A Song and Dream: My Writing Process by Amaya Lambert
By Amaya Lambert, written February 2024
It begins with a song and then a dream.
I choose a song that stirs something within me, something that rattles my bones and plucks the strings of my heart. And when a song is chosen, a dream occurs, and a singular image appears to me that embodies the entire story I want to tell.
There’s nothing more that I love than sinking my teeth into a new idea, meticulously uncovering the secrets of a story, and putting it onto paper. My writing process is complicated, and I don’t fully understand it, only that my brain, while sleeping, seems to be dreamier and more vivid, grasping concrete ideas and breaking them down into themes and messages.
If I were told that I had to explain it in simpler terms, then perhaps I would say that I am an emotional writer, a writer that focuses on the inner aspect of stories that entwines the concept of their writing with a particular theme and identity.
I call what I write introspective fantasy. I love to write fantasy and add contemplative elements throughout the story.
My writing process involves deep meditation, a solitude mindscape that I only have access to. Yes, it typically starts with a song, a song that is elevating and emboldening, a song that unravels on its own and becomes a story. It comes out as fragments for me, pieces of a puzzle not yet complete, that I will put together into a finished story.
My writing process comes in five steps.
Step One: Choose Songs/Music
This is the structure of my writing process. This is where I begin to write.
I already explained the song selection. So, I won’t go into too much detail, but I can tell you the type of songs that are usually chosen for my stories. I go for calmer, emotional, and swelling songs. If they are upbeat and/or the lyrics run deep, I consider them perfect for both introspective and lyricism.
Some of my favorite songs to write to are:
“First Love” by Hikaru Utada
“Above the Chinese Restaurant” by Laufey
“Anna,” from the When Marnie Was There soundtrack by Yomirui Nippon Symphony Orchestra
“Merry-Go-Round of Life,” from the Howl’s Moving Castle soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi
“Enchanted Life” by Samantha James
“Dreamer” by TOMORROW X TOGETHER
Music is integral to my process. I can’t write without it.
Step Two: Dream
Then, my dreams will pair off with the music. I close my eyes and imagine my characters interacting with the world based on the intensity and lyrics of the song. When I open my eyes, I grab my phone and write down my dreams.
Usually, I write only a couple of sentences, nothing too big as it is meant for expansion.
“Dreamer” by TOMORROW X TOGETHER invokes this image of tiny stars floating about and the ripples of the milky night sky.
“Anna” from the When Marnie Was There soundtrack invokes the spring, clear ponds, long grass, and a young girl staring out into the distance. Longing. Yearning.
Step Three: Look for Aesthetics
Next, I look for aesthetics.
I am the daughter of artists and there’s nothing that makes my dream come to life more than looking up photos, quotes, concepts, and direction. I have a Pinterest account filled to the brim with secret writing/topic boards. I typically name them after a certain concept I want the story to convey. For example, one of my Pinterest boards is titled ‘divine,’ where I can explore spirituality and religion, especially when it comes to women.
My Pinterest boards show various concepts I’m playing with, for example, photos meant to represent certain themes, certain characters. I browse through the app, spending a lot of time sorting together a moodboard for my story. Once I’m satisfied with the board, I’ll leave it alone for a bit, though the board will likely go through several changes as the idea for my story comes into fruition. My current board destiny has three different names: kiss me goodbye, wishes, and oracle.
My mind is constantly moving, the gears turning for hours, I can’t go to sleep without being able to think about something.
Step Four: Finalize the Themes
Once I finish my board, I go deeper into the story. See, I like reading novels and dissecting themes. It is fascinating how many layers of complexity an author can write into their story. Concepts stacked upon concepts, intertwining messages. This is one of my favorite parts of my writing process.
I look up a list of literary themes and correlate them with the story I want to tell. My head buzzes with excitement as I read down, eyes scanning for the perfect piece.
For one of my works in progress, I have down identity, womanhood, religion, the role of man and woman, corruption, and love.
And once it is complete, I go to my final step.
Step Five: Add My Identity
Writers tend to put a piece of themselves in every story they create. It is almost alchemic, like pricking your finger and using the blood as the last final ingredient.
I am integral to my story; my identity is integral to the process as whatever stage of development I am in usually influences my writing. For both of my work in progress, I am currently developing the theme of identity and finding your place in the world, as this is something I am thinking about for myself.
As a young Black woman, I believe my perspective of the world is quite unique, and my view of certain themes and concepts differs from the norm. I tried to write like others, write like the authors I grew up reading; imitate their styles and viewpoints, but my writing dulled. The tip of the pencil was flat, barely making any marks, as I carefully tried to trace the words of others.
I grew stagnant, colorless, until I realized the missing component: me.
I remember a conversation with my father who pushed me to write stories about people who looked like me. I was hesitant, but eventually, I came around, and now my mind is full of possibilities for potential stories. I want to write stories for my people, for young Black girls who dream too big.
Our stories are shadowed, pushed to the sidelines. I wish to bring them to the forefront. I research Greek mythology and notice the similarities of the women in myths to Black women. I notice how I can spin the myths into a fresh, intriguing concept with a Black person on the cover because we aren’t usually centered in those retellings.
And once I put myself into my progress, once I intertwined writing with my identity; only then did it grow.
And this is my writing progress. This is what I do before I sit down and pump out words. It is important to me that these steps are followed, because without them, I wouldn’t know what to do, nor would I know what to write.
Amaya Lambert is a senior at Towson University, studying English and creative writing. She loves a good book, slow music, and tasty food. When she isn’t reading, she’s writing, lost in her inner world. Amaya tutored for her high school’s writing center and the elementary school across from it. One of her proudest accomplishments is winning second place in a writing competition in the seventh grade.
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