Are you a write in silence person? Or a must need music person?
Nico wondering why I'm taking pics at lunch
I’m normally a silence writer – I am completely comfortable, after many years of meditating, with silence, in fact 90% of the time, I prefer it (that explains SO much when I’m out in crowds)…but in recent years, I’ve learned the power of using music to fuel a scene. And, if anyone has ANY suggestion on how to get a 5 year old, almost 6, to STOP talking ALL the time, I will greatly appreciate them.
Damn my husband (sharing a picture, kinda sexy in a grrr way, yeah?) for introducing me to that! Now, of course, he has to make me playlists for each book. I get fussy about not having a whole playlist; he spoiled me. It is totally his fault! I am such an only child and prima donna 
Riiight. And I have some land to sell you.
On the one hand, it’s great. I have a list, he’s got the knowledge…on the other hand, I have to explain the book theme first so he can build the correct soundtrack. *facepalm* That means I have to know where the story is going other than here’s the characters, they fall in love. He wants to discuss the ups the downs and the challenges so he can make sure I have the correct songs to power me through the hard scenes. Universe, bless him. I’m sure the Goddess of Fire book will be eternally grateful. And, it is a HUGE help when I’m trying to write a query letter or synopsis.
Plus, shhh, he’ll help me plot anytime, anywhere…although, our favorite place to do so is in the hot tub!
Here, we’re at lunch with pup, but he’s wondering why the hell I’m taking iPhone pics of him at Glory Days. Silly man, he’s sexy…I take pics whenever I can Psst, plus, he loves it….whereas I hide.
My Goddess of Fire book, Phyxed, had a great list of songs…I even use them in the gym to power through a heavy lifting cycle. One reason? She’s a fighter, not much on thinking things through….hello, a GODDESS of FIRE. It’s not like she does a lot of slow burn kind of things. And he nailed the songs.
Fuel for the Fire
Favorite Writing Bands
So, while my loving husband can make me a playlist that rocks….I have a few favorites for all types of scenes (I’m sure he has more.)
- Celldweller
- Pink
- hed PE
- Enigma
- Tim Easton
- Nickelback
- FreakKitchen
- BuckCherry
- Division
- Type O Negative
- Garbage
- Black Eyed Peas
Lord…do I write some heavy scenes or what? LOL. Do a search on any of them. I’m not linking to a specific CD. If I’ve listed them, I have all of them, or we do. Go find them…support the bands. FUEL your writing!
What playlist do you have running when you write?
That’s a clearly “behind the scenes” pic of me. No dolling up for a presentation or a concert. Still, I forgive you (because I look good anyway…j/k).
I consider myself very far toward the music side of the spectrum. I don’t need music while I write, but keep in mind what I write is meant to be multimedia to the reader. Catwalk stories should be like reading a movie and having it explode in the reader’s head as it goes along. (Check out a sample here: http://nickkelly.com/?page_id=24)
My character was built for the action/anime/horror/sci-fi scene. As a career musician, how could I not find creativity in the right music driving my writing?
nK
PS: Where Sybir finds silence calming, I usually find it drives me insane.
I’m normally writing while hubby’s watching TV, but I prefer absolute silence. I used to write in the bar while hubby was playing pool and the music really did dictate my moods…and how certain scenes came out. I didn’t like it – I wanted more control over what I was in the mood to write. LOL
I know many writers use music and playlists, etc – I have no idea where I’d even find the time to do that, much less picking the right music for the scenes. Sounds like you lucked out with hubby on that.
Interesting stuff!
Nico, you know you are FAR more photogenic than me in ad hoc situations…I get bitchy about lighting and what not
Darn those model years.
Jaime, OMG, if I write while Nick’s playing it totally dictates the scene. I’ve learned. LOL. I’ve made a few myself and learned what to flip on in iTunes to help fuel a scene. But somehow, he can make a whole list if I let him in on the story to get me THRU the story. I don’t have his knowledge of music.
Then again, if all else fails. I turn everything off, music, Internet, email…bye bye and WRITE!
I have such a girl-crush on Florence & The Machine that she’s soundtracking everything for me right now. I wrote my last book to ‘Howl’, which possibly made it a bit more primal than it needed to be!
I have to have silence to write anything…otherwise being a singer, I find myself singing along and getting wrapped up in the music to the point that I forget what I was doing!
I have to have complete silence to write, but I’m fascinated with the idea of using music to fuel a scene. I prefer silence in general, and when I do listen to music, I tend to focus on the music, so it would be too distracting to have it as a backdrop to my writing.
I used to have to have silence, sometimes I still do. But, I’ve also been known to sit down and hammer out a scene in the middle of a bar when everyone is up dancing. Course, I look silly having my laptop out, but hey…when the scene strikes, you’ve got to get it down on the page.
I think I like the emotion music can evoke and that’s how it really helps me fuel a particular character/book/scene.