So, small confession: I don’t believe in the muse.
I do, however, believe in the music.
I wouldn’t classify myself as one of those writers who sits in front of a keyboard, waiting for an ethereal, phantasmic, inspirational visitor. I’m a strong believer in the idea that, if you start moving your fingers, words will come out. Move them more; you get more words. Move them less, and, well, that’s when some folk start blaming the muse for deserting them.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not (entirely) trying to come off as pretentious. I have dry spells. In fact, I’m coming off a very long dry spell, where I focused on all the wrong stuff for all the wrong reasons. I think I’m clear of that now. I’ve been writing consistently for the last four weeks or so, because I decided to sit down and write. That’s it.
(Ok – that’s not quite it – there’s a bit more that goes into all ‘that’; maybe I’ll flesh that out in future posts!)
How Does Music Come into This?
Not being a neuro-scientist, I haven’t delved too deeply into the ‘why’ or ‘how’* of music’s role in my ability to write; rather, I’ve concentrated on the ‘what’. And what I’ve observed is that music not only keeps me on task, but keeps me on topic.
Well, the right music, that is.
(*in case you are interested in the ‘why’ and ‘how’, check out this article from sparringmind.com, or just Google “Mozart Effect”)
Music for Different Stages of Writing
Occasionally, I’ll hear a new song, and it triggers an image or an idea. Infrequently, I’m quick enough to write it down; most times, however, I forget it. But the next time I hear that song, the image is back, often in more detail than before.
Music to Inspire
This is how Cage the Elephant’s “Shake Me Down” became the inspiration for my very first short story. While not a genre of music I listen to very often, the lyrics wormed their way into my mind, setting the stage for a tale about a war journalist finding himself marooned on a dying world – a victim of an interstellar war waging in the heavens above.
Just this past week, as I was searching for some Hallowe’en tunes, and came across Johnny Otis’s “Castin’ My Spell”, and poof – an idea for a future novel popped into my head (yeah, sorta like magic).
Music to Keep Me ‘In the Zone’
Other times, I already have the plot and/or theme of a tale set, and I seek out songs that I can play specifically when I write that story. These songs I play repeatedly: over-and-over-and-over-and-over-and (well, you get the idea). The song “Fehu” by Wardruna, a Norwegian group that re-creates Norse-inspired tunes, kept me focused for the better part of a year while I wrote my novel Darksea.
Music to Keep Me ‘In the Mood’
Yet another case is where I’m writing a type of scene – say a chase, or a fight scene – and I need to stay ‘pumped’. There just happens to be a 10-hour version of the theme song to “Inception” on Youtube that is perfect at keeping adrenaline pouring out at maximum levels. I’ve gotten quite a lot of mileage out of that one.
What’s Next?
NaNoWriMo – just around the corner. Now stop reading and go plan your novel (with suitable music, of course)!
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