My Writing Playlist

Sitting down to write, and opening your mind to (in this case) another world, is one of the hardest things for me to do. When my mind is filled with problems, worries, and other stresses that come with living life, it, as you can imagine, is difficult to escape into another world and write, no matter how badly you want to. So how do I aid my mind in leaving these things behind? Well, that’s what I’m going to discuss during today’s blog post.

When I sit down to write with my cup of coffee next to me, I don’t just start writing. I must first find my self and my story. That seems pretty vague, doesn’t it? I always cringe when I hear the phrase, “find one’s self.” However, this is what I mean.

I must push aside all the other cares and stresses, all the other self-doubts and business; I must find that part of myself that loved to write because it took me somewhere I never been, but always wanted to go. What helps me to do that? Sometimes nothing. But what I usually turn to are these four things: reading a book, listening to music, watching a movie clip, or watching a trailer.

I have discovered that these external things help me to bring out the creative part of my brain while lulling the other part (the part that worries or is tired) to sleep.

What kind of book, song, trailer, or movie clip do I use you may I ask?

It all depends on the story. Currently, I am writing a fantasy (the sequel to Scar of the Downers). So everything I use (except for book) usually is centered on the type of story I’m writing. This is what revs up the inspiration and/or motivation inside of me.

While, in the past, I’ve already shared my favorite trailers, today I will share a few of the songs that I listen to while I write.  Again, this changes with the stories that I work on. For instance, if I’m writing a modern story about a young kid, I will use that type of music while I work. So, these songs are what I listen to while I’m writing the second book in the Downer series.

The first song is by Twelve Titans Music and is called From the Ashes Reborn.

This song is called Kanada's Death, Pt. 2 (Adagio in D Minor) by John Murphy. It is from the movie Sunshine. 

The next song is by Lisa Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy. Several years ago when the movie Gladiator came out, I fell in love with the soundtrack, which was created by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. That is when I first heard her. I have several of her albums, but this is one my favorite songs by her. It is called Elegy.

The last two songs can be heard from the the last two hobbit trailers. The first one is from The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug trailer, and the second song is from The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies trailer.

The first song is called Age of Dragons by Audiomachine, and the second song is called Dust and Light, by Twelve Titans Music

This is not an exhaustive list. Just a few songs from my much larger playlist.

On a sidenote: This weekend I will be at a book signing at the Antwerp Public Library during their Operation Restore Antwerp day this Saturday from 11:00-1:00. I will also be in Clayton on August 29th at the TI Museum with several other local authors. I will give more detail as we get closer to the date.