On Music
I was going to prepare something better for this blog, but I ran out of time. This article (for lack of a better word) was already typed up nice and neat, waiting to be used on my own blog.
And so now, the blogging will commence.
I have to write to music. It probably goes back to when I first started writing. When I was twelve, my mother had the only computer in the house and it was kept in the living room. The living room also contains the TV (like I imagine most living rooms do these days). Now my parents like the TV loud, and I’m easily distracted by it, so I started listening to music. It’s much less distracting, I suppose because there’s no visual stimuli to take away from my writing
Now I have my own computer (have for some time now). I think writing to music has just become a habit. I have a lot of strange writing rituals that I’ll discuss on next weeks post.
I’m very picky about the music I write to. If I’m not getting any work done I’ll usually change the CD.
Usually I write to female singers. Niyaz and Within Temptation are two of my favorites. Occasionally, there are times when a male voice fits the bill better. I wrote most of Fear of Darkness to Nickleback – Silver Side Up, and Of the Night was written to Disturbed – Indestructible. Now, nothing is working for The Novel From Hell. This very blog is work in progress avoidance.
My muse can even be so specific as to demand a certain song for a scene. The last fight scene of The Vampire’s Kingdom (a book you’ll probably never see, considering it was started when I was twelve) was written to Rock Star by N.E.R.D.
And what is my tried and true fall back for when I’m truly blocked? The Queen of the Damned Soundtrack. Appropriate for a paranormal romance writer, isn’t it?
So do you write to music? Or the TV even? Or are you one of those writers that needs quiet.
Anyway, I’m headed back to my dreaded WIP. Can you guess what I’m listening to?
~Honoria Ravena
Love the Queen of the Dead soundtrack! I make mixes on my iPod. A different mix for different stories. I do have one mix comprised of tunes that I titled Let’s Move. It works great for when I have a lot of known story line to type.
Lol, yeah, the Queen of the Damned soundtrack is good. I rarely make mixes. I usually just listen to a CD. Sometimes I’ll mix songs if I’m looking for a type of flavor (like dirty songs for the sex scenes).
I write to anything and nothing. Usually there is a noise level in our house and it doesn’t bother me. I think it might be in part due to that I multi task. And when I started programming computers I was working in the scheduling area that was always busy. I got use to sort of blotting out what I needed to while being aware of most of what was going on around me. All this conditioning has served me well in writing.
If I was going to write to music it would be light classic and Henry Mancini. Now that probably dates me.
I don’t know who Henry Macini is, so it might date you, but I’d never know. Some days I’m good at blocking things out, other days I’m distracted by EVERYTHING.
This is totally bizarre! I was supposed to post this Wednesday — the day after you posted this — and I missed it (sorry, Jeannie!!). The weird thing is that I had a draft half written, and it was all about listening to music or not listening to music while I write.
I almost always listen to music, but it’s background noise — either it’s instrumental, or in another language, or relatively soft, or the words are mushy (do you know what I mean?). If the words intrude too much, I have to take it a long off my writing playlist.
My favorite type for generally writing is Billy McLaughlin’s finger style guitar music. My favorite for writing suspense is Mozart’s Requiem.
Lol, I guess great minds think alike. Lol, its not so much words I have a problem with, but if it has a beat that makes me want to dance I’ll have to turn it off. Though, there are times when I want to sing along. That’s another distraction that will get the music turned off. I can’t sing words and type at the same time, or some words will suddenly be replaced by song lyrics.
Hi Honoria — Yup, I listen to music. But for me, it’s classical. Or piano renditions of more current music. Piano was a passion of mine for many years, and it still has the ability to reach right inside and pry open my fingers and my heart so I can write better. I’ve noticed…I don’t do as well without it.
Here’s to hoping that your WIP becomes less hellish!
(And Katrina — no worries!)
Lol, thanks. At the moment I’d just be happy to write something, even if it sucked. I haven’t written in weeks.
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