Hello, all! I've been meaning to do this for quite some time, but was holding off until I could upload a new chapter to Shattered, because I didn't want you guys to be getting update notifications when there wasn't even a new chapter to read. However, I realized something: with the other things I'm working on, there's no telling how long it will be before I can post a new chapter.

In the meantime, the days keep passing and new readers keep finding my story (yay!), which means they end up reading the chapters sans the improvements I'd like to make - - namely some song videos I've chosen for my chapter headers, plus some minor editing (typos and whatnot.)

I want my story to be as polished as possible ahead of the Wattpad Block Party: Winter Edition II, so I think it's about time I get this stuff done.

In my first "Author Insights" chapter, I walked you guys through the thought process behind two of the songs I selected: "Vamos A La Playa" and "Pretty Hurts." The latter is actually the only song I have posted with my novel at the moment.

Now, there are three more songs to add to the list:
"Renegades" by X Ambassadors
"Believe" by Skillet
"Just A Dream" by Nelly - - cover by Sam Tsui & Christina Grimmie

"Renegades" will be the song for chapter 23 - - "Welcome to Bangkok" - - and was the easiest choice of the three to decide on. I've loved the song since I first heard it used in a car commercial, and it just fits the vibe I'm going for. With "Welcome To Bangkok," I had this particular image in my head of Maya and Dominic going through these crowds together, and I really wanted to convey this spirit of travel and adventure.

The previous chapter was a really emotional one for Maya, but now we get a break from that. Whatever's happening in her relationship with Dominic, she's agreed to come with him, and for that chapter she just has to trust him. I also wanted to give the readers a sense of being immersed in a new environment and just taking a few moments to soak it in. Things might be crazy, they might be stressful, but Maya's also getting a pretty cool opportunity here: the chance to travel to all these different places she's never been to before.

The next two songs are somewhat connected to each other, because I actually considered both for the same slot. "Just A Dream" was something I discovered via Sam Tsui. I like a number of different covers he's done, and I was listening to a playlist featuring them when that song came up. From those very first piano notes, the song sounded gorgeous, and then to find out Christina was in it, as well - - wow! I knew about Christina from clips I'd scene from "The Voice." In particular, her cover of "Wrecking Ball" was amazing, and her vocals are actually my favorite part of "Just A Dream," although of course Sam and Kurt (the pianist) are awesome, as well!

So, here's the thing: I had an awesome song that I just had to include in my story - - but where, exactly? I took the question to one of my muses: MouseMcManus . She's someone who's been there for me since I first began my novel on another format, and she's been great to have as both a friend and an advisor; someone I can look to for feedback and to bounce ideas off of.
(My other muse, Sapphire, isn't currently a member of Wattpad, but I hope she'll join soon. Like Mouse, she's a storyteller in her own right, and would be another great addition to this site. Plus, it would make life easier for me, heh. )

When I showed the song to Mouse and told her I was considering it as the main theme song for my novel, she agreed with me that it was a great song, but pointed out that there was another slot that may have been a better fit: chapter 22, "Regrets." I could definitely see her point. After all, Maya, who's found some degree of escape in Dreamland, has to literally wake up and face the new reality and new life she's in. She had a little while where she could be back in her old life and feel like everything's okay, and then she loses it all over again. In some ways, I think it actually hits her even harder the second time around, because now she's realizing what a huge mistake she made in rushing to throw away the one thing she could've still held on to: her relationship with Dominic.

So, "Just A Dream" could definitely work so well for that chapter. However, I still really felt like I wanted to use it as the main theme song, especially since I felt like it had the kind of tempo and feel that I wanted. I didn't want something that sounded too heavy, sad, or slow, because I didn't feel like that would match the feel of my first chapter. Even though "Just A Dream" definitely isn't the happiest song, I felt like it had a good balance there and the right energy.

Now, the placement I have in mind for the song is a bit unusual. You know how sometimes TV shows jump right into the first scene, which then ends on a cliffhanger of some type? And then, once the cliffhanger is shown, it jumps into the theme song or title sequence. That's the feel I was going for here. I actually wanted the audience to watch the video after they read the first chapter.

Besides the feel I was hoping to get by doing that, there was an additional reason for placing the song after the main part of the chapter: I wanted my writing to stand on its own. I know how crucial the beginning of a book is considered when it comes to hooking the reader, and I didn't want there to be any ambiguity over what convinced someone to read beyond that first chapter and go on to the next.

I'm not saying this to complain about writers who do use videos or songs to set the mood for their first chapter. In fact, I may end up doing that myself. Once the multimedia option is made available to all, I could possibly place the video at the end of chapter one, rather than the beginning of chapter two. This will allow me to place the video a little more precisely than I currently can.

However, the upside of what will be the current placement - - having the video at the beginning of chapter two - - is that I'll have a certain sense of reassurance over it. I'll be able to feel confident that what I wrote is what made the reader interested enough to turn the page and go to the second chapter. (If I could, I'd probably have the video in its own chapter, one sandwiched between the intro and what is currently the second chapter, "Honest Work.")

I almost think of it in terms of something like a concert...or an audition! On the one hand, part of me suspects I should go all out and throw everything I can at the audience to make sure I convince them that what I have to offer is worth their time. However...the other part of me, the one prevailing for now, wants to take a totally different approach; that part wants to know that I can stand there in a t-shirt and slacks with a microphone and maybe some music - - or perhaps even a cappella - - and that my voice itself is enough to convince you without needing a huge production and fancy additional elements.

This is especially relevant since, if this is ever made into a physical book, I can't exactly embed YouTube videos into the paper, heh.

What I don't yet know is which approach is best for me. I think I'll ultimately have to look to my readers for feedback. What do you guys think? Would you be more likely to continue reading if a great video was in the first chapter, or would it have felt like a gimmick? Indeed, would it affect you at all?

[Note: I wrote this chapter over the course of a couple of days. During that period, the multimedia feature was made available across Wattpad, so as I'm actually posting it, I now have the option of placing the theme song at the end of my intro chapter, and that's where I plan on having it...for now.]

After all this talk about "Just A Dream," you're probably wondering what "Believe" has to do with it. Well, given the great points Mouse raised, I felt that if I wanted to stick with my idea of making "Just A Dream" my theme song and placing it at the beginning, then I needed to find an alternate song for "Regrets." Cue Skillet. They're already my favorite band, so featuring at least one of their songs in my novel is a no-brainer for me. As I was trying to think of an alternate song, some of the lyrics for "Believe" came to mind: "If you believed when I said I'd be better off without you, you never really knew me at alll."

I already liked the song, but at that time, it had been a while since I'd actually listened to it, so I went to check it out again. As it turns out, the song actually fitted the scene even better than I had anticipated. In particular, the anguish conveyed in the vocals really matches Maya's emotional state in that chapter. If you didn't know better, you might think that the song is actually what had inspired the chapter! Gotta love it when things work out that perfectly.

So, that's my Author Insight into the thought process behind the three new songs I've selected for my story. One more note: I'm adding a Shattered playlist chapter to 'Til The Party Starts. It'll be updated from time to time as I add songs to the story. I feel like this will be a handy thing to have around, since sometimes videos on Wattpad refuse to load, and readers are left in the lurch because the format doesn't show the title of the video so they can find it for themselves.

I would add the actual links so that you can find the exact video, but links within chapters aren't clickable, with Wattpad usernames being the obvious exception.

Well, there it is, guys! You now have a new Author Insight, as well as a heads-up about why you'll be getting those pesky update notifications. Hugs & Kisses 'til next time!