I'm all bubbles and sparklers because I'm about to put together a new playlist. I've mentioned in the past that I use music to write, but I haven't formally posted about the whys and wherefores of a novel's playlist.
Playlists serve three primary functions for me:
1) Create the mood of a scene
2) Define key traits of a character & his/her tastes
3) Get me to a better writing place if I get stuck
Regarding #3, while I wouldn't stay I've ever had writer's block I do experience writer's detour - wherein I find myself wandering away from the mental space I want to be in to write well. The best solution I've found for going off road involves literal driving. I do some of my best idea generating when behind the wheel, particularly if I'm listening to the playlist I've created for my current writing progress.
Up until this week I've had an informal playlist for my WIP, but I've heard a few songs recently that catapulted me into the novel and I knew it was time to put the REAL playlist together and get this baby rockin on the screen.
What about the playlist for my novel? That, my friends, will be posted in concert with the availability of ARCs. When I can share the book with readers, I'll share the music too!
But until then here's a key track from the playlist I'm buidling today:
What's even more neat-o? That girl looks like my protagonist.
I love reading about whether music works for other writers. Do you playlist?
Playlists are essential - I totally agree. Thanks for sharing the music!
ReplyDeleteMusic and writing. That is an essential issue for me. I wrote most, if not all, of my dissertation while listening to a wide variety of music, but that was a different kind of writing and it was long ago when I was younger, hipper, when my blood was more willing to rise to the call of the rhythms and melodies of my generation. It was also before I started playing music of my own. Now, music is a distraction to my writing because I write with a flute to hand and when there is music, I take the flute up and play along. I haven't figured out how to scribble with my toes while fluting with my fingers. Solution: I write without music and use the flute to meditate in the interstices between word flows. So, yes, music and writing are tied together for me, but no, I haven't put together a play list of my playing. I guess you could say I am a Not-Yet-Ready-For-I-Tunes flautist.
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