Chasing Story Through Music

​I once had lunch with a celebrated director/writer/DP from the 1970s and ’80s, and the conversation turned to what we listen to while sitting at our keyboards, trying to coax screenplays into existence. Not surprisingly, his answer lined up perfectly with mine: original motion picture soundtracks.
We didn’t get into the merits of over-ear headphones versus AirPods, but the larger takeaway was clear — nothing immerses you in your fictional world quite like a well-crafted film score. Of course, what you listen to inevitably depends on the genre you’re writing in. A noir demands a different emotional palette than a western, a romance, or a thriller.
In 1997, I had the pleasure of meeting the great Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, To Kill a Mockingbird). I wish I could have told him then how deeply his music shaped so many of my spec western screenplays. Nothing put me in the mood for a dusty, high-noon showdown like Sons of Katie Elder, The Shootist, or The Comancheros.
As my writing evolved, so did my musical tastes. Before long, I found myself immersed in the work of John Williams, John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, Maurice Jarre, Miklós Rózsa, Bernard Herrmann, and Lalo Schifrin. And today, with composers like Danny Elfman, Blake Neely, Hans Zimmer, and Alan Silvestri still going strong, I figure I’ve got inspiration for a very long writing life ahead of me.
Naturally, this list barely scratches the surface — I’ve left out at least twenty other favorites (Mark Knopfler, Alfred Newman, Randy Newman, and many more).
So, as a little window into my current mindset — and maybe my personality — here’s a recent playlist. See if you can guess what genres I might be wrestling with at the moment:
Miklós Rózsa

• The Killers (Main Title)
• Double Indemnity (Main Title)

Roy Webb

• Out of the Past

Franz Waxman

• Sunset Boulevard

Thomas Newman

• Saving Mr. Banks (End Title)
• Road to Perdition (Main Title)

Alan Silvestri

• Forrest Gump Suite

Maurice Jarre

• The Paris Waltz

At the very least, a playlist like this reminds me why I fell in love with movies — and with writing — in the first place. Great film music doesn’t just accompany a story; it creates atmosphere, stirs memory, and quietly nudges you toward emotion you didn’t even know you were chasing. So if you ever catch yourself staring at a blank page, maybe don’t stare harder — turn the music up. Chances are, the story is already hiding in the score.