A writer needs inspiration, and music is one of the most powerful sources of inspiration. Currently trending on Twitter, this following #WritingQ…uestion asks which songs best fit the complex task of creating worlds and characters.
If answers are anything to go by, it seems most writers on Twitter use specific playlists and even create their own. Even the number one place for music on the go, Spotify, has built an ever-growing number of playlists for writers, mixing Beethoven, Bob Marley, and Ella Fitzgerald. Yet, not everyone can create in a world of sounds.
Silence please, I’m thinking
We are two, and one of us is frequently seen with oversize headphones making him look like a distant cousin of Mickey Mouse. As for me, I don’t like listening to music when I write.
I find music terribly distracting. Surprisingly, I didn’t mind playing on loop my favourite Beatles’ songs when I was doing maths at school.
But I need to stay away from someone else’s words and sounds when I want to write mine. They enter my mind and take over my thoughts, otherwise.
One might think that listening to classic music or foreign songs could do the trick instead. But it doesn’t. Music disrupts my writing. I write much better without it.
I need to hear the voices
How do you write dialogues or scenes? There’s an element of going with the flow while still knowing the general direction. But, as I create characters, I try to see and feel the scene through them.
Of course, the process involves playing the scene I’m writing, speaking the dialogue, crying the tears, or laughing the laughter. I try to keep things as self-contained as possible, firstly out of laziness and also because I have no intention of competing for the next BAFTA award for my non-existent acting skills.
Anyway, this lengthy explanation to say that I have no time for music. I’m too busy listening to the sound of Helena‘s, Rhode‘s, and the Shadow‘s voices as they come out of my mouth.
How do I capture the feeling of the story then?
I’ve just told you. I play it. I breathe it. I dream it. The story lives in my mind 24/7.
I am Helena and her lack of care of social conventions.
Rhode’s rage burns silently inside me.
The Shadow’s never-flattering self-esteem keeps me upright on bad days.
Pamphilos‘s faith that he can create a better world motivates me to carry on and shout his story at the top of my lungs every day.
I carry Elpis’s guilt like a dead weight on my shoulders.
Their feelings were never mine to start with. But I can feel their bitter taste on my tongue. However, their emotions are inspired by many things, ranging from observations to songs I’ve heard. Music does inspire me too, but I use its memory rather than its presence for writing.
Needless to say, I believe the other half of our writers’ tandem may have a different answer to the question. But it’s the beauty of the creative world. There is more than one way to do things, and most are equally valid.
*Image from Unsplash