On Music

I'm probably just the latest in a long line of writers to tell you that music can be pretty key to creative process.  I've always got music going when I'm writing (except at work, where my iPod has been banned for no reason other than someone else's ego).  But not just any music.

The right music.

I listen to a lot of film scores, and usually action film scores at that.  Loud, propulsive music really gets me going.  The juices don't just flow, they're a raging river of creativity.  My hands fly over the keyboard like they're possessed, sometimes even to the rhythm of the music.

Right now as I'm posting this, I've just finished two movie reviews over at For Reelz, and I've got the score from "Thor" by Patrick Doyle going on the speakers in the living room and I find it incredibly liberating. 

Film scores in general I find to be a genre of music that allows me to focus.  When I'm writing, I'm dealing with words, and lyrics often get in my way.  Unless I've managed to hone in on a particular band or song that seems to fit with whatever I'm writing, I get distracted by the voice of the singer or the lyrics of the song.

The novel I'm writing originally stemmed from an idea that involved building an action movie out of Alice in Chains songs - sort of like "Across the Universe" but for 90s grunge rock.  As the idea evolved and I eventually settled on writing it as a novel, the Alice in Chains aspect of it dropped away, and now even listening to that band distracts me from writing it.

When I'm done with this post, I plan to get back to business on my novel and only break up that work this afternoon with necessary trips to the basement to do laundry.

Laundry, as it turns out, like music, is also pretty key.

Current Soundtrack
"Thor" by Patrick Doyle