Creating playlists to write

How to use playlists to start writing

Recently, I found myself lacking the desire to write (what a surprise). It destroyed the generalized idea that I had. I had the feeling that I always wrote better when I was home in Portugal. Maybe it was because of the summer, or my bed and desk gave me more comfort, or simply because I love to sit with my mug, open the window, and listen to the sound of birds and palm trees on the street.

Whatever the reason that made me feel inspired before, this time it didn’t happen like magic as soon as I arrived in Portugal. All the enthusiasm I had was gone, and all I could think was, “Oh, shoot, what am I going to do now?”

The answer: Stop complaining and start working.

And so I did. I indulged myself in a few weeks of pleasure to visit friends and enjoy the summer. Then I grabbed my mug, opened my window, and started typing away.

But first, I thought, “Let me repeat the songs I was listening to last year when I was writing.”

Followed by, “Funny, it seems like I’m remembering that whole creative process again, and how excited I felt about writing. Does this band have any songs I don’t know yet?”

And surprise!! It did! Before I knew it, I was happily typing away on my keyboard and writing new pages of a story that needed to be told.

What’s the point of all this talk? To explain how music helps in the creative process.

I don’t know how many of you follow writer blogs or have ever been curious to browse a bit and come across a playlist for your favorite book.

One thing is for sure, writing playlists for their books seems to be the new trend that writers have adopted. And you might think, “These writers must think they’re writing movies or TV shows. Why on earth would they need music?” I admit I thought that the first time I came across it, I was like, “Shoot, I was looking for the soundtrack to Twilight. The MOVIE! Not what she was listening to while writing.”

However, there is a reason why there’s music in movies.

Haven’t you ever noticed that disturbing silence in the movie theater when you think the killer is right behind her, and you find yourself gripping your chair with suspense? No? Okay, then maybe it’s just me who’s afraid of getting scared, so I need to hold onto something.

And that moment when the hero has just declared his love, and there’s a heart-wrenching song playing in the background? You either go, “Awww….” or “Blahhhh!” (depending on what kind of romantic you are, I, as a hopeless romantic, go, “Blahhh! Vomit! 😉

Music helps.

All of my great moments of brilliant, fantastic ideas were almost always while listening to music… or taking a shower, that helps too.

But the big secret of writers is that we spend most of our day daydreaming. Imagining the next scene that will unfold in our story, the characters involved, and how it will either harm or help the story overall. And, at least in my case, I’m always daydreaming when I’m listening to music.

So, now, along with my mug, I’m going to sit in my chair. The window is still open, but the birds have to sing more quietly because the music comes first.

Why playlists?

Now, I am writing a book about supernatural creatures and, for sure, I am not going to play “let’s go to the beach, beach. Let’s go get a wave.” It wouldn’t help me get into my characters’ shoes.

Once, I was sitting in my room writing, and one of my roommates walked in and said, “That music sounds like it came from a vampire movie.” That’s proof that I was doing something right in selecting my music.

Unless I really feel like listening to that new CD from that band, or someone tells me “this band is cool, you should listen,” my media player consists of playlists designed to transport me into the world I’ve created in my mind. Most of the songs in my playlists are either songs that help set the tone of my story, or songs that I was casually listening to when a particular line struck me and seemed to be telling my character’s story directly. It’s just one line, but that line stays with me and goes into my playlist, waiting to inspire me again for that character.

And who doesn’t want to listen to a ballad while gathering the hero and heroine and thinking, “awww…if I wasn’t born to be a writer, I should have become cupid!”

So, yes, I’ve joined the trend of creating playlists for my novels. I’ve already created two, one for the first book and another for the second.

The thing is, now that I’ve let it sit for a while, I’ve returned to the draft of my first manuscript and there’s its corresponding playlist. And the lyrics of the songs can bring me back to the moment I imagined their scenes, and how I felt my character’s pain and happiness while describing their moments.

But when it comes to really concentrating, concentrating seriously, I still need the birds singing and the silence before anything else.