Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Soundtracks to Books

Oscar sent me a link to a Youtube video of a band new to me, Within Temptation.
One of my favorite genres is Urban Fantasy, and their stuff is like the soundtrack to some of the best books I've read recently. (check them out, the first song I listened to was Stand My Ground. The video is amazing.)
I have read of authors using specific song lists as they write specific books, it seems to lock their minds into the best mode for the work. They sometimes even have specific songs for specific characters. One book I recently read, Taste Me by Tamara Hogan, includes a song list at the back of the book. Since the main character is a musician, this made a lot of sense (and there are some great songs there).
I really like this idea of using multiple senses as tools for writing. Jenny Crusie makes collages for her books, another interesting method. Of course nothing replaces butt glue (putting your butt in the chair in front of the computer and not moving until you write the thing) but I have been thinking about what other senses might be employed for setting the work mode.
Some authors use specific spaces for writing. Some close themselves into a room with a computer (with no internet access) and no other purpose but writing. Others like to write in public impersonal spaces like coffee shops, needing the white noise effect.Others choose specific times of day.
I pretty much do everything in the recliner, so perhaps I can make the recliner my "writing zone" using sensory tools. Perhaps choosing music I only listen to while writing, or maybe lighting a certain incense. In aromatherapy, scents such as Basil, cedarwood, cardamom or frankincense may help. They also suggest coriander for creativity, but I don't LIKE coriander.  I could also choose to only burn certain candle colors, I suppose or wear a special hat or perhaps hair ribbon LOL.
As with most things of this nature, the most important correlation is not what some site or table suggests, but the connection YOU make with a specific scent, color etc.
I think because I cannot move myself into a specific writing space, perhaps I can change the space around me into a space dedicated to specific tasks when needed.
I think the setting for writing reviews will be different than that for writing fiction, or for designing.
It is something to contemplate. What do you think?



1 comment:

AlisonH said...

To each its own space and to each their own. Me, I need quiet to write.
(Which means that occasionally I'm glad I can turn my ears off.)