Song lyrics in a novel....

You wrote 'em yourself?

You can put 'em in the first draft. See if they work.

Whatever you write is yours to use however you like.

I have some song lyrics I wrote in my WIP as well.

There are absolutely no rights issues if you're using original, unpublished lyrics or poetry that you wrote yourself. Whether it's a good idea to include the whole poem is another.

In general, I would say if the poem reveals something important about the character, especially if it's "by" someone who would have a hard time exposing him/herself any other way, then include it--or part of it. It can be an interesting exercise in getting inside your character's head. I did it once for an MC of mine: the challenge was to write a somewhat stilted and formal poem about grief, which for my character was a kind of breakthrough. I wrote the whole thing but decided it wasn't necessary to show the whole poem, so I just included a few lines. Enough to get the point across without bringing the story to a dead halt.

Specifically to your case: I went and looked at your character's poem in the other forum, and I don't see that it says anything new or different about the vampire experience. As is, I wouldn't include it. Maybe you could craft it to make it more unique to the situation in your story?

Best of luck whatever you do.

I agree with Marlys. Poetry or songs can reveal the inner nature of the character. Look at all the songs and poems that Tolkien's characters had. Tom Bombadil for example had many.

Names, I don't believe so.

My MC's brother is a guitarist and my MC goes to see one of his shows and hears some songs he wrote...a few lyrics are important.

Alana Mortensen said:

Now back to the music issue.... Do I need to seek permission to use band names in my book?

Click to expand...

Band names and song titles are fair game. It's published lyrics that are an issue.