here, are entwined.)

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