This article explores how music inspires writers and why one extraordinary artist changed the way I think about storytelling.
It’s why I’ve decided to begin a new series exploring the artists, books, and creative influences that have helped shape me as a reader, writer, and editor.
How Music Inspires Writers by Shaping Imagination
Every writer has a source of inspiration that shapes the stories they tell. Sometimes it’s another novel. Sometimes it’s a painting, a place, or a conversation that refuses to leave their thoughts. For me, as a poet, inspiration has often arrived through music.
Certain voices don’t simply entertain us. They create worlds. They teach us about mood, atmosphere, rhythm, and emotion long before we understand how those elements appear on the written page.
There was never any question about where this new series should begin. For me, it begins with Dave Vanian of The Damned.
The Damned and the Birth of Gothic Rock
As pioneers of British punk, The Damned released the first UK punk single, “New Rose,” in 1976. They also released the first UK punk album, Damned Damned Damned, in 1977. Their early sound was fast and chaotic, but Dave Vanian’s voice already hinted at something darker.
As the band evolved, Vanian guided their sound toward gothic rock. His baritone voice, dark lyrics, and romantic, vampire‑themed costumes shaped the goth subculture. He helped define the aesthetic long before goth became a recognized genre, which garnered him the nickname “The Godfather of Goth”.
Writers can learn from this evolution. Genres change, and artists often lead those changes. When documenting music history, highlighting these transitions can reveal how movements grow.
Phantasmagoria and My Gothic Awakening
In 1986, my dear friend Jim Phillips introduced me to Phantasmagoria by The Damned. I still remember hearing Dave Vanian’s extraordinary voice for the first time. It sounded like velvet wrapped in smoke and shadow. Elegant. Haunting. Timeless.
I remember sitting in Jim’s living room while he played the album for me for the first time. I had never heard anything quite like it and wondered how one voice could create such vivid imagery.
That album didn’t simply become one of my favourites. It ignited my imagination. It also marked an important turning point in the evolution from punk toward gothic rock.
And thirty-three years later, I named my dog after the song “Eloise,” written by Paul Ryan and originally performed by his brother, Barry, and covered to perfection in 1986 by The Damned.
Rediscovering Gothic Fiction
Although I had loved gothic fiction as a teenager and throughout my twenties, somewhere along the way, I drifted toward other genres.
Listening to Phantasmagoria today reminds me why I had fallen in love with gothic storytelling in the first place. Its atmosphere sent me back to the novels that had once filled my bookshelves.
I find myself revisiting Anne Rice. Bram Stoker. Mary Shelley. Edgar Allan Poe. Shirley Jackson. Daphne du Maurier. H. P. Lovecraft. Why? Because I love the atmosphere, romanticism, psychological tension, mystery, and melancholy in their works.
As both a reader and a writer, that mattered: the best music doesn’t tell us what to write. It teaches us what a story should feel like.
Music reaches the imagination differently than words on a page. A melody can evoke longing. A voice can create atmosphere. A single song can transport us into another emotional landscape. As writers, we can borrow those feelings and translate them into characters, settings, dialogue, and mood. That’s why music has always been one of my greatest creative companions.
What Dave Vanian Taught Me About Atmosphere
Dave Vanian never inspired me to imitate his lyrics. Instead, he reminded me that atmosphere can be every bit as powerful as plot.
His voice carries mystery. Longing. Elegance. Darkness. Those same qualities appear in many of the novels I still treasure today.
As writers, we often think inspiration begins with books. However, sometimes it begins with a song.
For me, it opened a door to a world where darkness could be beautiful.
Seven Ways Music Can Make You a Better Writer
1. Build playlists for each character.
A song can reveal personality faster than pages of notes.
2. Listen for atmosphere, not lyrics.
The emotional tone often matters more than the words. Before readers remember the plot, they remember how your story made them feel.
Listen to artists who create emotion through tone as well as lyrics.
3. Borrow rhythm.
Fast music creates urgency. Slow music encourages reflection.
I’ve often been told my poetry contains the cadence of song lyrics. That’s no accident.
Writers who listen carefully develop an instinct for pacing, repetition, and musicality within language.
Editing has taught me that rhythm matters just as much in prose as it does in music. Every sentence carries a measure. Every paragraph has a tempo. Perhaps that’s one reason music continues to influence how I write—and how I edit.
4. Use music to escape writer’s block.
Changing what you hear often changes what you imagine.
5. Study artists with unforgettable identities.
Dave Vanian never followed trends. He became unforgettable because he embraced what made him different.
The same is true for writers. Your writing should do the same.
Your voice is your greatest strength.
6. Read while listening to discover emotional truth.
I often discover new emotional layers in familiar books simply by changing the music playing in the background.
Notice how music changes your visualization of scenes. A single song can transport us decades into the past.
Your writing should strive for that same emotional resonance.
7. Create a soundtrack for your novel.
Many authors build playlists before they finish Chapter One. Readers love discovering those playlists later.
The best albums create worlds. The best novels do the same.
Study both.
Musical Outro
Every writer carries influences that quietly shape their imagination. Mine happen to wear white poet’s shirts and black leather, sing with theatrical elegance, and remind me that darkness can be beautiful.
Music has accompanied nearly every chapter of my life. Some songs became memories. Others became poems. A few influence the next book I decide to read.
As I continue this series, I’ll introduce you to the artists who have shaped my imagination over the years. Some may already be favourites of yours. Others may become discoveries. If vampires are your thing, you may be interested in this essay I wrote: From Folktale to Gothic: The Vampire’s Life in Literature.
Either way, I hope they inspire you as profoundly as they’ve inspired me.
Because creativity doesn’t exist in isolation. It grows through every book we read, every piece of music we love, and every artist courageous enough to create something unforgettable.