Monday, September 19, 2011

Play List of the Damned

I think blog interviewers can smell fear or dorkiness or something, because, inevitably, they ask me this question: Do you have a play list for each of your novels? If not, can you think of a few relevant songs?

I always FAIL play list.

I haz no play list. In fact, I write all my novels to silence, or at least what passes for silence in a mostly empty house with a few cats, gerbils, and some fish. Sometimes I bust out and write in a place as noisy as a coffee shop, but I almost never consciously listen to whatever is playing on the overhead speakers because my brain wants to either listen to the story of the song, or sing along.

I will, occasionally, plug in my .mp3 play and hit random, but the songs that come up are so incredibly dorky that if I admitted to owning them legions of fans would desert me for the mere fact that I really kind of still dig Mike and the Mechanics.... (What? "Silent Running" is a great song! It's science fiction!)

sigh.

4 comments:

Kelly McCullough said...

Yep. My playlist sounds a lot like crickets chirping. Music with lyrics actively derails me from writing, and I have no idea how people can write with it playing.

Eleanor said...

Mostly in agreement. I can write with coffee shop background noise, including music, but only if it doesn't grab my attention. Once I notice it, I'm in trouble. I think I play classical music at home sometimes, while I'm writing. But I don't remember, which tells you what kind of impact it has.

Douglas Hulick said...

I prefer silence as well.

About the only time I listen to music (or white noise) is when I am writing while out, and that's only if there are other distractions: music with lyrics overhead, a conversation too close, screaming child, etc.

When I do listen, it's instrumental. Typical choices include surf music, irish reels, arabic-influenced fusion, and a select playlist from the Seatbelts (fist pump for "Cowboy Bebop"!) About the only exception to the lyric ban is when I play Flogging Molly, and that tends to be for action/fight scenes. :)

Paul Lamb said...

I can't both write (creatively) and listen to music at the same time. I have to have silence.

I have thought, a bit about theme music for my stories though. Have you ever considered what piece of music might been "represent" the theme/tone/even plot of your work? One I'm just still making notes on could be themed to the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony. Such sadness!