There is nothing that inspires me to write and dream up new ideas as consistently as music.
Seriously - I owe so much of Leaper: Down to Earth to the music I was listening to. Thumping, energetic beats; vocal crescendos; weird, electronic noise that many people would not venture to call music — these auditory prompts led me down pathways of thought I would never have imagined going without them.
The right music can be nothing short of magic when it comes to writing.
I think it has to do with a few key parts:
1 - there is the energy music imparts. I don't know about you, but I can be a lazy pos, especially when I've got a comfy couch and a few video games to play. But if I want to get my ass in gear, click the play button on the right song, and I'm up and dancing, my mind is firing, and I want to do something that matters all of a sudden. Sometimes that's doing the pile of dishes in the sink to get an extra special kiss from my wife when she comes home. Other times, it's getting my photography gear together to get some new and exciting lightpainting shot. And sometimes, it's getting my notebook, a water bottle and some sneakers on to go for a walk and write.
2 - music is like a mental trail but with no setting. It can tell your brain to go this way, and then that way, up that hill, down that stream, but you never actually know where you are. Sure, you get a feeling for the environment: spooky or dangerous, dreamlike or expansive, but nothing is fully formed. Nothing is given a name. So it's easy for you to consider those directions and themes and feelings in the context of the world you're in the middle of creating. You get to name the place, you get to adjust the tone and make it fit the story you want to tell. But, without having to do anything, your
mind has travelled down a path you probably never would have considered on your own.
At least, that's what has happened to me over and over again. It just did this morning. Out of the shower and shaving, I pressed play on the soundtrack I put together for Leaper: Down to Earth (click here if you want to check it out).
Even though going back to the same music seemed at first a little silly, I did it anyway because listening to these songs has always been a good idea. And it was. I have a whole new, radical idea for my cyborg/prosthetic future city story. It's nuts and doesn't make a lot of sense yet, but it's exciting, and, really, that's the key. It doesn't matter how good a story is if I never write it. And, to write it, I have to be excited about it, and I have to get excited about it every time I sit down to write. I think I'm excited. Will I start writing today? I dunno. Better press play on that playlist again.
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