Music and Writing

Like a lot of other writers, I listen to music while I write. Creative people like writers often enjoy other artistic endeavors as well, i.e., music, art, or film. Unlike a lot of other writers, I am also a musician. I have sung lead vocal in a few bands, and even played drums in a few. I also play piano. This parallel love of music and writing however, can sometimes cause problems as they cross paths. Often, the music I love to listen to prevents me from writing what, or how, I want to write.

Case in point – Pride and Prejudice. I absolutely love the score to the 2006 version of the film and listen to it often, BUT, I’m not writing anything like Jane Austen or that book. So I can’t listen to it while I’m writing. The composer of that score though, has done many films, and I found one that I can listen to while I write – Atonement. It even has the sound of a person typing on an old typewriter in some of the selections, which can be very inspiring to get me moving on my own keyboard. The composer, by the way, is Dario Marianelli, and I highly recommend him.

Another problem is regular music. You know, with people actually singing and stuff. Can’t do it while I write. I find myself singing along in my head, and of course, that’s not conducive to writing anything. Even if I don’t know the lyrics, my mind will stretch to try to figure out what they’re saying, no matter how unintelligible. It’s a useless exercise.

Besides Atonement by Dario Marionelli, I’ve found a few other scores that work – The Duchess by Rachel Portman is one. Still a bit of a period piece, but there are mysterious selections, which fit into what I’m writing. I need to greatly expand my current selection, and find other mystery/thriller-type movies that might have decent scores.

Writing and music go hand in hand for me, and ‘setting the table’ so to speak, will work wonders with my prose…now I’m off to find another score, and write another chapter.

LETHOLOGICA / LETHONOMIA

Have you ever had trouble remembering a frustratingly simple or key word? Have it on the tip of your tongue or edge of your brain, but you just can't grasp it? There's actually a word for that:

Main Entry: LETHOLOGICA

Part of Speech: n

Definition: the inability to remember a word or put your finger on the right word

Who knew that there was a word for forgetting words? Of course! There's got to be a word for everything…!

There's even a word for the tendency to forget names – LETHONOMIA.

Now you know! As you were…

-Amy

The Challenge That Is Writing

Writing isn’t easy. Well, I should clarify that – Good writing isn’t easy. Anybody can throw words on a page, but that won’t make it readable, and it won’t necessarily move you. Good writing grabs you, and if it’s good fiction, it takes you to another place, and puts you in the shoes of another character. I think non-fiction can be even harder to keep a person’s interest. Trying to express ideas or thoughts to complete strangers with only words is a very daunting task.

I am currently in the process of writing both a fiction, and a non-fiction book. I say process because it truly is, or at least can be, quite an ordeal.

When I first started my novel, I was overloaded with great ideas. Plots and storylines just whirled about me for days. I would wake up with “a-ha!” moments, and have to jot down the thought before I lost it. But then – reality hit. I started writing, and it went very smoothly at first. Chapters flowed into chapters. And then one day it just stopped. I don’t know if “life happened” and interrupted the flow, or what the situation may have been, but the need to write seemed to have vanished.

Part of my problem is that yes, I had all those great ideas, but flushing them out in a novel is a monumental task. It doesn’t help that I’m completely OCD, and edit the crap out of everything I write, as I write it. I can’t outline. Well, I’m sure I could, but I hate even the idea of it. To me, it ruins the joy of writing. I like to see where the characters and the story will take me. Unfortunately, I’m at a point where all the characters are apparently giving me the silent treatment.

I think that will be my new motto:

“I don’t have writer’s block – my characters aren’t talking to me anymore.”

I’ve heard of several authors that write for a certain period of time, or a predetermined number of pages every day, no matter what. And I say hoorah for them. I can’t do it. I have to be motivated. I have to be “in the mood” to write. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to get into that mood at the drop of a hat.

I’d be interested to hear from other writers as to their techniques to get motivated to write, if there is such a thing. Is there such a thing?

Welcome!

This will be my second (or third) attempt at keeping a blog. I'm hoping to keep this one related to my writing, and the challenges that it's creating for me. Hopefully other authors will join me for this journey.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you soon!

-Amy