My taste in music is… eclectic.
Maybe.
The word doesn’t feel strong enough to describe how John Mayer, Cindi Lauper, Fall Out Boy, Whitesnake, and Sheryl Crow are all sitting next to each other in my current playlist and it doesn’t even matter. [Except that you now know my dirty secret about liking that third group I mentioned…]
But that’s not what my post is about!
What I wanted to talk about is music and how it influences writing. Tonight I was packing and I lost myself in my head thinking about Atlantis when a song came on. I had a scene planned out for a later volume, but I had later scrapped it because it didn’t really fit with the storyline. The song put it back and has me re-thinking the entire events of the third book. [I promise that I will tell you what song and what chapter when #3 comes out–Pinky Swear!] I saw everything playing out as if it was a movie trailer in the new vein, and suddenly I knew this was where I had to take the story.
Music has this way of opening up my head, especially if I’m not paying attention on a conscious level to it. I have the best epiphanies, and I create the best artwork when I am able to become lost in music. It’s like my own little world.
There is something to be said for the subconscious being allowed to have free reign; surprising things come bubbling up to the surface when it does. Mine is like a kid left in a room unsupervised–she’s painted the TV, dumped flour everywhere, and is sitting on the floor eating the secret stash of dark chocolate I keep up with the drinking glasses and I have no idea how she got in there.
But I’m not about to stop her… at least, not until she finishes updating my book outlines. *evil grin*
First of all: that cat is awesome, and second: Im so jealous! I wish I could write while listening to music but I cant -_- I dont know why I need absolute silence.
The cat pic is one of my favorite macros too! 😀
When I’m doing something mindless, music with lyrics often prompts music videos in my head, and it’s totally cool with me–I love doing that! That’s where the whole “change the story entirely and re-plot three whole books” incident came from.
When I’m writing I need instrumentals, or the lyrics/me singing along [poorly] distracts me and I get nothing done. Someone once wrote on a writing sub-reddit that RPG music was the best for writing because it’s designed to keep you engaged; after trying it, I noticed that I do get a lot more done when I am listening to it!