Multimodal Storytelling: Why Your Novel Needs a Soundtrack

When we talk about storytelling, we usually mean words. The plot, the dialogue, the internal monologue—all of it filtered through language on a page or screen. But what if I told you that some of the most compelling stories aren't told through words alone?

Multimodal storytelling is the art of telling a story across multiple formats or mediums simultaneously. For writers, this often means pairing your novel with music, visuals, or both. It sounds ambitious. It sounds like extra work. And honestly? It is. But the payoff might surprise you.

Why Sound Matters More Than We Think

Words create a blueprint for imagination. Music creates feeling.

When a reader picks up your novel, they're constructing the world in their mind—filling in colors, textures, sounds based on your descriptions and their own experience. Music does something different. It bypasses the analytical brain and hits the emotional center directly. A minor key, a certain tempo, a specific instrument—these things communicate tone and atmosphere faster than a paragraph of prose.

For world-building, this is powerful. If your novel has a specific aesthetic—gothic, whimsical, noir, surreal—music reinforces that aesthetic in a way that reaches people who might never read your book. My husband, for instance, isn't much a reader—podcasts and audio books are more his jam. But when I shared a YouTube video of music from my current project, Songs from the Ledger (Volume 1)—just one song with a single background image and scrolling lyrics—he watched the whole thing. And afterward, he said it made him a little tingly. He had no context for the story itself, but the feeling of the world, or at least that character in the world, came through. That's multimodal storytelling at work.

Broadening Your Fanbase

Here's the practical reality: not everyone reads. Some people consume stories through music, film, podcasts, visual art, or games. By creating a sonic dimension to your world, you're creating an entry point for people who might never pick up your novel but could become invested in your story anyway.

That's not diluting your work. That's expanding it, cross-promoting it. Your readers get a richer experience. Non-readers get exposure to your world on their own terms. Everyone wins.

How to Start Small

If this sounds interesting but overwhelming, here's the good news: you don't need to compose a full album or produce high-end music videos. Start simple.

Create a playlist. Assign songs to your novel's emotional beats, key scenes, or character voices. This helps you stay in tone while writing. Share the playlist with readers—they'll love it, and it costs you nothing except curation time.

Assign sonic identity to specific elements. Does your antagonist have a musical motif? Does your setting have a signature sound? Think about how film composers work. A few notes can instantly communicate character or place.

Pair one scene with music. Pick your most pivotal moment and create a short video—even just a still image with audio. See how the music transforms the emotional weight of that moment. This is your proof-of-concept.

Consider genre alignment. A dark fantasy needs different music than a cozy mystery. Think about what sonic palette fits your world, then explore artists or composers who work in that space.

The Trade-Offs

Let's be honest: this takes time. You're not just writing; you're also curating, possibly composing or collaborating with musicians, and creating supplementary content. You're managing multiple creative projects at once, which brings its own chaos.

There's also the technical barrier. Uploading to streaming platforms, formatting for YouTube, understanding copyright—these aren't trivial tasks. And there's no guarantee your audience will care. Not everyone wants a soundtrack to their reading experience.

But if you're the kind of creator who likes working in multiple mediums (like me), who gets energized by world-building from every angle, who wants to reach people beyond the traditional reader demographic—multimodal storytelling might be worth the investment.

The Real Magic

The reason I love this approach isn't because it's trendy or because it theoretically expands my audience. It's because it forces me to understand my own work more deeply. When I have to choose a song that embodies a character, I'm clarifying who that character is. When I'm creating music for a world, I'm refining the sensory texture of that world. The additional mediums make me a better writer.

Plus, there's something wonderful about creating something that reaches my husband—someone who read the first three pages of my first WiD, said “I can't really say it was good or bad, but I at least want to keep reading it” but as far as I know never did—and watching his face light up with recognition of something beautiful.

That's multimodal storytelling. Not gimmick. Not extra. Just another way of saying: here is my world; meet it however you can.

Signed from the margins where stories bloom across mediums,

S.G., Keeper of Words and Wandering Soundtracks

Oh, and if you want to see that video my husband watched, check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3DKFGFyvR6s?si=OG86R5S50U8W4hXG

The full album is available on streaming as well: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/wondrouslegends/songs-from-the-ledger-volume-i?ref=release