Fun fun fun

I tried to do some writing on my novel tonight while I had a few minutes at work, and something sort of struck me:

If it's not fun for me to write, it's not fun for you to read.

That sort of made perfect sense, since I was working on a scene that just wasn't coming out how I wanted it.  My words felt limp and the whole thing just kinda... sucked.  So I deleted it, and I was a little upset at first.  I had slugged through some two or three hundred words, and in a flash I'd tossed it all.  Of course, they're still there if I revert to previous version, but you know what I mean.

But after I got home I went back and tried it again, and it all seemed to flow much better and much easier.  Like I said in my previous post, music is pretty key.  When I'm at work, all I have to listen to is the noises of the people around me (and I do truly hate the noises they make), the police scanner, maybe whatever sports event is on the TV on the other end of the room.

That was only part of it, though.  I'm fully capable of writing without music.  I just don't like to. 

In other business, some of my friends have gotten around to reading 'Show Me the End of the World,' and their responses so far have been positive.  I'm very, very glad to hear that people are enjoying it.  So I'm not really making cash hand over fist on it... that's alright.  The book was very much a proof-of-concept to prove that I could do this. 

The novel, on the other hand, that's the big challenge.  Not just finishing it, but putting it out and actually trying to make something of it.  So far, it's been fun.  I think that translates from me the writer to you the reader.  I've often spoken in my For Reelz blog that you can tell when the cast of a movie or TV show is having fun, and that can enhance enjoyment of the movie.  Well the same works here - If I'm having fun writing it, you're probably having fun reading it.

Current Soundtrack:
"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" by Michael Giacchino

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