Resonance is a term from movies meaning 'To evoke a feeling that lingers in the mind'. (Or that is the way I interpret it).
Think of the movie 'American Beauty'. There was that opening shot above the suburbs. It seemed to say, here in Middle America we will peel back the covers and reveal what goes on. The red rose, the American Beauty, has been bred to look beautiful but it has no thorns or scent, which is another comment on the film's theme.
When I'm writing a book I collect photographs and research fascinating details which convey evocative feelings for me.
The book I recently handed over to my agent 'The Shallow Sea' was a fantasy set in a tropical paradise. I collected images of azure seas, exquisite lilies and details about deadly creatures. For me it was the combination of the idyllic tropical setting with dangers hidden below the surface, that was a metaphor for the book. It had a resonance, a flavour in my head as I wrote.
I know many writers play music while they write. It helps them get into the mood to create the resonance for their current work-in-progress. Music bypasses the higher brain and goes straight to our emotional hind-brain.
I used to work as an illustrator, so I think I'm more visually oriented. I can get 'high' on beauty. If I go to the art gallery to see an exhibition, I come away feeling as if I'm floating on air, with images flooding my mind.
Some books evoke a stronger resonance than others. It's not necessarily the characters that linger, it might be a sense of mystery, elegance, or tragedy. It's like taking a mental holiday to another place and time. For instance, 'Perdido Street Station' lingers in my mind. I'd just finished reading a book about London from its earliest times to now. The thought of those pits where they buried the plague victims, then built housing estates over the top, still makes me shudder. Almost anything by Michael Moorcock stays with me years later. I can still remember Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast and I read that thirty years ago. I think it was the layering of backstory, the obsession with detail and the eccentricity of the characters.
Resonance is not something we talk about much as writers, it's hard to pin down.
What books have stayed with you, resonating in your mind and why?
And do you set out to create a resonance for the books you are currently working on?
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